BEATEN Southern Conference Boys Under-14 basketball finalists Ardenne High turned the tables on St George’s College to capture the ISSA/KFC All-Island title by a point at the Stadium Courts on Friday.

The Basil Barrett-coached Ardenne, who succumbed to St George’s in the Conference decider, took the National Championship, 26-25, in a pulsating match.

Finals MVP Justin Rhoden, who also scored the winning basket, was Ardenne’s topscorer with 10 points, followed by Shemar Williams with nine. Malik Jackson was the Georgians and the game’s topscorer with 11 points.

An elated Barrett said they went back to the drawing board after losing the Conference final and put in a lot of hard work.

“We went back to the drawing board and worked on this… We did it in the classroom and on the court and got the boys in the right frame of mind so that we could come back here and pull it off,” he said.

Ardenne showed their intent from early and trailed by only one point (6-7) after the first quarter. They surged ahead in the second period, outscoring their opponents, 6-4, to take a 12-11 lead at half-time.

But St George’s came back strongly in the third quarter and regained the lead, 19-17, at the final interval.

However, Ardenne kept close all the way and would not let the Conference winners out of their reach. With 14 seconds to go, Ardenne led, 24-23, but two successful baskets from Jackson at the freethrow line put St George’s up, 25-24.

However, Rhoden scored a dramatic basket two seconds from the end to snatch an incredible victory for the many-time winners.

St George’s assistant coach Simon Brown said it was a “harsh” defeat for his side.

“In any tournament or age group, losing a match by one point is harsh, especially after getting ahead with only 14 seconds left,” he said.