Cornwall College force game three in ISSA U-16 basketball semis

CORNWALL College has forced a deciding third game in the ISSA Rural Area Under-16 basketball best-of-three semi-finals by winning game two against Herbert Morrison Technical 52-50 on Thursday to tie up the series at 1-1.

Herbert Morrison won the first game 60-32 but their cross-town rivals rallied for a close win on Thursday, forcing a third game to decide who will face Manchester High in the final.

Manchester qualified for both finals, beating Belair High 2-0 in both sections — the Under-16 and Under-19 — and will meet Herbert Morrison, who also beat Holland High 2-0 in their best-of-three semi-final on Wednesday.

At Cornwall College on Thursday the home team gave up an early lead and trailed going into the fourth quarter, where they rallied for a slender win.

Cornwall got off to a good start and led 20-11 before Herbert Morrison took over the game in the second quarter and led 32-28 at half-time and 41-37 at the end of the third quarter.

Nathan Hinds of Cornwall scored a game-high 17 points and had seven steals, six rebounds and four assists. Noah Gordon scored 12 points and had five steals while Johnathon Smart scored nine points and had five rebounds.

Herbert Morrison’s Shamar Russell had a double-double 12 points and 11 rebounds, Raheem Lynch also scored 12 points, and Antonio Kerr scored eight points and had four rebounds.

On Wednesday, Herbert Morrison beat Holland High 73-61, at Holland, to complete their 2-0 win after they had won 63-61 in the first game played at Herbert Morrison.

Manchester beat Belair 41-12 in game two of the Under-16 competition, and advanced along with their Under-19 team.

At Holland on Wednesday, Herbert Morrison led by one point, 14-13, after the first quarter before outscoring Holland High 59-48 over the next three quarters, led by double-doubles from Daniel Clarke and Damani Williams.

Clarke scored a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds; Williams scored 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven steals; while D’Aire Patterson scored 19 points and had eight rebounds.

Alliston Nelson led Holland with 17 points and had 13 rebounds while Zaheer Lynch and Khaleel Anderson both scored 12 points.