Trinity East dethrone Holy Cross in east zone U-17 basketball final

The Trinity College East schoolboys put an end to Holy Cross College’s dreams of landing a treble of titles in the east zone of the TT Schools Basketball Association on March 27 when they beat the latter team in the under-17 final at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Complex.

On March 26, Holy Cross copped the boys’ under-15 title as they defeated San Juan South Secondary 52-30. And with a March 28 meeting with Trinity still to come in the under-20 final, Holy Cross had their eyes on three major prizes.

Holy Cross, who were last year’s under-17 national champions, were knocked off their perch as Trinity got an 80-71 win in a gripping finale. Trinity led 37-33 at halftime and opened up a 13-point lead at the end of the third quarter as the score was 60-47 in their favour. The outgoing champs had a late surge but the boys from Trinity held on to get the nine-point victory.

Josiah John-Andrew led Trinity with 33 points, while Alexie Alexis added 19 points.

For Holy Cross, their prolific duo of Jervais Caracciolo (31 points) and N’kobie Ince (24 points) did the heavy lifting. However, on this occasion, it wasn’t enough to give Holy Cross a zonal trophy.

In the third-place playoff in the east zone under-17 division, Hillview College captured the bronze medal with a tight 46-43 win over San Juan,

The game was close throughout and Hillview held a 14-11 lead after the first quarter and took a 27-20 lead into the half. San Juan cut into Hillview’s lead in the third quarter as the latter team led 36-33 after that quarter. The teams exchanged buckets in the final quarter as Hillview held on for the three-point victory.

Isaiah Bourne led Hillview with 26 points, with Tyrese Singh leading San Juan with 14 points.

The north zone will take centre stage on March 29 when Fatima College chase a couple of titles when they face St Mary’s College and Queen’s Royal College in the respective under-15 and under-17 finals. Both games will be played at Mandela Park in St Clair.