Fatima cop two North zone basketball crowns

Fatima College showed their mettle on the hard courts at Mandela Park, St Clair and Fatima grounds last week as they copped two of three titles on offer in the north zone of the TT Schools Basketball Association's (TTSBA) 2025 season.

Fatima claimed the under-17 and under-20 north zone crowns, while they finished runner-up to St Mary's College in the under-15 age group.

In the under-17 final on March 29, Fatima got a hard-fought 45-33 win over Queen's Royal College, with William Francis leading the way with 15 points in the low-scoring affair.

Also on March 29, St Mary's Jovanni Barker was the main man in the under-15 finale with a 16-point performance as the "Saints" earned a 43-36 victory over the Fatima outfit to stop the latter team's plot to land a north treble.

Fatima clinched the under-20 division on March 26 to claim their third successive north zone title in that age group.

Meanwhile, in the east zone on March 28, the youngsters from Trinity College East stopped Holy Cross College in their tracks when they got an exciting one-point victory in the under-20 final.

Playing at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Arena, the teams went toe-to-toe in what was a rematch of the under-17 final on March 27. Trinity won the under-17 final to displace the outgoing national champs Holy Cross, and their under-20 charges followed suit as they got a gripping 72-71 victory.

Trinity held a 35-30 lead at halftime. And despite the valiant efforts of Holy Cross star Jervais Caracciolo who poured in a game-high 35 points, Trinity held their nerve to get the slender win.

Josiah John-Andrew led the Trinity charge with 32 points, with Alexie Alexis and Serge Robinson scoring 19 and 11 points respectively.

N'kobie Ince had a solid game for Holy Cross with 20 points, while Caiden Chase added 14 points.

In the east zone's under-20 third-place match, Hillview College copped the bronze medal when they defeated San Juan South Secondary 49-45. Samuel Edwards led Hillview with 19 points, with Isaiah Bourne chipping in with 15 points.

The winners of the respective age group divisions will now compete at the national championships which will be contested from April 10-12 at the Southern Regional Indoor Sporting Arena, Pleasantville.