Mannings impress in Under-19 playoffs
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Western Conference runners-up Mannings began their campaign in the ISSA/KFC Under-19 basketball play-offs with a hard-fought 77-68 win over Meadowbrook at the Montego Bay Cricket Club.
Led by a game-high 28 points from Troy Reid, the Westmoreland boys came from behind after trailing the Southern Conference fourth-placed team by as many as 10 points in the second half.
Meanwhile, Mannings’ match against Manchester High, which was not played on Friday, will be contested at a later date, it was also confirmed.
Mannings did not show for the game due to a mix up in the venues.
They were the second school from the west to open the national play-offs with a win after Under-16 champions Holland beat Manchester High, 46-37, at Belair on Friday thanks to 19 points from Clifton Shettleworth.
Also on Monday, Western Conference Under-16 runners-up Rhodes Hall failed to show up for their game against Calabar.
Last Friday they had also failed to show up for their game against Belair.
Mannings’ win over Meadowbrook was marked by periods of dominance by both schools as the lead changed hands several times, especially in the second half.
After trailing by three points at the end of the first quarter, 18-21, Mannings went on a 7-0 run to start the second quarter, but Meadowbrook pegged them back to lead 29-27 with three minutes and 18 seconds to go in the first half before leading 38-34 at the break.
It was the Kingston team’s time to go on a run at the start of the third quarter, scoring the first six points, but Mannings hit back with an 8-0 run of their own to tie up the scores at 50-50.
The ‘home’ team then scored the first six points of the final quarter as they wrested control of the game from Meadowbrook and led 68-61 with three minutes to go.
Meadowbrook’s case was not helped as point guard and top scorer Maurice Smith fouled out with just over two minutes to go and was joined prematurely on the bench by Aston Parker and Alex Murray.
Reid scored 28 points to lead Mannings. Lenworth Pryce scored 19, while Adrian McCallum and Ruel Gordon both scored 14 points.
Smith led Meadowbrook with 15 points, nine rebounds, eight steals and seven assists. Hakeen Crossfield scored 14 points, while Murray scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds.