St George’s, Wolmer’s draw first blood

St George’s College and Wolmer’s Boys’ School drew first blood in their first games of the Urban ISSA schoolboy basketball finals at Campion yesterday, recording wins over their opponents to take 1-0 leads in the best-of-three series. In under-16 action, Wolmer’s Boys stopped Jamaica College 67-58, while in the under-19 encounter, St George’s defeated Campion 64-62 to hand the defending champions their first defeat of the season.

In the feature game, the under-19 contest, Campion playing at home got off to a bright start, taking a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Despite playing away, the Clifford Brown-coached St George’s team was not fazed by the moment as they reduced the deficit in the second quarter, outscoring their opponents 17-13, as Campion held a close 34-31 lead at the half-time break.

It was all St George’s College in the third quarter where they dominated the home team, outscoring them 23-9 to take an 11-point lead going into the final quarter with the score 54-43.

However, it was a meltdown by St George’s in the final quarter as their offensive unit was off target, combined with good defensive work by Campion.

St George’s scored only one point in the quarter to Campion’s 12 as the game was locked at 55 points each, forcing five minutes of extra time.

In overtime, St George’s kept their cool, outscoring the home team 9-7 for a narrow two-point win and holding the advantage going into their second game at home on Monday. Alexander Bailey with 17 points and Rashaugn with 10 points scored for the winners, while Christopher Lason scored 20 points for the losers.

In the opening encounter, it was Jamaica College, who took control of the first quarter, leading their opponents 19-11 at the break. However, the Wolmer’s team had a solid second quarter, outscoring their opponents 23-11 to lead 34-30 at the half-time break.

For the next two quarters, the Howard Harvey-coached team from Heroes Circle did not slip up as they outscored their opponents in both quarters to lead 52-44 after the third quarter before closing out the game with a nine-point win.

Alex Farquharson was Wolmer’s top scorer with 26 points, with good support from Malakai Richardson with 17 points. Siedu Hamm with 20 points and 10 rebounds was the top player for Jamaica College, while Tyler Feanny chipped in with 21 points.