MONTEGO BAY, St James – Former champions Granville Jaguars will start their campaign in the Western Basketball Association Elite League today when they take on Cornwall Courts Chargers at the Montego Bay Cricket Club starting at 7:00 pm.

Granville Jaguars were upset in the semi-finals last year by Catherine Hall All-Stars, who came back from losing the first game in the best-of-three finals to win 2-1, and went on to beat Cricket Club Knights in the finals.

On Tuesday, Holland Saints, semi-finalists last year, came from a double-digit deficit at half-time to beat Lucea Flames by two points (67-65) in a game that saw the Hanover team score just 12 points in the second half.

Nicholai Brown registered a double-double for Holland in their opening win, scoring 17 points and had 10 rebounds as they joined defending champions Catherine Hall and Cricket Club in the lead with two points each.

The teams were equally matched in the first quarter as Holland Saints led by a point (22-21), but Lucea who were led by a game-high 23 points from Julian Walker, had a big second quarter and raced to a 53-29 lead at half-time.

Holland Saints cut into the deficit in the third quarter and trailed by just seven points at the end of the third quarter 53-60 then outscored Lucea 14-5 over the final period to run out winners by just two points.

Michael Johnson also scored 16 points for Holland, player/coach Ricardo Brooks scored nine points and had six rebounds and five steals while Earldon Smith scored eight points.

Sherwin Gilzine scored eight points and had nine rebounds for Flames, while Clarke Stewart scored four points and had 10 rebounds.

– Paul Reid