The Cobras' second straight Hugh Campbell title on Monday night at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium gave the capital its third straight, and eighth in the past nine years. It certainly raises the question of whether or not the balance of power has shifted in favor of the New Providence based teams. At one point, the Grand Bahamian teams dominated the annual high school boys basketball tournament. They won eight straight titles between 1989 and 1996, and 12 of 13 between 1989 and 2001. Since that time though, their New Providence counterparts have answered the challenge.
Led by the C.I. Gibson Rattlers at the turn of the century, and most recently the C.C. Sweeting Cobras, teams from the capital have now won the coveted title nine times since 2002. The Rattlers have four of those titles, and the Cobras now have three. According to the coaches of both teams, they won't be slowing down anytime soon. "I don't really think Grand Bahama ever had the power," said Cobras' Head Coach Mario Bowleg yesterday. "At the time when the Grand Bahamian teams were winning, there were too many high schools in New Providence so what you would have seen is that the talent was spread out.
When the government changed the system and some schools went back to being junior schools, the talent became more compact. Also, more people got involved in coaching in the high school sector like myself and Nigel Ingraham (R.M. Bailey coach) to join the outstanding coaches who were already there like Kevin Johnson. With the new coaching talent, I think that we were able to bring a better product to the game and help develop the athletes. What end up happening was that the playing field got more leveled and teams from Nassau were able to compete again."
The Cobras defeated the Eight Mile Rock Blue Jays in the championship game, on Monday night, 63-53. They had a special recognition assembly yesterday morning, and will officially celebrate their second straight Hugh Campbell title, and third in the past six years, at a later date. "We have a program here at C.C. Sweeting and that has been working for us," said Bowleg. "We have nine players returning from this team next year, so the window will definitely be open for us to go after three straight.
We just have to continue working hard, and squeeze our way through that window. When you have a program where you can watch players graduate and others come into the program and still be productive, it's a sweet feeling." Rattlers' Head Coach Kevin 'KJ' Johnson shared those sentiments with Bowleg. "They have a very good program at C.C. Sweeting and they are going to be a force to reckon with for a while. We congratulate them on their two straight Hugh Campbell championships," he said yesterday.
"When you look at what is happening now, I think the balance of power has definitely shifted a bit. The Freeport teams are still good teams, but I think you would see that the other teams are working harder, trying to even the playing field. "Freeport dominated for a while, and I guess it's our turn now. That's a good thing because it creates for good basketball. What you would see is that even some of the Family Island teams have caught up with the level of play. When you look at what Agape did this year, they made it to the Final Four.
That's great! Everyone wants a chance to win, and so they are preparing better. A lot of high schools outside of Freeport will continue to work hard and continue to get better." Like Johnson mentioned, Agape Christian School out of Abaco advanced all the way to the Hugh Campbell Final Four this year, becoming the first Family Island team to accomplish such a feat. As for Johnson and his Rattlers, they saw their streak of 15 straight Hugh Campbell Final Fours come to an end this year, as the Blue Jays knocked them off by one point in their pool championship game on Saturday night.
The Blue Jays got a game-winning three point shot from Leonardo Black, with just two seconds remaining, to pull off that stunning victory. "I'm definitely disappointed, but at the same time, it's an opportunity for us to re-focus," said Johnson. "We had an opportunity to go the Final Four again, but we lost by a buzzer beater. Eight Mile Rock knocked us off and we congratulate them. We congratulate Mario Bowleg and C.C. Sweeting as well for a job well done."
Johnson joked after missing out on another Final Four trip that the streak might be over, but the Elite Eight streak continues. "We're going to continue to work hard," he said yesterday. "The Rattlers will definitely be back. C.C. won, and that speaks well for their program but we will continue to press on and continue to work hard. Hats off to Eight Mile Rock and to C.C. Sweeting." Since 2002, the Rattlers have won four Hugh Campbell titles, the Cobras have now won three, and the C.R. Walker Knights and R.M. Bailey Pacers have a Hugh Campbell title each. The other three have been won by Grand Bahamian teams - two for Tabernacle Baptist Academy, and the other one for Catholic High School.
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