By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net    

THE 2025 Government Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA) best-of-three basketball championships closed out with four champions crowned in the junior and senior divisions over the weekend at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium. 

The CH Reeves Raptors junior girls and DW Davis Royals junior boys repeated as champions in their division.

The Raptors sent the Royals’ junior girls home with a 35-23 victory in game three to win their third straight championship with a backdoor sweep.

The Royals returned the favour against the Raptors junior boys with a narrow 53-51 win in game two for their eighth consecutive championship.

The CI Gibson Rattlers’ senior girls upset the CV Bethel Stingrays, the defending champions, 38-28 in game three to emerge as the new titleholders.

The Rattlers’ senior boys were not as fortunate. The Anatol Rodgers Timberwolves avenged last year’s finals loss by defeating the defending champions 83-65 to complete a two-game sweep.

Junior Girls

After falling in an 0-1 hole to start the series, the Raptors rallied behind junior national basketball team player Tajhanique Morley the next two games en route to their third consecutive championship.

Raptors head coach Varel Davis was very impressed with the resilience and dedication of her players.

“We have been working since October of last year every Saturday nonstop. This is our three-peat and I told the girls today if you want it you have to go get it. These girls proved themselves today. I am so happy for them, especially Tajhanique Morley and Andrewnique Smith because this is their last year. I am happy for this one, to God be the glory for the great things he has done for CH Reeves and our programme,” she said.

CH Reeves had a close game at halftime, leading 18-14 at the break.

The team tipped off the third period with a 6-0 run, highlighted by Morley hitting a layup at the 3:09 mark to push the lead to double digits (24-14).

The Royals’ Makia Bowles helped to cut into the deficit (27-18) with a three late in the third. 

The Raptors eventually gained control of the game 34-20 in the final quarter and ran out the clock the rest of the way.

The MVP honours went to Morley, who finished the game with 23 points.

Bowles was the top scorer for DW Davis with a team-high 16 points.

Senior Girls

The CI Gibson Lady Rattlers were left out of the ‘big dance’ last season while the Stingrays hoisted the championship hardware. 

One season later, the Lady Rattlers sent the champions packing.

Rattlers head coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson expressed how it felt to see this group of girls win it all.

“It feels pretty good. We worked extremely hard all year to get to this point. Those girls locked in from September and worked. We felt like conditioning was the key to our success also because they were a little tired so were able to force some turnovers and score some easy baskets,” he said.

The Lady Rattlers struck the first blow against the Stingrays in the first half.

The team had everything going their way and enjoyed a 22-10 advantage with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter.

The score was 22-13 at the intermission.

Coach Johnson revealed the key to the Rattlers’ game three victory. 

“Defensively, we were locked in and we were able to really lock down CV Bethel’s best players Riccarra Beadle  and Nevaeh Albury. They are two of the best players in the country when it comes to girls’ basketball but we just wanted to make it difficult for them,” he said.

The Stingrays managed to shave the Rattlers’ lead down to just seven (28-21) with 2:05 left to go in the third but CI Gibson never let up.

The Lady Rattlers  once again led by double digits (38-27) after Tamisha Reckley nailed a pair of free throws at the charity stripe.

Reckley was named the MVP and finished the win with a game-high 16 points.

Riccarra Beadle dropped 10 points for CV Bethel in the tough loss.

Senior Boys

It is no secret that there is an ongoing rivalry between the Rattlers and Timberwolves. However, this chapter belonged to the Anatol Rodgers senior boys. 

The Timberwolves buried the Rattlers with the three-ball all game long. Derek Francis and Cavalle Ferguson got it going from behind the arc to combine for 11 made threes.

Anatol Rodgers got out to a 17-10 run in the first quarter with 2:03 to go. CI Gibson mounted a late surge and won the quarter 18-17. The Timberwolves rebounded nicely in the second quarter to outscore the Rattlers 25-17. They were in charge 42-35 at the halftime break.

Francis, who was named MVP, drained back-to-back threes in the third quarter to give the Timberwolves a 57-43 lead with 2:35 remaining. The game was a foregone conclusion at that point. Ferguson pitched in a game-high 26 points and Francis dropped 22 points in the championship win.The Rattlers got a team-high 21 points from Mario Rolle.

Junior Boys

The DW Davis Royals flexed their championship experience against the Raptors to claim their eighth straight title over the weekend.

Head coach Mark Hanna said it was a wonderful feeling to see how hard work pays off once again.

“It is a wonderful feeling when you put so much time into it all summer and all Easter. It feels great when they work hard to see the guys develop. “A ring, trophy or coaching award doesn’t move me anymore, after all these years these guys are my trophies. When I see them doing well in the classroom, in the community, going to senior school and going to colleges I sit down and smile because I know I am invested in real life,” he said.

The Royals made it look easy in the first half to lead 32-24 through two quarters of play but the Raptors did not go down without a fight.

The Raptors continued to chip away at the Royals’ lead in the third. The team eventually got within six (34-28) with 3:44 to go.

CH Reeves’ Tristian Rahming connected on a jumper in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 46 apiece. 

The Raptors battled hard down the stretch but Dario Musgrove split a pair of shots at the charity stripe to seal the win for the Royals. Joevardo Wright scored a game-high 28 points to be named MVP. 

Devante Crawl scored a team-high 21 points for the Raptors.

Next up on the GSSSA schedule will be the Track and Field Championships slated for March 12-14.