ISSA/KFC Western Conference basketball heats up
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Defending champions Muschett High and Spot Valley High will take perfect win records into Monday’s semi-finals of the ISSA/KFC Western Conference Under 19 and Under 16 competitions respectively, at the Montego Bay Cricket Club.
Four games will be played on Monday, two in each section, starting at 10:00am with the winners advancing to the best of three finals set to start on January 15.
Muschett High who will play Cornwall College in both semi-finals, and Spot Valley High, swept all their games in the regular season played last month.
Muschett High topped the Under 19 section with 12 points, ahead of William Knibb Memorial -11 points, Herbert Morrison Technical-10 points and Cornwall College- nine points.
Spot Valley who will face St James High in one Under 16 semi-final, were also perfect in the Under 16 section, finishing ahead of Cornwall College- 11 points; Muschett High and St James who both finished on nine points along with Herbert Morrison, but advanced on tie breakers.
In the other game, William Knibb and Herbert Morrison will meet in the Under 19 semi-final.
In the Under 16 games, Spot Valley is favoured to advance to the finals after beating St James High 46-24. And, despite beating Muschett in their first round game, Cornwall College will be asked to step up their game when they take on a dangerous Muschett team.
Cornwall had won their game 57-39, but Muschett are the defending champions and under the guidance of Trelan Johnson, they are expected to make adjustments.
Cornwall’s chances of advancing should not be discounted however, as their only loss of the season came at the hands of Spot Valley- by three points- at Spot Valley.
Muschett who beat Cornwall by 10 points and William Knibb, who lost their first game before reeling off five straight wins, will start favourites to meet in the Under 19 finals.
The high scoring William Knibb were held to 16 points in their loss to Muschett, but since then, have outscored their opponents by at least 20 points.
Cornwall College managed to stay close to Muschett High for long periods in their preliminary round game, but the combination of Karlington Barrett and Michael Schloss late in the game proved too much for them.
