STATHS celebrate historic victory

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Venrecce Watson, head coach of St Andrew Technical High (STATHS), said hard work and dedication were the key factors which led to his team topping the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/KFC Southern Conference Under-19 basketball competition for the first time on Wednesday at the National Stadium Courts.

STATHS defeated Hydel High 57-49 in their decisive Game Three for a 2-1 come-from-behind series victory over their opponents.

"This was a very tough series for us because we had to work very hard to win both games," said Watson. "Even when we were down, I was always confident that we could come back and win the series.

"I am elated at this point. Words can't describe how I feel about winning this championship," said Watson. "We are going for the all-island title and so will go back to the drawing board to prepare ourselves for this."

STATHS began the game slowly as they trailed their opponents 21-10 at the end of the first quarter.

However, the Spanish Town Road-based STATHS rallied in the second quarter through their leading scorer Lamont Lindsay, who scored eight of his game-high 19 points in the period. STATHS outscored Hydel (14-9) to cut the deficit to 30-24 at half-time.

Virtually unstoppable

The third period was very exciting as both teams tussled for the lead. But STATHS, who introduced a number of bench players, stepped up their defence in the process and outscored their opponents (17-8) to take a 41-38 lead at the end of the stanza.

Hydel rallied in the final quarter to tie the game at 49-49 with seconds to go, but Lindsay, who was virtually unstoppable throughout the match, drained back-to-back jumpers down the stretch to seal the victory for his team.

"We started very slowly and were as dismal as we were in the first game, but at half-time I told them that this one is for the school and this is for our 50th anniversary," Watson said.

"They listened to us and they went out and executed our game plan and so we were able to come out with this victory."

Lindsay, who also ended the match with 12 steals and six rebounds, received good support from Kino Elliott, 15 points, and Ricardo Greaves, 10 points and eight rebounds. Jervis Hamilton, 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Paul Richards, 15 points and 17 rebounds, were the leading scorers for the Ferry-based Hydel.

Kurt Stewart, coach of the Hydel, was gracious in defeat. "I think inexperience got the better of us because we played a very experienced and well-coached team, and I thought they outplayed us down the stretch," said Stewart.

He added: "I also think that fatigue, indiscipline and foul troubles down the stretch hurt us and we choked under the pressure."