Harbour Morrison, Ardenne in all-island showdown

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Southern Conference champions, Ardenne High, will face Herbert Morrison in the final of the ISSA/KFC all-island Under-19 basketball competition at the National Stadium Courts today, starting at 4:30 p.m.

The match will be preceded by the Under-16 final between St George's College and Knox College, which is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.

The senior final is expected to be an exciting encounter as both teams are evenly matched in all departments. Ardenne's point guard, Dimitri Gage, who is his team's leading scorer this season with 20-plus points per game, will go up against Herbert Morrison's Jervis Hamilton, who is averaging 17 points per game this season.

Ardenne raring to go

Basil Barrett, coach of Ardenne, said his players are confident and raring to go.

"Our players are very upbeat going into this final because we haven't won this title since 2003, and so we are hungry for it," said Barrett.

"However, we are not going take them lightly because they are a good team and so we will have to play our best game to beat them," Barrett said.

Gage is expected to receive support from teammates Mario Williams, David Gardener and Darren Taylor.

Meanwhile, Dave Black, coach of Herbert Morrison, last year's beaten finalist, said he is optimistic about his team's chances.

"We are very confident going into today's game against Ardenne because we defeated defending champions St George's in the first round and, as the season goes on, we are getting better with each game," said Black.

He added: "We are unbeaten this season and we are hoping to keep it this way by beating Ardenne in this final.

"They have a lot of good shooters and we know we will have to be aggressive, defensively and offensively."

Along with Hamilton, the Montego Bay based-school will also be depending on Kader Clarke and Jahmoy Richards.