The Lodge School and The St Michael School booked the final two spots in the National Sports Council Under-15 School Basketball Competition, advancing to the semi-final stage of the tournament.
With the final two preliminary games taking place on Monday, Lodge and Combermere battled at the Waterford hard courts in a close, intense affair, which looked like it could go either way.
Both teams entered the final game with three wins and one loss in the North Zone, which meant it was a winner-take-all encounter. Combermere came out the gates strong and built a halftime advantage, 22-13, behind the strong play of forward Gabriel Devonish.
After halftime, Lodge began to play as if their season was on the line, outscoring Combermere 12-2 in the third quarter to take a 25-24 lead into the final eight minutes of the game.
The 4th quarter was a back-and-forth battle that saw Lodge’s best player all tournament, Immanuel Blai, put his team on his back while scoring 9 of his game high 17 points, Devonish led Combermere with 16 points.
Lodge celebrated victory on the home courts of Combermere 38-35 and will now face the Queens College A in the semi-finals.
The St Michael School had a much easier time with The Alexandra School as they won their game 47-31. Ari Mottley Squires led all scorers with 19 points for the Cougars who led all the way.
They will now push for an upset in their semi-final game against tournament favourites Harrison College A, who have yet to be challenged this season.
The semi-final dates for U15 are yet to be announced while the NSC U17 tournament will get under way from Wednesday. (ZM)
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