Manchester High seek good start in basketball semis
MANCHESTER, Jamaica — Double defending champions Manchester High will hope to take the lead in their best-of-three ISSA Rural Area boys basketball semi-finals when they host Knox College and Herbert Morrison on Monday.
The Under-19 game against Herbert Morrison will be a repeat of last year’s final while in a third game also at Manchester High, Holmwood Technical will take on Knox College in the other Under-19 semi-final.
On Tuesday, unbeaten Herbert Morrison will host York Castle in the first game of their Under-16 best-of-three semis.
Holmwood Technical booked their Under-19 semi-final spot on Friday after they rallied to beat Herbert Morrison 64-46 in a rescheduled game played in Montego Bay, handing the former champions their first loss of the season in the process.
The game as well as the Under-16 encounter between Herbert Morrison and Knox College were rescheduled after the junior game was interrupted by rain a week earlier.
Holmwood Technical, who were led by a game-high 26 points from Melvin Ragoo, outscored Herbert Morrison 25-4 in the final quarter.
Herbert Morrison had gotten off to a good start and led 14-11 after the first quarter but Holmwood Technical cut the lead to two points, 29-27, at half time before the home team held the lead, 42-39, going into the final quarter.
Denrick Jenkins also scored 17 points for Holmwood Technical while Joshua Ferguson scored 15 points for Herbert Morrison and Tavaughni Bernard scored 12 points.
Herbert Morrison had led Knox College 43-40 in the Under-16 game with less than a minute remaining when the game was blown off a week earlier, and were able to hold them off for a close seven-point victory.
Herbert Morrison were ahead 13-6 after the first quarter and 31-21 at halftime before Knox College rallied in the third quarter to cut the deficit to six points, 50-44.
Shamar Russell scored a game-high 23 points for Herbert Morrison and also had nine rebounds and three blocked shots, and Michael Johnson scored 10 points and had six rebounds.
Kobhari Tee scored 18 points for Holmwood and had eight rebound while Justin Reid scored 10 points and had six rebounds.
