Herbert Morrison’s U-16s look to follow footsteps of victorious senior team
MONTEGO BAY, St James – Herbert Morrison Technical will be hoping to win a sixth-straight ISSA Western Conference Boys’ Under-16 title today when they face St James High in the decisive game of their best-of-three final.
On Wednesday, St James High came from behind in the final quarter to outscore Herbert Morrison 20-7 and hand the champions their first loss in over two years, winning 61-55 to level the Under-16 series at 1-1 after losing in double overtime in the first game.
Despite playing without two of their best players – Rhyheem Barrett and Cameron Morris – for the first three quarters, Herbert Morrison overwhelmed York Castle 74-58 to win the title 2-0 and complete yet another perfect season.
Today, St James High will go into Game Three with momentum after pushing Herbert Morrison to the limit in Game One, then beating them on Wednesday, to set themselves up for their first title in over 15 years.
Kemauny Welch scored a game-high 31 points for St James High who trailed 15-18 after the first quarter, were down by 11 points (26-37) at half-time, but who cut the deficit to seven points (41-48) at the start of the fourth quarter.
St James High took the game to the Herbert Morrison team in the final quarter and outscored them 11-4 to draw level at 52-52 with five minutes to go, before taking the lead a minute later when Jason Williams made a layup.
St James High led by four points (57-53) with just under two minutes to go as they scored their biggest win of the season.
Jason Williams scored 13 points and his brother Jodel scored 12 to support Welch, while Darren McFarlane had a double-double 13 points and 16 rebounds for Herbert Morrison, Kyle Fraser scored 16 points and had nine rebounds, and Dalmar Clarke scored 12 points.
Herbert Morrison won a sixth Under-19 title on Wednesday, their fifth-straight.
They secured the title as they outplayed York Castle to win by 16 points, leading 19-12 after the first quarter and going up 33-29 at half-time before extending the advantage to 10 points (51-41) at the end of the third quarter.
Anthony Thorpe picked up the slack for Herbert Morrison and led with 16 points, Davaughn Campbell scored 13 points, Kimali Edmondson had 11, and Barrett scored 10 points.
Desmond Pinnock had a double-double for York Castle with 18 points and 16 rebounds as Umar Dixon scored a game-high 19 points in the loss.
— Paul Reid