This was the kind of win that makes an 1,150-mile trip worthwhile – not that the C.I. Gibson boys basketball team plans to stop now.

The perennial power from Nassau, The Bahamas returned to the Spring Branch ISD Tournament for the eighth consecutive year Thursday and proceeded to pull out what has to be one of its more memorable wins here, edging host Spring Woods 54-51.

Drew Rolle, one of three seniors on a sophomore-dominated roster, scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning layup with 1:32 left in front of a frenzied, partisan crowd.

“We were able to hustle … just try to run the ball and on our offense try to score in the box if we could,” Rolle said. “As a leader I just try to take over the game and score.”

Jermaine Store had a team-high 18 points for Gibson, which improved to 10-3 by gutting out a game in which it trailed 26-25 at halftime. The Rattlers never led by more than five points in the second half.

“I have a young team – a lot of these guys (nine) are 10th-graders, 14 and 15 years old, and we came here to get experience and hopefully jell as a team,” coach Kevin Johnson said. “Hats off to Spring Woods. They played very hard. We didn’t always take care of the ball, but we did a good job being mentally tough to close out the game. That’s what basketball is all about.”

Spring Woods (1-4) didn’t lead after Donald Brooks hit a 3-pointer halfway through the third quarter. That made it 37-34, and Gibson responded with a 6-0 run. The Rattlers took a 46-41 lead moments into the fourth and made it 48-43 when Milano Hinds hit a breakaway layup with 3:48 left.

The Tigers’ John Whitty hit a runner from the baseline to cut the deficit to 48-47 with 3:10 left, then Rolle went to work. He hit a layup 59 seconds later for a 50-47 lead, and another almost-identical shot 38 seconds later to make it 52-47.

Ray Reed’s layup over Rashad Sturrup made it 52-49 with 1:06 left, and Kerwyn Reece – the game-high scorer with 20 points – cut it to 52-51 on a jump shot with 22 seconds left.

Store made two free throws to ice the win.

“These guys (Spring Woods and other Houston teams) are usually a lot better shooters than the guys we see at home,” Rolle said. “That gives us a pretty big challenge (defensively).”

Gibson will play Jones in the first of four quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Friday at Don Coleman Coliseum.

“We’re a team that plays hard and that’s all I can ask for,” Johnson said. “It’s tournaments like this where we’re going to see where we’re at, what we need to work on, what we need to do to get better. We will get better.

“It’s a good opportunity for our guys to work hard and see a lot of different kinds of basketball.”

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