MONTEGO BAY, St James — Double defending champions Herbert Morrison Technical will be looking to take the lead when the best-of-three finals of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) Western Conference boys’ Under-16 and Under-19 basketball competition gets under way at Montego Bay Cricket Club at 2:30 pm today.

Herbert Morrison, who will be seeking a sixth-straight title in both sections, will face St James High in the Under-16 final after beating Cornwall College 56-52 in the semi-finals on Tuesday. They will face York Castle High in the Under-19 series after getting past William Knibb Memorial 95-37 on Friday.

St James High beat Holland 70-66 in their Under-16 semi-final, while York Castle High got by Cornwall College 74-70.

Game Two of the final will be played Wednesday and, if needed, the third game will be played on Friday, while the consolation third-place games are set for Tuesday between the losing semi-finalists.

Herbert Morrison are unbeaten in both sections all season and will be overwhelming favourites to win both finals, and the series could be over by Wednesday.

In Friday’s Under 19 semi-finals, Rhyheem Barrett and Cameron Morris both had double-doubles for Herbert Morrison in their 58-point blow-out over William Knibb, as they led 14-6 after the first quarter, 39-17 at half-time, and 70-27 at the end of the third quarter.

Barrett led all scorers with 24 points and 24 rebounds as well as nine blocked shots, and Morris scored 14 points and had 15 rebounds. Darren King also scored 12 points, while Anthony Thorpe scored 10 points and had nine rebounds.

Rhondane Ashman scored 11 points and had 16 rebounds for William Knibb while Kimani Rose scored 10 points.

In the second game York Castle’s Umar Dixon scored 34 points, playing with four fouls since the third quarter to push his team to a close win, while Ihejah Clarke had a double-double 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Cornwall College led by a single point, 22-21, after the first quarter. York Castle responded in the second quarter to lead 42-35, but Cornwall cut into the deficit to trail by four points, 56-52, at the end of the third quarter.

Cornwall College outscored York Castle 6-2 to start the fourth quarter, tied the scores at 58-all, then took the lead at 70-69 on a basket from Romario Senior with one minute, 16 seconds to go, but failed to hold on to their advantage.

The effort to get to the front took a toll on Cornwall College as three players, including two starters, fouled out of the game. Omar Campbell, who had a double-double for Cornwall College, picked up his fifth foul of the game with 36 seconds to go, after Rushane Francis was disqualified earlier, and a third player, Ian Clarke, followed soon after.

A basket from Clarke put York Castle back in the lead and two free throws by Dixon cemented the win even as two players — Joash Brown and Lennon Richards — fouled out as time ran out.

Desmond Pinnock scored 14 points for York Castle, while Kenrick Brown scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds for Cornwall College. Campbell scored 17 points and had 20 rebounds, and Senior scored 20 points.