The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Three of the four No.1 seeds held court on day one of the Government Secondary Schools Sports Association basketball best-of-three semi-final series, with the only upset in the senior boys’ division.

Junior Boys

DW Davis Royals - 38

HO Nash Lions – 22

Fredrick King scored eight of his 13 points in a pivotal third quarter as the Royals make another appearance in the final.

King was dominant on both the offensive and defensive boards, and outmatched the Lions frontcourt. Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter with a 4-2 margin but DW Davis eventually took a 14-8 lead at the half.

King would go on to score the first seven points of the quarter and the Royals would take a 21-12 lead.

Dieunel Joseph’s offensive rebound and follow gave the Royals their first double-digit lead (24-14) with just under two minutes left to play in the half and they took a 30-14 lead at the beak.

A Harold Burrows layup gave the Royals a 34-14 lead midway through the third and the Lions never threatened in the fourth.

Junior Girls

TA Thompson Scorpions – 42

CH Reeves Raptors - 31

Nathalya Lightbourne and Dominiqua Rolle combined to outscore the entire Raptors team and lead the Scorpions to the finals.

Lightbourne had a game high 17 points while Rolle added 16 in the opening game of the afternoon.

Desiree Humes led the Raptors with 10 points. Tied at six, Rolle came with a steal on the final possession of the first quarter and made a three from the top of the key to take a 9-6 lead and a 15-10 lead at the half.

Lightbourne would go on to score eight in the third as TA Thompson took their biggest lead of the game. She opened the third with a layup, followed by a jumper from Azaria Bellotto for a four-point possession. They led by as much as 13 in the quarter when Rolle’s layup made it 26-13.

CH Reeves would eventually cut the deficit to five but the Scorpions responded with an inbounds play out of a timeout that got Dwaynae Knowles a wide open layup. They ended the game on a late run and Lightbourne’s layup pushed the lead back to 10 with just under two minutes left to play.

Senior Girls

CI Gibson Rattlers - 33

CR Walker Knights – 27

The Rattlers overcame a seven-point second half deficit to tie the game at 21 late in the third. That momentum carried over into the fourth and the Rattlers went on a 9-0 run to take a 30-25 lead at the 2:27 mark in the fourth. Their run reached as much as eight down the stretch.

Senior Boys

Anatol Rodgers

Timberwolves – 61

Doris Johnson Mystic

Marlins – 50

The fourth seeded T’Wolves made a statement in game one with a wire-to-wire win.

Kirklyn Farrington scored 11 of his team high 15 points in the fourth quarter to help Anatol Rodgers withstand a late Mystic Marlins fourth quarter surge. Tyrell Butler scored 13 while Kelson Riley, Jermain Mackey and K’Jay Nixon all scored six.

Joshua Burrows led the Mystic Marlins with 14 points, Janus Shepherd scored 12 and Jaythan Rolle finished with nine.

Butler scored the game’s first basket with a three-point play and Riley followed with a dunk on the next possession to set the tone early.

The Mystic Marlins were 0-5 from three-point range and struggled to score with just three field goals in the quarter. The T’Wolves’ lead reached double figures when Mackey scored back-to-back buckets to spark a 6-0 run. Anatol led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter after a late Butler fastbreak layup.

The run continued in the second when Paul Carridice got a dunk and Farrington finished a fastbreak for a 20-7 lead. Burrows got the Mystic Marlins back into the game with a pair of free throws then a floater. Shepherd followed with a pair of jumpers from the top of the key to pull within five (20-15).

Rodgers came out of the timeout with a Mackey layup to stop the run. Butler would again score the final basket late in the quarter to give the T’Wolves a 28-17 lead at the half.

Shepherd opened the third with a three and the Mystic Marlins began to spark a run, but the T’Wolves always had an answer. They responded with a run of their own and a Farrington layup pushed the lead back to 10 (32-22 and eventually 40-32 headed into the fourth.

Farrington’s fastbreak layup made the score 55-39 with just under four minutes left to play. Malachi McCoy’s three-point play brought Doris Johnson within nine but they couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch to get back in it. Anatol Rodgers scored on four consecutive possessions to put the game away and take game one.