The ninth edition of the Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Americas closed out on Saturday as the top 66 boys and girls high school basketball players from 16 countries and territories around the region competed in playoff games and a pair of All-Star games in front of local fans at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium.
The Hawks knocked off the Spurs to win the boy's title game. Atlanta Assistant Coach Darvin Ham, along with Wade Adderley and Derek Cummings, coached the Hawks. The Hawks' roster was made up of Kai Jones (The Bahamas), Jaden Bediako (Canada), Zion Jones (U.S. Virgin Islands), Jeriel Zayas (Puerto Rico), Francisco Farabello (Argentina), Lucas Zibecchi (Brazil), Jermaine Miranda Perez (Puerto Rico), Tyrece Thompson (Jamaica), Addison Patterson (Canada), and Kofi Cockburn (Jamaica).
In girls action, the Sparks edged the Fever in overtime on a sudden-death basket. The Sparks were coached by FIBA coach Ronald Cass, and local coaches Varell Davis and Felix "Fly" Musgrove.
The Sparks' roster was Piper Doo (Canada), Diondrea Nixon (The Bahamas), Rebeca Morones (Mexico), Lesiriam Pagan (Puerto Rico), Emily Martindale (Canada), Ellanis Armenteros Gelabert (Cuba), Esmery Dahiana Martinez (Dominican Republic), Thiare Antonella Garcia Gutierrez (Chile), Karla Alejandra Martinez Hidalgo (Mexico), Solmilena Arias (Dominican Republic), and Marcela Gutierrez (Uruguay).
At the conclusion of the games the boys and girls All-Star teams were announced, and in the afternoon the camp was opened to the general public for the two All-Star games.
Jones and Samuel Hunter were the two local representatives in the boys game, and Briontae Riley represented The Bahamas in the girls all-star game.
The other local players
selected to compete in this year's camp were Dominic Bridgewater, Derryn Johnson and Diondrea Nixon. Each of the players selected this summer will represent The Bahamas in international competition this month.
The Bahamas Junior Men's National Basketball Team competes in the Centrobasket Under-17 Championships, which will be hosted in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, July 26-30. The junior girls team will also compete in Centrobasket, set for August 15-19 in Aguada, Puerto Rico.
As far as the BWB Americas camp is concerned, National Basketball Association (NBA) Senior Vice President of International Basketball Operations Kimberly Bohuny said it was a success across the board.
"We had gone in the past many times to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, but what we've seen through our Digicel SportsMax program is that there is some rising young talent in the English-speaking part of the Caribbean. We thought it was the perfect time to bring it to The Bahamas, and we are thrilled," she said. "The Bahamas Basketball Federation did an amazing job and it (Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium) is a wonderful facility. All of the NBA players and coaches here said that they were pleased with the level of talent across the whole continent, and the young players who are here from this part of the world."
The BWB Americas camp not only provided an opportunity for the local players to enhance their skills, it also offered clinics for local coaches and referees as well.
"For one, we have the referees clinic. We have one or two young talented officials here who Bernie Fryer (who ran the clinic) had a chance to see. We had 50 coaches at the coaches' clinic, and everyone walked away very happy with what they learned at the camp."
The country's most experienced referee, Christian Wilmore, said he commends BWB Americas for providing an opportunity for the local referees to learn from one of the most experienced referees there is in the game of basketball.
"We have been doing a lot of work to improve officiating in the country all around," he said. "We are happy we had the opportunity to learn and improve our game as well. We had meetings every day, we started the days watching some tape, going over the basics of officiating, then we would go out and do our games, and then we would go back and have another meeting and talk about what we could have done better and what the NBA looks for in a referee for those who aspire to take it to that next level."
The Bahamas Junior Men's National Team Assistant Coach Nigel Ingraham considered it an honor to work alongside some of the top coaches in basketball.
"This is going to help the federation a bunch, because a lot of coaches came out for the clinics," he said. "In my opinion, what we need to do to push our players forward is to ban the zone defense for players ages 16 and under. You just can't learn the game of basketball playing zone."
BWB Americas brought together the top male and female players born in 2000 from across North and South America to learn directly from NBA, Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) players, legends and coaches, and to compete against the best young players from the region. BWB Americas included a junior NBA camp with local children in The Bahamas, which highlighted the power of sport to promote cultural understanding while teaching the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle and the values of the game, including teamwork, integrity and respect.

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