ST JAMES, Jamaica — Defending champions Manchester High School can secure their places in the final of the ISSA Rural Area Boys’ basketball competition when they take 1-0 leads into Thursday’s best-of-three semi-finals against Knox College and Herbert Morrison Technical.

Manchester High took the lead in both the Under-16 and Under-19 categories with big wins in Mandeville on Monday, beating Knox 67-48 in the Under-16 and overwhelming former national champions Herbert Morrison Technical 72-33 in the Under-19 game.

Jayquan Palmer had a double-double with a game-high 23 points and 25 rebounds as the home team won easily, leading 19-14 after the first quarter, 35-23 at halftime and 52-26 at the end of the third quarter.

Dante Matthews also scored 15 points and Hasim Wright scored 13 points for Manchester High, while Kaden Dunstan scored 18 points for Knox College.

In the Under-19 game, Oral Daley also had a double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds for Manchester High, who led 20-0 after the first quarter, the first time any Herbert Morrison team had failed to score a point in any quarter of a basketball game.

The Montego Bay-based school continued to struggle as they trailed by 27 points, 35-8 at halftime and 56-17 going into the final quarter.

Shavar Bogle also scored 15 points for Manchester High and Samuel Smith scored 12 points while Joshua Ferguson had a game-high 16 points for Herbert Morrison.

Also Thursday, Holmwood Technical could complete the Under-19 final match-up when they take a 1-0 lead into their series against Knox College, whom they beat 75-70 on Monday.

Holmwood Technical overcame a slow start to beat Knox College by five points, trailing by five points after the first quarter, 19-24, and were down 32-40 at halftime before rallying in the third quarter to lead 55-54 and cruised to a lead in the final quarter.

Melvin Ragoo led Holmwood Technical with 30 points, JA-dan Reid scored 18 points, and Romeo Smith had 16 points.

Marc Anthony-Bennett had a game-high 31points for Knox College and 10 rebounds, while Tajay Leslie scored 29 points.

Meanwhile, Herbert Morrison Technical took a 1-0 lead in their Under-16 best-of-three semis against York Castle High, winning 85-44 in Montego Bay on Tuesday.

They overpowered York Castle with four players scoring in double figures, led by Shamar Russell’s game-high 22 points.

Herbert Morrison led 21-4 after the first quarter and was ahead 43-12 at halftime and 64-28 going into the final quarter.

Michael Johnson scored 12 points while Tyler Linton and Rafael Stephenson both scored 10 points each as Richard Brock scored 17 points for York Castle and Kelaughn Grant scored 12 points and had 10 rebounds as well as three blocked shots.