West Conference finals tip off
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Herbert Morrison’s Under-19 teams and defending champions Cornwall College’s Under-16s will this afternoon put their unbeaten runs on the line in the first game of the best-of-three finals of the ISSA/KFC Western Conference basketball championships at Montego Bay Cricket Club.
Both teams are tipped to win their respective sections. Herbert Morrison will face Mannings School in the Under-19 decider while Cornwall meet Herbert Morrison in the Junior match-up.
Both Herbert Morrison and Cornwall swept the season series against their opponents, winning both games contested.
It will be all square, however, especially in the Under-19 section where Mannings, last season’s beaten finalists, are coming off a morale-boosting win over former champions Cornwall in the semi-final on Monday.
The Dave Black-coached Herbert Morrison have a potent offensive, however, and Mannings will be put to the test.
Jamoi Richards is one of the top point guards in the competition and with the likes of Kedar Clark and high-flying centre Jervis Hamilton, along with Nico Campbell, will give the Mannings defence a lot to think about.
The Herbert Morrison team appears to be getting into stride as they have scored more than 100 points in four of their last five games.
Andre Davids, Ruel Gordon, Troy Reid and Adrian McCallum are the players the coaching staff will hope can triumph inthe series.
Cornwall dominated the Under-16 section this season and scored lopsided victories over Herbert Morrison both times they met this season.
Robert McIntosh, who led the team in scoring earlier in the season, has fallen off in the last three games, failing to get into double figures.
Tevin Brown, Alex McFarlane and John Audley Jackson have taken up the slack, however, on this well-rounded team.
Herbert Morrison have, however, showed a lot of improvement as the season progressed and this was evident in their semi-final win over William Knibb on Tuesday.
William Knibb stepped up their game in the third quarter, but Herbert Morrison responded with a big fourth quarter and will be relying on Romario Doyley, Daniel Henry and Ackeem Miller to upset Cornwall.
Both series will continue on Monday at the same venue and if a third game is needed, they will play next Friday.