SEEMS NOT EVERYONE holds the Combermere model in high regard.
Canadian high school Saint Laurent Express showed exactly what they thought of one of Barbados’ most successful sporting schools after holding Cawmere’s under-16 basketball side to just three third-quarter points en route to a 59-50 victory at the Wildey Gym on Tuesday.
The win was the Express’ second triumph in as many games on the four-game tour, which started last weekend with a win over a combined National Sports Council side.
It followed a sports panel discussion last week in which the head of Combermere’s Physical Education Department, Michael Small, spoke of his school’s blueprint of sporting success in a presentation entitled The Combermere Model.
Clearly the Canadians weren’t a part of the audience.
Neither were they spectators, as Combermere were the ones left watching when a five-point (31-26) half-time deficit became a daunting 18-point gap (47-29) during ten minutes of dread that was the third quarter.
From layups to jumpers, nothing seemed to fall for the Waterford lads in that period while their starters were held to just three points.
And the bench suffered even worse, as Combermere struggled to protect the ball with the likes of Tionne Bostic, Kareem Tyrell and Joshua Cadogan watching from the pine.
Trailing by 18 to start the fourth, Combermere made a game of it after a Chiamaka Browne triple started a rally in the final quarter.
Bostic erupted for 11 of the hosts’ 21 points in the period, but Combermere got no closer than nine the rest of the way as Robert Denk and Anthanasius Ohia combined for eight fourth-quarter points to quell the comeback.
Cawmere actually enjoyed most of the early exchanges when Bostic opened the contest with a pair of long-range jumpers as part of the team’s 9-4 start to the game.
But Express got back in the contest after extending their 1-2-2 zone to midcourt, forcing Browne into some turnovers which Helio Noel, Justin White and Felix Duguay converted into three-pointers at the other end.
Christopher Barnes then got in on the act, sparking the visitors to transform a 16-15 first-quarter deficit to a 29-21 lead late in the second period.
However, Combermere closed the half on a bit of a surge, using a full-court man-to-man defence and some timely jumpers by Browne to pull within five (31-26) at the break.
Bostic had a game-high 24 points and Browne added 13, while Ohia led four Express players in double digits with 11.