KINGSTON, Jamaica — The hunt for spots in the finals of the ISSA urban Under-16 and Under-19 basketball competitions is on in earnest on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, with the first set of games in the best-of-three series.

Three schools— Jamaica College (JC), Campion College and St George’s College (STGC)— are in both the Under-16 and Under-19 semis, while Wolmer’s Boys complete the Under-16 line-up and Camperdown High the Under-19s.

The Under-16s will be in action on Monday with defending champion STGC hosting Wolmer’s Boys and JC travelling to Campion College. Both games are scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm.

JC will be looking for the double while defending their Under-19 crown, as they will play a St George’s College team that won the Under-16 title last year and is looking to add the Under-19 to the cabinet.

Coach of JC, Duane Cunningham, said he is excited for the boys of both the Under-16 and Under-19 teams as they remain in the hunt for two titles.

“JC is one of three schools to have made it to both the U-16 and U-19 semi-finals. I’m excited for the boys who have put a lot of work into being where they are at right now,” he told Observer Online.

“We belong in both of the semifinals and have as good a chance as any to win it all. However, our U-19 is currently undefeated, and that gives them some amount of confidence going in,” he pointed out.

“Our U-16 has the necessary talent to win it all, but we have no margin for mistakes. We just have to execute and bring that winning energy that JC is known for,” Cunningham added.

“That said, we are up against quality teams that are well coached, and that won’t give us victory without a fight,” he noted.

JC and Campion College are unbeaten, with Campion being the defending champion, and they will be hard to beat with the likes of Zachary Lawrence leading the line.

JC will look towards Oritsematosan Ikolo, Jahlani Jones and Christopher Burgess to dethrone Campion College of their Under-19 crown and, in the Under-16s, Jamarie Watson, Siedu Hamm and Dijon Wallder for success.

Ikolo is in good form, scoring 21 points in JC’s 58-42 win over Camperdown and 29 against Ardenne last week.

Campion College are coming off a close 64-62 win over STGC in which Zachary Lawrence had a monster game, scoring 35 points and 23 rebounds. They should prove too hot for Camperdown, who will be looking towards Kemani Halliday and Heri Leconte to carry the fight.

Meanwhile, STGC’s coach, Clifford Brown, noted that it will be a difficult task to win any title, let alone the double.

“It’s an uphill task trying to win one of two, much less to contemplate winning both titles. We at STGC will continue to work hard and see where the chips fall,” he told Observer Online.

“It would be nice to take home multiple pieces of silverware, but I never underestimate the opponents, so may the best team win. ‘God be with us on this journey,” Brown added.

The Light Blues of North Street will depend on the likes of U16 point guard and captain Joshua Thombs, shooting guard Jesehf McKenzie and centre Rico-Hylton Junior for success in the Under-16 category, and on captain and point guard Rusaughn Bent, shooting guard Barrington Dennis and small forward Alexander Bailey to lead the Under-19s to victory.