York Castle to focus on improving defence, offence after 76-51 win

York Castle High’s head coach Peter Chambers is focused on improving his team’s defence and offence after a 76-51 win over Belair High in the quarterfinals of the ISSA Schoolboys Rural Under-16 Basketball competition at York Castle on Wednesday.

Marcodean Frater scored 29 points, pulled down two rebounds, and had three assists while Omar Campbell scored 28 points with three rebounds and two assists to help York Castle roll past Belair.

Belair’s top player was Joshua Jadorte who scored 17 points and added four rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists. He was supported by Jermaine Francis with nine points, two rebounds and eight assists.

The St Ann-based York Castle, competing in Group One, seized control early and overwhelmed Belair with aggressive defence and quick transition play in the first half, setting the tone for a one-sided contest.

“The aim is to win the competition and that is what I am trying to get in the minds of the boys. We have a very defensive team but the task is to keep them focused on both defence and offence so we can control the game better,” Chambers said.

Chambers told The Gleaner that despite the errors during the game, the team got the job done.

“The boys did well but we had wanted to restrict Belair’s points and beat them by a greater margin,” added Chambers.

York Castle raced to a 28-11 first-quarter lead but Belair came roaring back to keep the game competitive and were not blown away in the last three quarters. The scores were – second quarter, 15-13, third 16-12 and fourth 17-15.

Meanwhile, Michael Morgan, interim coach of Belair, expressed pride in the team’s performance.

“They fought and played really hard especially in the last three quarters but ultimately lost. They showed up today, especially Rayon Griffiths our shortest player whose contribution was significant. He showed the biggest heart and I am very proud of him. I think he was our most valuable player today,” said Morgan.

In another under-16 game, Manchester High blew away Muschett High 111-6. Manchester’s victory was led by Dante Matthews 31 points and eight steals. In under-19 action, Manchester steam-rolled Knox College 91-23, with Oral Daley getting 31 points and 11 rebounds and teammate Samuel Smith 21 points and 11 rebounds.

York Castle’s under-16s will turn their attention to their clash on Monday against Manchester High at 1:15 p.m., followed by the under-19 clash at 2:30 p.m.