Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
St. Catherine's coach, Lennox Lindo (left), and players Javan Bailey (centre) and Noel Wright (right) celebrate with the rest of the St. Catherine team after winning the KFC/ISSA Southern Conference Under-19 title at the National Stadium yesterday. St. Catherine won the game 64-49 to take the best-of-three series 2-1. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ST. CATHERINE and Calabar walked away champions of the KFC/ISSA Southern Conference basketball competitions when they wrapped up their best-of-three series against Wolmer's and St. George's in Under-19 and Under-16 play-offs yesterday at the National Stadium.
Recovering from a big let down in losing game two, the St. Catherine locomotive was back on track, flawless in its execution as it easily rolled over Wolmer's 64-49 in the Under-19 final.
St. Catherine's point man, Javan Bailey, who had 24 points and 10 assists in the encounter, was awesome to say the least. He not only amazed the crowd with his astonishing passes, but dictated the pace of the entire game.
Wolmer's got off to blistering start and got out to 6-1 lead before closing the first quarter 13-8.
Anchored by stern defence and led by 12 second-quarter points by Bailey, St. Catherine rallied. With one minute left in the quarter they led 23-21, but a big three by Kerron Caine, who got into early foul trouble and had an overall disappointing showing with only six points (1-3 from behind the arch), made sure Wolmer's at least held the lead going into half-time at 24-23.
However, there was no stopping Bailey and he pushed his team to a huge third quarter in which they scored 28 points and put Wolmer's behind by 12 points at 51-39.
NO ANSWER
The crowd held its collective breath when Bailey went down with an injury at the end of the quarter but Noel Wright, who had 21 points and 15 rebounds, picked up the slack and Wolmer's could find no answers. An injured Bailey would then return mid-way through the fourth to see his team, already comfortably ahead, coast to victory.
In Under-16 play-off, Calabar got the better of St. George's, 49-41. A third-quarter St. George's surge saw them fight their way from a 14-point half-time deficit to tie the game at 31-31, heading into the final stanza.
However, a strong 19 points and 21 rebounds from big man Omari Williams proved too much in the end. The top four teams from each conference will now contest the national finals.
