Harrison College U16 Champs

 

A packed Barbados Community College gym witnessed an outstanding, nail biting performance as Harrison College claimed a hard fought Knockout title in the U16 School League Co-operators General Insurance, National Sports Council Junior School’s Basketball Competition.
 
In their fourth consecutive Knockout final, HC needed more than regular time to claim the evasive title as Graydon Sealy staged a second half comeback to force overtime. ‘Kolij’ recovered in the overtime to pull away from the opponents to take the title 50-38.
 
The game started much different where HC were in front and playing confidently at the start of the contest, outscoring Graydon Sealy 10-4 in the first quarter and then again in the second quarter 9-6. Up 19-10 at the half, the HC fans were confident and expectant for the victory after such a good first half.
 
Graydon Sealy had other plans for the game as they stepped on the court with a resolve to win the battle. The two teams started to trade baskets with Brandon Ruck and Makhaya Shaw attacking the hoop whenever the defense lapsed. There were times that they forced the attack against the defense, feeling the pressure of the time running down on the clock. The strategy was working as HC’s Coach Dario McCollin was shouting from the sideline to “stand on their right and do not reach” in an attempt to guide his players to send the Graydon guards to their weaker hand (left) and not to reach and be called for the foul. 
 
It was in vain however as his players could not resist the temptation allowing Ruck and Shaw to get to the charity stripe on almost every possession, unfortunately they were also missing from that spot. The third ended with Graydon Sealy down 10, 32-22 but they had matched HC almost point for point in that quarter.
 
The persistence and heart of Ruck and Shaw shone through in the fourth. These two alone decided to lead and take the fight to Kolij. They attacked and attacked the defense of Harrison College only to pause till a weakness showed in the defense. The HC defenders lost their discipline and the two Graydon Sealy guards either were scoring at the hoop or finding themselves at the line to shoot free-throws. So impactful was this assault by Ruck and Shaw that they were the only players who scored in the fourth quarter for Graydon Sealy. Ruck scored 6 of his game high 13 points in the fourth while Shaw scored 4 of his 6 points.
 
The pressure of the game was getting to all the players and with 4.48 left in the game, both teams lost a critical player after they were called for their fifth foul. This hurt Kolij more as it was star player Joshua Franklyn who fouled out of the game. With the loss of one of their most offensive players, HC felt the pressure and could not find the basket. They were fouling on the defensive end and missing badly on the offensive end along with turnovers that had just started to plague the players.
 
With two minutes left in the game, Graydon had cut the lead to 3 with the momentum on their side. Ruck was still attacking the hoop and drawing fouls. He scored 1 of 2 free-throws to bring the game within 2. He was done and with time running out he stole the ball and drove to the basket but missed the layup but his counterpart Shaw was there to grab the rebound and score the put back layup. The game was tied with 47.1 left on the clock. Both teams tried their best to score before time ran on but it was in vain and they went into the huddle at the end of regular time with the score at 34 all. Ruck and Shaw had outscored HC 12-2 in the fourth quarter to bring Graydon Sealy back to life with a chance. Kolij came out to win in the overtime period and unfortunately Graydon Sealy had nothing left to give. The defense had no answer for small Simeon Maynard who was small but had a wealth of skill which he showcased on the court. Maynard took the ball to the hoop against bigger defenders including an up-fake, step through which had the crowd going wild. Maynard had 6 of his 9 points in overtime. He was the important factor in getting the ball out of the backcourt for HC as they cruised to the win after the hard fought battle in regular time.
 
For Kolij Daniel Lorde shared the game high scoring honours with Ruck with 13 points supported by Maynard with his 9. Ajani Searles had 10 in a winning effort while big forward Jaden Walker finished with 8.
 
HC and Graydon face off again today at the Barbados Community College at 5 p.m. in the league finals with HC having the opportunity  to take the double title.

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