Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter 
Left: Calabar High's captain and point guard, Kavin Carty (third left), receives the all-island U-16 Trophy the winners' trophy from Albert Corcho, ISSA's chairman for basketball, for winning the ISSA/KFC schoolboys competition on Thursday at the Stadium Courts. Calabar won 58-33.
Right: St. Catherine High's captain Noel Wright (second left) collects the winners' trophy from Albert Corcho, ISSA's chairman for basketball, after his team defeated Spanish Town rivals St. Jago in the Under-19 all-island ISSA/KFC schoolboy basketball final at the Stadium Courts on Thursday. April 13, 2006. St. Catherine won 62-53. - PHOTOS BY ANTHONY MINOTT
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE champions St. Catherine and Calabar may be too young for champagne, but that won't dampen their celebrations as big wins, 62-53 for St. Catherine over St. Jago and 58-33 for C'bar over Old Harbour in the KFC/ISSA all-island basketball finals, saw them lift schoolboy championship's double crown at the National Stadium courts on Thursday.
A well-executed and high-powered Calabar offence proved to be just two much for Northern Conference champions Old Harbour, who had came back from an early deficit to tie the game 26-26 at half-time.
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Though their defensive effort was a determined one at times, this would be as far as they got, as they could not get their shots to fall and found it difficult to contend with big man, Omarie Williams, who did all the damage with his 21 points 23 rebounds. Williams was also named Under-16 Most Valuable Player (MVP), while Calabar coach Ludlow Barker was named Under-16 Coach of the Year.
Things were, however, much closer in the Under-19 section and the Spanish Town derby between St. Catherine and St, Jago which was expected to be hotly-contested did not disappoint.
St. Catherine got off to good start and had an early 8-2 lead towards the end of the first quarter. However, they could not lose a determined St. Jago and anchored by the efforts of big man Adrian Forbes, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the encounter and guard Michael Blake - 16 points 5 assists , not only crept back to tie the game, but took the lead at 25-24 at the start of the second half.
But St. Catherine would blow the game wide open in the third quarter courtesy of a solid performance from Under-19 MVP Javan Bailey who was a nuisance all around ending the game with 16 points, 14 steals, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and very hot shooting from Ricardo Sutherland who hit four straight three's for a 10-point lead headed into the final quarter.
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St. Jago were far from finished a run early in the quarter saw them creep to within 6 with 8:00 minutes left to go. But in the end it was just too much for St. Catherine as they managed to hold on for the title.
"I am very proud of the guys and I doubt we have ever won both cups in one season so it's quite an achievement," St. Catherine's coach Lennox Lindo said. Lindo also received the Under-19 Coach of the Year award.
St. Jago's coach, Kevin Grossett, said: "Indiscipline from the players cost us the game, we could keep down our turnovers, I kept telling them to take better care of the ball."
