Bahamas finishes third in Suriname

Bahamas finishes third in Suriname

The Bahamas women’s national basketball team Thursday mustered up a third-place finish at the Caribbean Women’s Championship, edging Barbados 65-56 in the bronze medal game in Suriname.

Brea Forbes led the way for The Bahamas with 17 points, Sha-Londa Neely added 11 and Valerie Nesbitt chipped in with nine.

Shakila Small had a game-high 18 points in the loss for Barbados.

“This team overcame a lot of inexperience,” said team Bahamas head coach Wayde Watson.

“With the first loss, that was nothing more than the ‘jitters’. Against St. Vincent I changed the starting lineup to get more speed and we saw a difference in regards to rotation. We’re going to get it together.

“This is still a young team and a lot of them have never played at this level. So, we try to ensure they get an appreciation for the competition at this level.”

Team Bahamas suffered a 77-50 loss to Cuba in the opening game on Sunday and picked up a 75-50 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Monday.

Cuba won the Caribbean Women’s Championship, beating the Dominican Republic 66-55.

About Randy Smith

Randy Smith is the producer of the widely-watched local television show “Beyond The Headlines” and the web content manager of Eyewitness News. He joined Eyewitness News as a sportscaster in 2018, a role he still performs, and has previously covered a slew of international sporting events, including the 2015 Pan American Games, the Nike EYBL Showcase, several IAAF World Relays, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Bahamas Bowl and multiple CARIFTA Swimming and Track & Field Championships. Randy has been recognized by the Bahamas Press Club with awards for “Best Sports Broadcast” as a sportscaster and “Best TV Talk Show” as a producer.