Defending champion St George’s College, scored a nail-biting 55-54 win over Hydel to book their place in the ISSA Under-19 Southern Conference schools basketball final at the National Stadium courts yesterday.

St George’s now await the winner of the other semi-final between Ardenne and Calabar tomorrow to see who they meet in the best-of-three final which begins on Friday.

In the Under-16 category, Ardenne ousted last season’s winner Jamaica College after scoring a 64-25 win in their semi-final match-up to book their spot.

In the Under-19 match, Stefano Leslie led the Georgians with an impressive 34 points with five rebounds, followed by Kemar Cummings with 12 points.

Hydel’s Keneil Allen posted 19 points, Mikhail Robinson 15 points and seven rebounds and Jermaine Anderson eight points and eight rebounds.

All-Island champion, St George’s played catch-up for most of the game before rallying to snatch the win at the death.

Hydel started well to take a 20-8 lead going in at the first-quarter.

But the North Street-based school improved their game in the second-quarter to cut the lead to four (30-26) at the half.

However, Hydel rediscovered their rhythm in the third period and again easily outscored their opponents 16-11 to re-establish a nine-point advantage (46-37) going into the last-quarter.

St George’s though showed tremendous grit to haul themselves back into the game each time, as Hydel looked as if they would run away with the match.

With less than five minutes remaining, the Clifford Brown-coached St George’s came within a point, (45-46), but wasted a number of free-throws to claim the lead.

Hydel then scored two quick baskets to re-open their advantage.

But the Georgians came storming back, and after trailing by two, produced some exhilarating moments in the final seconds to clinch the match on two free-throws from Leslie.

In the Under-16 match, Martin Gentles led the way for Ardenne in their impressive defeat of the champions with a game-high 16 points and nine rebounds.

He received good support from Josef Thomas with 12 points and Brandon Goldsmith with 11.

Ajani Alleyne was JC’s top-scorer with 11 points, while Okene Stewart assisted with 11 rebounds and five points.

Tomorrow’s semi-final in the senior category will see Ardenne facing Calabar 4:00 pm, while St George’s take on Campion College in the juniors starting at 2:30 pm.