KWAKWANI Secondary School surged into the finals of the Youth Basketball Guyana (YBG)- organised National School Basketball Festival Boys U-14 and Girls Developmental division when the semi-finals were played on Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The Berbice River school, one of the most dominant in the 14-year Festival’s history, was able to surge ahead of the Bishops’ High School by a 45-27 margin in the Boys U-14 semis and by a 25-18 margin against Queen’s College in the Girls division.

Meanwhile, Marian Academy girls team continued their flawless run in the Festival with a walkover win against Saint Stanislaus College. Saints boys were, however, able to get past President’s College (PC) 28-17 in the other U-14 semi-finals.

STRONG FIRST HALF
In the Boys U-14 division, Kwakwani slowed down their Georgetown opponents with Gevon Ross pulling down 16 of his 21 rebounds and scoring seven of his nine points early. The dominance in the paint resulted in numerous second shot opportunities.

Matthew David, who finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five steals, had scored eight points in the first period for an early 26-7 Kwakwani lead.

Kellon Phillips and Travis Lewis finished with nine points each for the winners.
The Georgetown school, who finished with a better second-half score (20-19), were led by Matthias Arindell who scored a game- high 17 points (10 of which were scored in the second half) and 11 rebounds.

Saints were able to hold PC to only six points in the second period, which carried them to their 11-point win.

David Bailey (also 14 rebounds) and Brandon Mckay scored 10 points each for the winners, while D. London scored nine points and eight rebounds for PC.
In the female clash, Kwakwani were able to register a seven-point win, with Shania Sears leading the charge with nine points.

Naiomi Barkoye finished with a game-high 11 points and 16 rebounds, but only Luanna Mohan (seven points, five rebounds and four steals) lent support.

The finals of the Festival is scheduled for next Saturday at the same venue.