Holy Cross surge into East Zone basketball finals

Reigning TT Schools Basketball Association (TTSBA) national under-17 champions Holy Cross College made another step towards their title defence on March 24 when they advanced to the east zone final with a 55-45 win over Hillview College at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Arena.

Holy Cross jumped out to a 22-9 lead after the first quarter and held a 30-23 lead at the half. Hillview fought to get back into the game, but Holy Cross held their nerve to get the ten-point win.

N’kobie Ince led Holy Cross with 23 points, with Jervais Caracciolo chipping in with 13 points. Hillview's top-scorer was Joshua Fontenelle with 19 points, with both Isaiah Bourne and Josiah Martinez adding nine points.

As they look to retain their title, Holy Cross will be opposed by a Trinity College East team that defeated San Juan South Secondary 60-45.

Trinity led 20-7 after the first quarter and led 29-19 at the halfway stage. San Juan clawed back to within six points as Trinity held a 45-39 lead at the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter, Trinity limited San Juan to just six points as they pulled away to get the facile win.

Josiah Andrew and Alexie Alexis proved to be a handful for the San Juan defence as they scored 24 and 18 points respectively to lead the Trinity cause. Tyrese Singh scored 20 points to lead San Juan.

In the east zone under-15 semifinals on March 21, the youngsters from Holy Cross booked their spot in another final as they defeated Trinity 67-41 in a blowout win. Holy Cross held an eight-point lead at the half and limited Trinity to just 16 second-half points as they pulled away for the win.

Ince impressed again as he poured in 27 points for Holy Cross, with Josiah Montique leading Trinity with 17 points.

In the other semifinal, San Juan overturned a seven-point halftime deficit as they defeated Hillview 43-37 in a close encounter. Singh led San Juan with 21 points, while Fontenelle put on a shooting clinic for Hillview with a game-high 27 points.

In under-17 action in the north zone at Mandela Park in St Clair on March 21, Queen’s Royal College and Fatima College advanced to the zonal final with low-scoring wins.

QRC defeated longtime rivals St Mary’s College 32-22, with Fatima edging St Anthony’s College 28-25.