Ardenne waltz into all-island final
ARDENNE High defeated Belair High, 58-44, to become the first finalists in the ISSA/KFC National Schools Basketball League after yesterday’s semi-final match at the National Stadium Courts.
The other semi-final match between Hydel High and Herbert Morrison takes place today at Mobay Cricket Club, starting at 4:00 pm.
Led by a game-high 30 points from Dimitri Gage and 10 from David Gardener, the Basil Barrett-coached Ardenne turned in an impressive second-half display after trailing in the first half.
Earl Mowatt topscored for Belair with 14 points and 15 rebounds, with support coming from Taneil Reynolds with 13 points and 18 rebounds.
The Michael Stephenson-guided Belair were out of the starting blocks well as they opened with a 13-9 lead in the first quarter.
They continued their good display in the second period, with the quarter ending 13-13 and the scores 26-22 at half-time.
But Ardenne turned up the throttle at the start of the second half and raced into a 21-11 lead in the third quarter before holding off their opponents, 15-17, to take the final quarter as well.
Winning coach Barrett said despite the poor start, once his team got going there was no looking back.
“We started sloppy, but after we got into the third quarter we picked up and started to play hard basketball,” he said.
With Hydel and Herbert Morrison set to decide the other finalists today, Barrett believes his chances of going one better this season are good.
Meanwhile, in a Junior semi-final match yesterday, St George’s College turned back Campion College, 61-31, to book their spot in the final.
Shaun Granham topscored for the Georgians with a game-high 20 points and 20 rebounds, with good support from Shavier Francis with 12 points and nine assists, and Javed Habib with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Jonothan Mitchell led Campion with 16 points .
St George’s were rarely troubled by their opponents throughout, as they led 18-13 after the first period and 31-19 at half-time.
A 22-6 margin in the third quarter meant St George’s led 53-25 entering the final stanza, which they also won 8-6 to cruise to victory.
The other Under-16 semi-final will be played today at Belair, starting at 2:00 pm.
