National Sports Council U15 Schools Basketball Competition Update: Harrison College Lions Secure Nail-Biting Win; Queen’s College Warriors Suffer First Loss of the Season

Harrison College Lions (Kolij) sneaked out a hard-earned two-point win while basketball powerhouse Queen’s College Warriors suffered their first preliminary game loss in several years as the National Sports Council U15 Schools Basketball competition continued this week.

Travelling north to the home court of Coleridge & Parry (CP), the Kolij boys were in for a battle when Jamarie Cyrus put the home team on his back to score 10 points and lead his team to 14-11 advantage at halftime.

Kolij were made to fight during the third period as Jamal James scored 7 of his team-high 10 points in the second half to bring the game to a deadlock at 18 heading into the final quarter.

CP showed their resilience behind the strong play of Cyrus, being down by 4 points in the final minute of the game, they created turnovers and converted baskets to tie the game at 26 with 10 seconds remaining.

The Kolij boys showed their championship mettle. Matthew King scored the go-ahead two-point shot with six seconds on the clock as the team then forced a steal with the clock running out to give the defending champions a 28-26 victory.

King finished with 8 points for the Lions while Cyrus had a game-high 18 points for CP.

Meantime, Christ Church Foundation Beacons (CCFS) used a 20-8 fourth-quarter run to defeat last year’s losing finalist Queens College (QC) 59-46.

In a game where neither team could gain any favourable advantage, QC held a two-point lead after the first quarter while CCFS gained the edge by the slightest of margins, 21-20 (halftime) and 39-38 after the third quarter.

Kimani Maynard was a one-man wrecking crew for QC as he led the scoring with a game-high 31 points, but this wasn’t enough as CCFS had four players scoring in double digits to show their complete team effort.

Jeremiah Watson and Ianto Morris scored 14 points each, while Zebediah Simpson chipped in with 13 which included 8 in the fourth quarter, Johnel Pilgrim also recorded 12 points to give the Beacons a commanding 59-46 win at home.

At Graydon Sealy, St Michaels Secondary A Cougars (SMS A) remained unbeaten with a dominant victory over the Graydon Sealy Secondary School 70-19.

SMS A never looked back as they jumped out to an early 21-3 advantage after the first quarter.