St George’s College are through to the finals of the Urban ISSA Under-19 schoolboy basketball competition after turning back Jamaica College 59–51 yesterday at Jamaica College (JC) to win the semi-final series 2–1.
St George’s, who surprised JC on the latter’s home court in the opening game of the semi-finals, failed to make that advantage count in the second game, forcing a third and decisive encounter.
In yesterday’s decider, JC, with home advantage and seeking to advance two teams to the final following their under-16 team’s win over Campion a few days earlier, were favourites to seal the victory.
On the other hand, the Clifford Brown-coached St George’s College team were determined to advance after seeing their under-16 team bow out in their third semi-final playoff against Wolmer’s Boys’ School on Monday.
The contest was closely fought in the opening quarter, with St George’s edging ahead 18–17. They extended that slim advantage at the half-time break, leading 33–30.
Over the next two quarters, the North Street-based team did not slip up, maintaining their lead and moving ahead 44–40 at the end of the third.
Cheered on by their vociferous home supporters, the Duane Cunningham-coached JC team could not find a way around their opponents as St George’s outscored them 15–12 in the final quarter to seal a comfortable eight-point victory.
Alexander Bailey top-scored for the winners with 18 points, while Barrington Davis provided strong support with 14. For JC, Jahlani Jones led the scoring with 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Oritsematosan Ikolo chipped in with 11 points.
St George’s College will now meet defending champions Campion in the under-19 final, while in the under-16 final, Wolmer’s Boys’ will face Jamaica College.
Brown is hoping that yesterday’s victory was a sign of history repeating itself.
“The last time we won the U19 basketball championship, we beat JC at this very same court. Hope Road is a good stomping ground for us. We are looking forward to our next big encounter with the defending champions, Campion,” he said.
“We are going for gold, but for now, we savour the moment. Our team members are doing internal exams as we do the balancing act of competing for another championship.”
