Thursday, January 7, 2010

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Rising to the challenge By SHELDON LONGLEY ~ NG Sports Editor ~ slongley@nasguard.com: The race is not for the swiftest, but he who endures to the end! The St. John's College Giants proved that proverb to be true yesterday afternoon as they shot past the previously unbeaten Faith Temple Academy Warriors, as both teams closed the first half of their Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools' (BAISS) season. The Giants overcame a double-digit second half deficit to prevail, 74-63, yesterday at Faith Temple. Switching their defense to a full-court press, they held the Warriors to just six points in the fourth quarter enroute to the impressive victory. The Giants improved to 5-2 in the BAISS senior boys basketball standings while the Warriors dropped to 3-1. "We knew that they were undefeated and they beat some pretty good teams to get there, but we felt that we could beat them so we just came out here and played hard," said Giants' Head Coach Chercovie Wells. "They surged ahead of us in the second and third quarters because we stopped playing defense but we picked it up at exactly the right time. Now, I think that we are definitely on the road as it pertains to getting into the playoffs. Once we continue to apply the defense we'll be alright. There are still some tough games ahead of us but we just have to continue working hard and we'll get there," he added. Senior forward Dwight Moss played like a man possessed in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball, to lead his team to victory. The 12th grader scored 23 of his game-high 34 points in the second half including a break away dunk in the fourth quarter which silenced the Faith Temple crowd and awoke a sleeping Giant contingent. "We got off to a sloppy start and just wanted to finish strong - that was our focus," said Moss. "We knew this was a big game and that they were a good team so we were determined to come out on top. We can't ease up now. We have some tough games after the Christmas break so we have to continue practicing and continue working hard. We feel that this is our year so we just have to continue working hard," he added. Moss had the big second half but it was a three-point shot from Marjerle Ingraham from the left corner which completed the comeback. Ingraham's shot tied the game at 57, after the Warriors had taken a 57-54 lead into the fourth quarter. The Warriors were actually ahead 53-42 in the third quarter, but the Giants closed the quarter on a 12-4 spurt. Moss and Ingraham scored five points apiece for the Giants in that run, and then Ingraham's three-point shot at the beginning of the fourth quarter tied the game. "We just stopped playing," said Warriors' Head Coach Candice Smith. "Everything just fell apart in the fourth quarter - first of all it was the officiating, but I'm not using that as an excuse. We gave up in the fourth quarter. We didn't play defense like we did at the beginning of the game so we lost. Hopefully, we'll learn from this and move on. We're just going to keep working hard and take it one game at a time," she added. Ingraham finished with 11 points for the Giants, 10 of which came in the second half. Clayton Panza scored 12 points. Tavaughn Gibson paced the Warriors with 29 points and Leslie Wilson added 21. Richard Malone was the next highest scorer for them with eight. The Giants led 18-13 after the first quarter, but fell behind 35-29 at the half. After getting behind by 11 in the third quarter, they crept within three at the end of the third and then stormed ahead in the fourth. Moss alone hit seven out of eight free shots in the fourth to help the Giants pull away. "Well you win some and you lose some," said Warriors' coach Smith. "This is just our first loss so we're not worried. Right now, we need to work more as a unit. In the first three quarters, we dominated but in the fourth quarter, we just let the game get away from us. They decided to be Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson, and if we are going to win, we need to play more team ball," she added. Both teams will now break for the Christmas Holidays before returning to continue their seasons in the new year. The Giants will travel to Bahamas Academy on January 6, while the Warriors will host the St. Anne's Blue Waves on that same day. Thursday, December 10, 2009