Fatima take U-15, U-20 basketball titles

Fatima College walked away with two of the titles on offer last week when the Trinidad and Tobago Schools Basketball Association (TTSBA) held their championship competition at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Complex from March 21-23.

Fatima clinched the boys’ under-15 and under-20 titles, while East Mucurapo Secondary (girls’ under-15), Five Rivers Secondary (girls’ open division), and Holy Cross College (boys’ under-17) copped the other titles during three days of exciting action.

In the boys’ under-15 category, Fatima got to the final after a big 47-15 victory over Tobago’s Scarborough Secondary in the semifinal.

In the final, Fatima faced a tougher test against Trinity College East but they held their own to get a 46-33 win. Fatima’s Idris Martin walked away with the under-15 MVP award.

In the boys’ under-20 category, Fatima surged past Chaguanas North Secondary in the semifinal when they got a comfortable 61-21 victory on March 22.

The boys from Mucurapo Road returned the next day to take home the boys’ under-20 crown as they defeated Hillview College by a 36-17 margin in the final. Fatima’s Jediah King copped the MVP award after averaging 15 points and four steals in the competition.

In January, Fatima walked away with the boys’ under-17 knockout title when they outlasted Holy Cross College. On the weekend, though, the young men from Holy Cross College exacted revenge when they defeated their Fatima counterparts in an intriguing final.

In the semis, both teams had relatively easy paths to the final as Holy Cross defeated Chaguanas North by a 55-30 margin, while Fatima turned back Bishop’s High School by a 51-23 margin. In the final, Holy Cross completed their mission to stop Fatima from claiming three national crowns as they got a gripping 48-42 victory to hold the boys’ under-17 trophy aloft.

Jervais Caracciolo drained 30 points for Holy Cross in the final, while N’kobie Ince chipped in with ten points. Caracciolo earned the under-17 MVP after averaging 24 points and five steals in the tournament.

The girls from Five Rivers Secondary flirted with the idea of winning a pair of titles, as they finished as losing finalists in the under-15 category in addition to securing the title in the open division.

In the girls’ open final, Five Rivers defeated Bishop’s by a 14-8 margin in a low-scoring affair. In the girls’ under-15 final, though, Five Rivers were undone by East Mucurapo who emerged with a tight 24-19 victory. Mucurapo’s Ranessa Serrette and Five Rivers’ Tiara Antoine copped the respective girls’ under-15 and under-20 MVP awards.