‘Andrews’ add national crown to Conference title
ST Andrew High School for Girls added the ISSA National Schoolgirl basketball title to their Southern Conference crown by defeating rivals and defending champions Holy Childhood High, 41-28, at the Stadium Courts on Wednesday.
The Franklin Burrell-coached St Andrew were beating the four-time back-to-back winners for the fifth time this season, including a 2-0 win in the Southern Conference series final.
MVP Azeza McCarthy and Dhanyell Johnson led the way for St Andrew with 13 points each and nine and 20 rebounds, respectively.
Tiffany Sparks was Holy Childhood’s topscorer with 10 points and 17 rebounds, with her best support coming from Stacey Robinson with six points and nine rebounds.
Earlier, St Andrew defeated Decarteret College and William Knibb to book their place in the decider, while Holy Childhood stopped St Elizabeth Tech and Spot Valley to book their berth.
Both teams went toe-to-toe in the opening quarter and were tied at 6-6 at the end of the period. However, St Andrew turned their game up a notch in the second quarter and their opponents could find no answer as they took a 24-9 lead at the half.
Holy Childhood outscored their rivals to cut the deficit to 11 points (31-20) at the end of the third quarter, but St Andrew held off their Half-Way-Tree Road neighbours, 10-8, in the final quarter for a convincing 13-point victory.
“We took the Southern Conference and now the All-Island and we went through the entire season undefeated, so this has been an excellent season for us,” an elated Burrell said after the game.
His counterpart Oneil Brown conceded that St Andrew was the best team this season, but warned that they will be coming to reclaim their crown next year.
“We tried all the tricks and everything that we could have done, but they just have the best overall team this year… I’ll retain all my girls, so I think next year we have a very good chance of dominating again,” he said.
Meanwhile, the final of the Under-14 Boys competition will take place today at the same venue, starting at 10:00 am.
St George’s, Knox College and Spot Valley will contest Group One, while Ardenne High, Glenmuir and Herbert Morrison Tech will compete in Group Two, with the group winners meeting in the final.
