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It's do or die for STATHS, Hydel

Published:Wednesday | January 19, 2011 | 12:00 AM
St Andrew Technical's (STATHS) Tommy McDonald (left) prepares to make a pass while being defended by Hydel High's Redford Rookwood (right) during Game Two of the best-of-three finals of the ISSA/KFC Under-19 basketball competition at the National Stadium on Monday. STATHS won 52-50 to level the series at 1-1. The crucial Game Three is on today. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer

Robert Bailey , Gleaner Writer

A thrilling contest is expected today when St Andrew Technical High (STATHS) oppose Hydel in Game Three of their best-of-three finals of the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/KFC Southern Conference Under-19 basketball competition at the National Stadium starting at 4 p.m.

STATHS enter today's decisive game oozing with confidence, following their nail-biting 52-50 win in Game Two on Monday at the same venue. Hydel won Game One 61-59 last Thursday.

"Wednesday's match will be our game because it will be our 50th anniversary and this will be our birthday present," said Venreece Watson, coach of STATHS.

"We will not lose that game on Wednesday," Watson added. "This is our championship because my coaching staff and I will be coming with a tactic that they have never seen before," he said. STATHS trailed their opponents 11-7 at the end of the first quarter in Game Two. However, they rallied in the second period to take a 25-22 lead at half-time. The extended their advantage to 36-30 at the end of the third stanza.

Ricardo Greaves, 15 points and 24 rebounds, Lamont Lindsay, 15 points, and Kino Elliot, 14 points, were the main scorers for STATHS in their win and, according to Watson, he is confident his players will get the job done.

"The boys now feel that they are the champions and they are now at their peak, and nothing should stop us now," he said.

Watson added: "Our plan will be same thing to what happened today (Monday), which was to mark out number eight (Paul Richards) and Jervis (Hamilton), and we did that and so we were able to come out on top."

Hydel's coach, Kurt Stewart, said his team must slow down their opponents' free flowing offence in order to stand a chance of winning today's game.

"We have a lot of adjustments to make, especially defensively, because we need to try and limit their output," said Stewart. "I think that we will have to play a very disciplined game to pull off this one because it is going to be very tough for us," he said.

Richards, who scored 21 points, and Jhavon Redman, 13 points, were the leading scorers for Hydel in that Game Two defeat, and they are expected to lead their team's charge for victory today.