Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

CALABAR AND St. George's got by St. Catherine and Excelsior to book their places in the semi-finals of the ISSA/KFC Southern Conference Under-19 schoolboy basketball competition at the National Stadium courts yesterday.

In Under-16 action, the final semi-final spots were captured by Jamaica College (JC), who beat St. Jago 41-28, and St. George's, who advanced following the failure of Tivoli to show up. St. Jago also secured their spot in the final four - despite a loss, by virtue of finishing second in their group.

In Under-19 play, Dexter Davis scored 20 points while Anthony Lugg netted 16 and grabbed 11 rebounds as Calabar downed St. Catherine 62-51. In a game that was close for most of the way, the Red Hills Road-team held an 11-10 edge in the first quarter and ended the half ahead by the same margin, 23-22. Calabar, led by a strong performance from Davis, outscored St Catherine 18-11 to open an eight-point lead in the third quarter.

The teams traded baskets in the final stanza and Calabar held on comfortably for victory.

Attack

In the day's other game, Kemar Cummings lead St. George's with eight points in a balanced attack which saw them edge Excelsior 49-31 in a low-scoring encounter.

Davis McHayle could have used some help as he scored 18 points and grabbed 24 rebounds in a losing effort for Excelsior. In the lone Under-16 match, Deanno Hibbert had 11 points and Richard Wilson had eight as JC thrashed St. Jago 41-28.

Rohjel Witter had eight points and snatched 16 rebounds for St Jago.

The competition's semi-finals are scheduled for next week.

On Monday, Ardenne will take on St. Jago at 2:00 in the first Under-16 semi-final while Ardenne take on St. George's in the Under-19 game scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, KC will tackle JC in Under-16 action at 2:00 p.m. while in the Under-19 game the North Street team will play Calabar at 3:00 p.m. All games will be held at the National Stadium courts.