Robert Bailey, Freelance Writer

ARDENNE HIGH and Excelsior were the first two teams to qualify for the semi-finals of Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) KFC Southern Conference Under-16 basketball competition after recording quarter-final victories on Monday at the National Stadium courts.

Good support

Ardenne, led by a game-high 26 points and 15 rebounds from Alex Lubsey, defeated Meadowbrook 88-44. Lubsey got good support from teammate Adam Fernandez, 21 points, and Dimitri Gage, 12. Akeem Minott scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Meadowbrook.

France Lawrence scored a team-high 15 points and collected 12 rebounds to guide Excelsior to an easy 70-59 victory over Wolmer's Boys. Lawrence was backed by solid efforts from Dwayne Extol (13 points and 12 rebounds) and Howard Harvey (11 points). Davio McLayle scored 18 points and had 26 rebounds, while Stephan Wright (15 points) led the way for Wolmer's.

The Under-19 quarter-finals between St. Catherine and Meadowbrook and Kingston College (KC) and St. George's College were called off midway through the second quarter because of rain.

When the games were abandoned, St. Catherine were leading Meadowbrook 27-22, while St. Geroge's had a 19-15 edge over KC.

In yesterday's Under-19 matches, Tivoli took on Wolmer's and St. Jago opposed Jamaica College (JC), while in the Under-16s, KC tackled St. George's and Calabar faced JC.