MONTEGO BAY, St James — Unbeaten teams Cornwall College in the Under-19 section and Muschett in the Under-16 will start favourites when the ISSA/KFC Western Conference basketball best-of-three finals get underway today at the Montego Bay Cricket Club.

Under-19 defending champions Cornwall College, who escaped their semi-finals with a close 51-48 win over a gutsy but overmatched William Knibb on Tuesday, will face first-time finalists Spot Valley High, who upset Holland, 53-51, yesterday.

In the Under-16 section, Muschett underlined their dominance with a big 61-25 win over outgoing champions Holland and will take on a Herbert Morrison team that just managed to advance ahead of Cornwall, 34-30, in their semi-final.

All four schools in the finals have earned berths in the National Play-offs set to get underway next month.

Based on the semi-finals, both sections are expected to be close contests and each could go the distance, with Games Two set for Monday and, if necessary, the third and deciding games will be played next Thursday.

Despite the sparkling record, Cornwall looked vulnerable against a William Knibb team that had just seven players and led as late as inside the last two minutes of the game.

Christopher Ray Smith, who scored 18 points on Tuesday, is expected to lead the Cornwall team with point guard Tevin Brown and Josimar Stephenson.

Everton Steadman, Floyd Steadman and Murry Moodie have been carrying Spot Valley all season and will need to come good again if they are to lift their first title.

In the Under-16 section, Muschett, who will be led by Karlington Barrett and Michael Schloss, will have the psychological advantage over Herbert Morrison as the only team to beat them this season.

Herbert Morrison could also be without Daniel Henry who twisted his ankle in the first quarter against Cornwall, and it could be a game-time decision as to whether or not he plays today.

Yesterday Holland, who had the second best record in the Under-19 regular season, collapsed in the semis, missing 21 free throws and despite scoring 13 points in the last two minutes including three three-pointers, came up short against Spot Valley who ran out to a big early lead and managed to hang on.

Spot Valley led 22-9 after the first quarter, but Holland chipped away at the lead, trailing 22-36 at half-time and 30-38 going into the fourth quarter.

On Tuesday, despite having more players to call on, Cornwall — who also missed a number of free throws down the stretch — were late saved by six points from substitute Darren Sterling.