SPORTS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2025
Bahamas must-win vs. Cuba
The Bahamas senior men’s national basketball team has waited more than two months to seek revenge against Cuba and the United States of America (USA) after suffering consecutive losses in the second window of the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers last November. The host team will have a chance to avenge those
losses starting tonight with a must-win game against Cuba at 8:40pm in the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium, to jumpstart the third and final window of the FIBA AmeriCup 2025 Qualifiers for group D. The Bahamas’ head coach John Lucas III expressed the need for the home team to throw the first blow tonight versus Cuba after falling 76-62 in their last matchup. “We were right there. In the
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By TENAJH SWEETING Tribune Sports Reporter tsweeting@tribunemedia.net By TENAJH SWEETING
THE SPORTS CALENDAR
February
SAILING NATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS THE Ministry of Works and Family Island Affairs’ 2025 Sir Durward Knowles National Junior Sailing Championships - a three-day sailing competition for young sailors - is scheduled to get underway this morning in Montagu Bay and wrap up on Saturday. The event will feature sailors from
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41st Hugh Campbell: Family Island teams pick up wins
TEAMS hailing from both Grand Bahama and the Family Islands made their arrival to the capital on day three of the 41st Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic to tip-off their tournament experience on a high note in the morning session yesterday at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.
The Gateway Christian Academy Eagles had a sluggish start to their game against the Eight Mile Rock Blue Jays but managed to pull off their first win of the tournament, 45-28. The Agape Christian Academy Eagles, the Abaco Schools Sports Association (ASSSA) champions, earned a comfortable 52-17 victory in a wire-to-wire win against the Bishop Michael Eldon
School (BMES) Warriors. And The Sherlin C Bootle Dynamic Dolphins prevailed over the South Andros Barracudas 61-55.
In the first game of the day, the Patrick J Bethel Mighty Marlins knocked off the CR Walker Knights 56-42. The St John’s College Giants, the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools
HUNDREDS of junior sailors hit the waters this morning at the Montagu foreshore to commence the 2025 Sir Durward Knowles National Junior Sailing Championships.
The three-day event will showcase some of the best talent the national sport has to offer at the junior level while continuing to honour the legacy of Bahamian Olympian Sir Durward Knowles.
The Exuma Sailing Club, led by head coach Dallas Knowles, took home the overall team winner floating trophy at last year’s competition. Coach Knowles is expecting the club’s top junior sailors to repeat last year’s success. “We have a pretty big team with 16 kids so
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SEE PAGE 17 CONCACAF BEACH SOCCER: ‘JUNKANOO BOYZ’ ARE IN TRAINING – PAGE 18
ON THE BALL: Students in action yesterdy on day three of the Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.
Photo: Chappell Whyms Jr
MARIO FORD CAMP CONTINUES TO SERVE AS BASEBALL HAVEN FOR BOYS AND GIRLS
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT: The Mario Ford Baseball Camp continues to serve as a baseball haven for boys and girls between ages 4-15 at the Windsor Park every Saturday. The aim of the weekly camp is to develop the baseball craft of the youth while instilling discipline along the way. Baseball activities will continue every Saturday until March 29.
Photos: Kaliyah Evans
CONCACAF Beach Soccer: ‘Junkanoo Boyz’ in training
THE “Junkanoo Boyz”
were just one win away from advancing to the 2023 FIFA Beach World Cup at the 2023 Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Beach Soccer Championship hosted at home.
The team wrapped up the competition in fourth place, which was their best finish in eight tournament appearances.
The biennial tournament is returning to the Bahamas March 11-16 for the fourth time in history and the home team is looking to take this opportunity to qualify for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Seychelles 2025.
Team head coach Francis Farberoff has conducted rigorous training sessions with a group of 18 players the last few weeks and is looking forward to seeing the team’s progress against Tahiti in upcoming scrimmage games this week.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to reach our goal which is to qualify for the World Cup in Seychelles but first we have some games coming up against Tahiti this week so we are looking forward to that. Right now we are working with 18 players and from that we are going to cut it down to 12 that will represent the country,” he said.
TRAINING DAY: Team head coach Francis Farberoff conducts a rigorous training session with the players the last few weeks and is looking forward to seeing the team’s progress against Tahiti in upcoming scrimmage games this week.
MBAPPÉ HAT TRICK FOR REAL MADRID DUMPS MANCHESTER CITY OUT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, PSG AND DORTMUND ADVANCE
By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer
Kylian Mbappé scored a hat trick, Erling Haaland stayed on the bench injured and Real Madrid dumped Manchester City out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Mbappé’s stellar trio of goals in the fourth, 33rd and 61st minutes in a 3-1 win gave Madrid a 6-3 victory on aggregate over the 2023 champion in their two-leg
knockout playoff. “This has been the complete performance — attack, defense, with the ball and without the ball, we showed such high levels of quality,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “Almost the perfect night.”
One superstar striker was watched by another from the sidelines. Haaland was not fit to start for an ultimately overmatched Man City because of a knee injury sustained late
in a Premier League game Saturday.
Paris Saint-Germain beat French rival Brest 7-0, to run up a 10-0 aggregate score, and will play either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16.
PSV Eindhoven ousted Juventus in the only one of the eight playoffs this week that went to extra time. Defender Ryan Flamingo scored in the 98th minute for a 3-1 win on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.
United States international Timothy Weah scored for Juventus.
“Honestly, we slipped up,” Weah said. “I felt like they were more aggressive on the night and we lacked a bit of aggression and hunger.”
In the early game Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund started with a 3-0 lead at home to Sporting Lisbon and was barely stretched in a 0-0 draw. Sporting’s Champions League campaign imploded after coach Ruben Amorim left for Manchester United in November.
Mbappé mastery
Mbappé’s first goal of the two-leg playoff in Manchester was a lucky miscue, a looping effort off his shin to level at 1-1 in what ended a 3-2 win.
His three goals in Madrid were classy and decisive. A first-time lob over City goalkeeper Ederson — who perhaps advanced too far, too soon — was followed by a low shot after leaving defender Joško Gvardiol on the turf.
The third was a powerful left-footer from the edge of the penalty area when he had lured six Man City players toward encircling him.
“I have always said I didn’t come here simply to complete a dream,” said Mbappé, a boyhood Madrid fan who never won a Champions League at Monaco and PSG. “I want to play well, I want to mark an era.”
Coach Pep Guardiola’s injury-hit side — with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri out since September and Kevin De Bruyne now rarely starting — has looked like a shadow of the heavyweight rival that met Madrid in each of the past three seasons, when each time the winner went on to lift the trophy.
Paris Saint-Germain hits 10
PSG has not lost anywhere since a Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich three months ago, and the playoff against
Brest proved a total mismatch.
Brest had impressed in its first European season but went out with a whimper at Parc des Princes, after a 3-0 loss in the home leg. Wingers Bradley Barcola and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the first half. Midfielder Vitinha, Desiré Doué, left back Nuno Mendes, striker Ramos and Senny Mayulu netted after the break. PSG also beat Brest 5-2 in a French league game this month. Sporting slumps post-Amorim With Ruben Amorim as coach, Sporting was unbeaten in four Champions League games and stood second in the 36-team standings. The team he left behind went winless in six Champions League games under two different coaches.
Dortmund also fired a coach midseason and newly hired Niko Kovač now has two wins on the European stage to offset two straight losses in the German league. Still, Sporting’s prospects to be in the Champions League next season look better than Dortmund’s.
Portugal’s champion advances direct to the next league phase and Sporting
currently is top, two points clear of Benfica. Dortmund is 11th in the Bundesliga and could need to win this Champions League title to earn a place in the next edition.
Round of 16 draw Real Madrid, PSG, Dortmund and PSV join Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge and Feyenoord, which all advanced Tuesday, as playoff round winners who will be unseeded teams in Friday’s draw. They will host the first-leg games on March 4-5.
The top eight in the 36-team standings three weeks ago — Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa — skipped the playoffs round and are seeded in the round of 16 draw. They host second legs on March 11-12.
The round of 16 is in a new, tennis-like seeded bracket for the knockout stage in the expanded competition format. Madrid, as the 11th-place team in the standings and No. 11 seed already knew its next opponent would be Atletico or Leverkusen, who respectively placed fifth and sixth. Top-seeded Liverpool will play No. 15 PSG or No. 16 Benfica.
Photos by Chappell Whyms Jr
41st Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic: Family Island teams pick up wins
FROM PAGE 20
(BAISS) reigning champions, pummelled the Kingsway Academy Saints 58-38 to close out the morning session.
Gateway Christian Academy vs Eight Mile Rock
The Eagles suffered some jetlag in the early moments of their game against the Blue Jays. Despite a slow start in the opening quarter, the team started to create some separation in the second period.
Shanto Curry Jr connected on a jumper that drove the lead to 10 (19-9) just before the halftime break.
The Eagles were on top 21-10 at the intermission until the Blue Jays went on a run in the third period.
Eight Mile Rock’s Jermaine Hall connected on back-to-back threes to pull the Blue Jays within two (24-22) at the 2:31 mark.
The Blue Jays outscored their opponents 14-7 in the third period to trail by just four (28-24) with one to go.
The Eagles flipped the switch on offence in the final quarter.
Romeris Stuart finished a crowd pleasing lob that ignited an 11-0 run to end the game for Gateway Christian Academy.
Javardo Toote pitched in a team-high 15 points and two boards in the Eagles’ victory.
Eagles head coach Gilbert Rolle spoke about what went right for his team down the stretch.
“We travelled today and just came in this morning and the games pushed back so we started a little shaky. In the second half, we kind of played Eagles basketball with our identity. We were able to settle down and then we were able to extend the lead,” he said.
Coach Rolle outlined the team’s expectations for the rest of the way. “The goal is to win one game at a time. We accomplished that first goal in the first
game and now we want to take it from here,” he said. Hall led the Blue Jays in scoring with 15 points to pair with two boards in the loss.
Agape Christian Academy vs BMES The ASSA champions were fearless against the Warriors. The team demoralised BMES from the opening tip with a 12-6 run to start the quarter before running ahead 22-8 going into the second period of play.
The Warriors converted on a jumper to cut into the deficit 26-14 late in the second quarter but it was not enough to slow down the soaring Eagles. Agape extended the lead 40-15 to wrap up three quarters of play with a crafty layup in the open court. Their biggest lead of the game was 35 (52-17) in the fourth quarter.
Corey Roberts led all scorers with 12 points and two steals for the Eagles.
Eagles head coach Stephan Johnson was quite pleased with the way his team performed in their tournament opener. “The boys came out and played really well. The defence was good, offence was good, we shared the ball and everyone played their roles. We are excited to see what the rest of the tournament holds but I would say we played very well in this first game,” he said.
Coach Johnson added that the goal is to take the
tournament one game at a time. “We are gonna go and get some rest. We have St George’s next. We have the number six and number two team in the country in our pool so we are gonna take it one game at a time,” he said.
Liam Carroll scored a team-high five points and pulled in seven rebounds for the Warriors.
Day four of the Classic continues 10am today at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.
A HOME GAME FOR SAN ANTONIO, A HOMECOMING FOR KEVIN DURANT WHEN SUNS AND SPURS MEET IN AUSTIN
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer
KEVIN Durant went back to the Bay Area last weekend. He’s now going back to school.
A nostalgic time for Phoenix’s All-Star forward continues today, when Durant and the Suns play San Antonio in Austin, Texas — a home game for the Spurs and a homecoming for Durant, since the game brings him back to where he played his one college season with the Longhorns.
“It does mean a lot to me,” Durant said. “I’m excited that we get to go back to play a regularseason game there. Austin is a place where I kind of started this journey, and to have so many friends and family that are still there from, what, 16, 17 years ago is pretty sweet. So, I appreciate the NBA for setting this up. This is a unique time.”
Durant’s lone season in Austin was 2006-07, and he was college basketball’s best player that year. He averaged 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds, finishing the season ranked fourth nationally in both of those categories on his way to being selected as player of the year by The Associated Press and a number of other outlets.
He declared for the draft after that season, went No. 2 overall to Seattle in 2007 and the accolades keep
BAHAMAS TAKES ON CUBA TONIGHT IN THE FINAL WINDOW
FROM PAGE 20
Cuba game, we started off slow and they brought the fight to us. They threw the first punch and we fought back….we couldn’t get over the hump,” he said.
“We got close enough but we wasted more energy trying to play catch up. This time around I told them we are gonna hit first and we are gonna continue hitting and not gonna let our feet off the gas.”
Team Bahamas will play their first game at home since competing in the first window of the qualifiers against Puerto Rico last year. The home team will be represented by a good mix of veteran and returning national basketball team players.
Players expected to suit up for The Bahamas are Lathaniel Bastian, Eron Gordon, Dominick Bridgewater, Sammy Hunter, Dylan Musgrove, Jaraun “Kino” Burrows, Kenny Isnord, Godfrey Rolle III, Garvin Clarke Jr, Franco Miller Jr, Kentwan Smith, Radshad Davis and Tavario Miller Sr.
Coach Lucas spoke about the addition of more guards on the roster for the final window of the qualifiers.
“I think it is gonna be a different team than we had in the last window because now we do have guards who can turn the corner, who are more natural at that point guard playmaking ability and it just frees up those guys who had to play in a different position. It puts them back in their natural position where they can thrive. I am all about these guys looking their best and putting them in the right situations at the right time,” Lucas said.
Team Bahamas still has a chance of qualifying for the FIBA Americup 2025 but will have to defeat Cuba tonight to stave off elimination. The team sits at the bottom of the Group D standings with a 1-3 win/ loss record. The US leads the group with a 3-1 record. Puerto Rico and Cuba have identical 2-2 records.
Coach Lucas said the host nation will need the support of the home crowd to get the job done.
piling up. Durant is the only men’s player in USA Basketball history to win four Olympic gold medals, he won two championships with Golden State — returning to the Bay this past weekend after being selected as an All-Star for the 15th time — and just became the eighth player in NBA history to eclipse the 30,000-point mark.
“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for himself — and for the city of Austin to come out and support one of our great players
who is still in the prime of his career right now,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “He’s scored over 30,000 points, he’s one of the all-time scorers at the next level, one of the all-time scorers at the collegiate level. But to have an opportunity come back where you played collegiately, to play a professional game against one of the best organisations in all of professional sports in the Spurs, you can’t ask for a better scenario.”
This is the third consecutive season where the Spurs have played two home games in Austin, about 75 miles northeast of San Antonio. The Spurs see Austin as part of a megaregion that they’ve been cultivating for years, even stretching into Mexico — and this year’s home games help break up the annual rodeo road trip. The San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo typically sends the Spurs on the road for much of February, so this year’s games in Austin break up that window.
The Spurs also play in Austin on Friday against Detroit. The Suns got to Austin on Tuesday and one of Durant’s first stops was the Longhorns’ practice.
“I’m going to try to roam around the city a little bit,” Durant said this past weekend when asked if he had plans to check out some of his favourite places in Austin. “I don’t have a set schedule, but I’ve got some stuff I want to see.”
Austin is very much a Spurs town; the team’s G League affiliate plays there and plenty of fans at the Moody Center on Thursday and Friday will surely be wearing Victor Wembanyama jerseys. But there’s going to be a slew of Texas jerseys and Durant garb visible in the crowd on Thursday. “To have him come back here and be here this week and be around our guys and see our guys, I mean, you can’t
ask for anything better than that,” Terry said. “A lot of our guys’ favourite player is Kevin Durant. Why they chose to come to Texas was Kevin Durant.
He’s had an incredible impact not only on our basketball programme but also on our athletic programme as a whole. He’s an incredible ambassador for Texas athletics.”
“We want the fans to be here. We are fighting for the country and fighting to get to the Olympics so this is an important game… Every game that we play is an important game and we need our fans. We need the crowd and we need that sixth man,” he said.
The Bahamas plays Cuba tonight at 8:40pm and will follow up the contest with a game against the USA on Sunday at 7:10pm in the KGLI Gymnasium.
ON THE REPLAY: Students in action yesterday on day three of the Hugh Campbell Basketball Classic at AF Adderley Gym. Photo: Chappell Whyms Jr
PHOENIX Suns forward Kevin Durant warms up before the NBA All-Star basketball game on Sunday in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
EXUMA SAILING CLUB LOOKING TO ‘PERFORM
DURWARD KNOWLES NATIONAL JR SAILING
FROM PAGE 20
there is a wide range of expectations. With our top sailors that performed very well last year, we are looking for them to do the same thing. Joss, Emit and Tanaj got first, second and third last year so we are looking for them to be at the top. This will be the final regatta for one or two of them so they are looking to go out with a bang,” he said.
Joss Knowles, of the Exuma Sailing Club, emerged victorious in both the sunfish and E classes.
The club also secured the top three podium spots in the E class race.
J Knowles was first with a net total of six and his younger brother Emit Knowles placed second with a net total of seven. Tanaj Manos, who skippered One Bahamas, was third with 17 points.
Coach Knowles said the goal is not only to dominate the sunfish, laser and E classes but also to allow the younger junior sailors to develop their craft.
“We have got our top guys split up between the Sunfish and Laser classes so we are hoping to do well in both of those. We have a relatively new team in the optis, which are the younger kids, so this will be more of a learning regatta for them and a bit of a stepping stone into the next one. We are just looking for them to have a solid performance. If we do well and get a trophy in there that would be great, but that is not necessarily the expectation for that class, but we are looking to be on the podium in the other three classes,” Knowles said.
Competition will feature over 200 junior sailors hailing from Exuma, Grand Bahama, Spanish Wells, Harbour Island, Eleuthera and New Providence.
The competitors will battle for three days in the optis, sunfish, laser and E Class categories.
Knowles gave some insight on what preparation has been like for his sailors leading up to the start of competition today.
“The training has been nonstop and we still practice three times a week. We always seem to have an event just around the corner so we are always keeping the kids fresh, on the water and ready to compete. This is the first time travelling for about a third of the team so it was a lot of mental preparation
for them just knowing what to expect sailing in a new environment in front of a lot of people. We are just trying to get them mentally and physically prepared,” he said. Competition will be stiff as a number of junior sailors are hoping to repeat as champions or dethrone the defending champions.
Norman Cartwright, of the Bahamas National Sailing School (BNSS), is the defending champion of the laser class.
Finley MckinneyLambert is the reigning champion of the optis class.
Edward Knowles Jr will look to retain his title in the opti green fleet class.
Coach Knowles expressed the importance of the National Junior Sailing Championships as it
relates to the development of the national sport at the junior level.
“I think this is one of the most important events because it features all four of the classes - optis, sunfish, laser and E class sloops. There is no other regatta that features all four of those boats together in one regatta so this is probably the only time you are going to have this many clubs from around the Bahamas competing at one event. “I think it is a big opportunity for this event to become more than just the E class championship. I think it needs to become a very large club event, where the clubs compete against each other and we crown a club champion with more sailors coming from the outer islands to compete in all the classes,” he said. The Sir Durward Knowles National Junior Sailing Championships will continue until Saturday at the Montagu foreshore.
across the Bahamas, including Exuma, Grand Bahama, Spanish Wells, Harbour Island, Eleuthera and New Providence as they compete in the optis, sunfish, laser and E class categories.
Highlighting the legacy of the late Olympian Sir Durward “Sea Wolf” Knowles, the organisers will also include performances by Junior Junkanoo groups and high school pop bands. The action starts daily at 9am.
CYCLING KING OF THE HILLS
THE New Providence Cycling Association will hold its “King of the Hill” Cycling Classic on Sunday at Fort Charlotte.
The event is scheduled to begin at 8:30am and will be the “toughest hill climb” for the competitors in New Providence. “Test
your endurance, strength and determination against the best riders,” NPCAQ president Barron ‘Turbo’ Musgrove said. “Are you ready for the challenge?” For more information, interested persons can call Musgrove at 433-5568 or email him at bammus1967@ gmail.com.
SOFTBALLL BBSF SEASON OPENING
THE Bahamas Baptist Sports Federation will begin its softball league on Saturday at the Charles W Saunders High School on Jean Street.
The activities will get underway with the official opening ceremonies at 10:45am when the federation will honour the late Dwaine ‘Man’ Stevens, a former player/coach of New Bethlehem Baptist Church. New Bethlehem will then take on Golden Gates Native Baptist Church. The final game will be played between Jubilee Baptist and Macedonia
Baptist in a rematch of last year’s championship. Jubilee took the title over Macedonia.
RED-LINE ATHLETES’ FIELD EVENT CLASSIC
THE Red-Line Athletics Track Club has announced plans to host its second annual Field Event Classic.
The country’s all field events only meet is scheduled for Saturday, February 22 at the original Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium.
The event is set to take place from 9am to 3pm and will be open to competitors from the under-11 to open categories for men and women. All winners will receive crystals and the top three will earn medals. Athletes can register at redlineathletics242@gmail.com or smnbutler@yahoo.com
NPA TRACK CLASSIC THE Noble Preparatory Academy is all set to hold its 2025 Track and Field Classic on Saturday, March 15 at the original Thomas
A. Robinson Track and Field Stadium from 9am to 6pm. The registration deadline is March 11. Athletes can register at info@npabahamas.com
RUGBY GAMES AT WINTON
AFTER making some minor repairs to the Winton rugby pitch, the Bahamas Rugby Union is scheduled to play matches on Saturday, February 22, Saturday, March 8 and Saturday, March 22.
All ages and all abilities are welcome, including men and women, ‘Golden Oldies’ teams and beginners and seasoned players. The BRU is also inviting persons to come and try rugby this year. The only equipment needed are tennis/cleats and PE kit.For further information, persons are urged to call (242) 812-0417.
UNCLE LOU FUN RUN/WALK THE St Augustine’s College and the Alumni Association is inviting the
general public to come out and participate in the Uncle Lou Fun Run/Walk.
Under the theme: “Paint the streets red,” the event will take place on Saturday, March 15, starting 6am at SAC’s campus off Bernard Road.
The route will leave SAC’s campus and head on Bernard Road, turn onto Soldier Road to Prince Charles Drive, turn east onto Prince Charles Drive and head back to SAC. The registration fee is $20 for adults and $10 for persons under the age of 20. The first 200 participants will receive road race t-shirts. Persons can register now by logging onto www. saintaugustinescollege.com Following the race, a health screening will take place. There will also be a souse out with chicken priced at $10, pig feet at $12 and sheep tongue at $15. Drinks will also be on sale. For more information, persons can call 242-324-1511or email Thesacalumni@gmail.com
READY TO REPEAT: The Exuma Sailing Club, led by head coach Dallas Knowles, is expecting big performances from their junior sailors at the 2025 Sir Durward Knowles National Junior Sailing Championships slated for February 20-22 at the Montagu foreshore.
READY TO SAIL: The Exuma Sailing Club, the 2024 overall team winner, making final preparations ahead of the 2025 Sir Durward Knowles National Junior Sailing Championships slated for February 20-22.