Frantwion Newton had a monster game on day one of the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) basketball championships, but he still needed help late to help the Prince William Falcons senior boys outlast the St. Augustine's College (SAC) Big Red Machine. They held on 71-65 to take the opening game of the best-of-three series on Monday night at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium.
In the senior girls division, the Falcons turned back the Kingsway Academy Saints in game one of that series, 39-22. The juniors saw the Queen's College Comets lose twice as the Temple Christian Suns junior boys won in the first game of that series, 54-45, and the St. Augustine's College junior girls won in the first game of that series, 38-27.

Senior Boys
Falcons 71, SAC 65
The Falcons trailed by double digits at the half and early in the third before mounting a comeback against SAC last night. Center Adam Johnson came alive late for the Falcons, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half. Frantwion Newton was strong throughout for the Falcons. He finished with a game-high 32 points. A key three pointer from Newton late, and a breakaway jam, highlighted a 9-2 run to help the Falcons pull away. He scored 19 of his 32 points in the second half, 10 in the final quarter.
The Falcons started off hot, hitting their first three shots of the game to take a 7-0 lead. SAC scored the next 10 points, and never trailed again until the fourth quarter. SAC led 17-13 after the first quarter, and 29-19 at the half. The Falcons cut the lead to just one point, 46-45, at the end of three quarters. A putback lay-up from Johnson at the 5:11 mark of the fourth, gave them their first lead since early in the game, 54-53. The game went back and forth for a while until Newton ignited a late run with a three point shot from the corner. Newton and Johnson were the only two players in double figures for the Falcons. Darius Lewis was their next highest scorer with five.
SAC was led by big man Johnathan Johnson. Johnson had five three pointers in the game and finished with a side-high 21 points. Joel Johnson had two three pointers and finished with 19 points for SAC. Cornelius Clyde added 16 points, including two three pointers of his own. They led for the majority of the game before the Falcons took over late.

Senior Girls
Falcons 39, Saints 22
The Prince William Falcons senior girls got 12 points from Robyn Porter to blow past the Kingsway Academy Saints in the first game of their championship series yesterday.
The Falcons led 9-4 after the first quarter, 15-10 at the half, and 31-15 after three quarters.
Terrell Cox helped out with eight for the Falcons, and Amir Thompson added seven.
Markhela Bowleg paced the Saints with 11 points. Chyna Curry had six, and Tyra Kirten dropped in three.

Junior Boys
Suns 54, Comets 45
The Temple Christian Suns junior boys outscored the Queen's College Comets 19-2 in the second quarter to pull away in the first game of their championship series yesterday. They trailed 13-9 after the first quarter, but were ahead 28-15 at the break. They held on to a 43-24 lead after three quarters, and coasted to victory in the fourth.
Deyton Albury paced the Suns with 20 points. Christian Sturrup had 17 points, and Joshua Burrows contributed 10.
Raymond Rolle matched game-high honors with 20 points for the Comets. Trey Fowler scored nine, and Matthew Simms contributed eight.

Junior Girls
SAC 38, Comets 27
The St. Augustine's College Big Red Machine got out to an early lead and never looked back in game one of their BAISS junior girls championship series against the Queen's College Comets. They led 6-4 after the first quarter, 15-9 at the half, and 27-18 after three quarters.
K. Baptiste paced SAC with a game-high 18 points, 12 of which came in the second half. M. Whyte scored seven, and R. Rolle dropped in five.
D. Lightbourne led the Comets with eight points. M. Mitchell added four, and B. Nixon contributed three.
The second games of all four series will be played on Wednesday at the Kendal Isaacs gym.

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