ANTOINE MORRIS was caught pulling a “fast one” after trying to re-enter the fourth quarter despite fouling out minutes earlier.
There was just no coming back for him – or his Yellow team.
Jamario Clarke scored 15 points and Combermere schoolmate Jimal Singh had five points during a decisive fourth-quarter run to lead a star-studded Blue side to Thursday’s 73-68 win over a select Yellow squad in the United Insurance Schools’ Basketball All-Star Game at the Wildey Gym.
It was the third straight win in as many years for Team Blue, who have yet to lose the showcase since the exhibition first served as the season-opener in 2010.
And this has been with varying rosters, as neither side have featured the same players over the three years.
But the while names may be different, the result is surely the same.
Singh started the decisive run with a clutch three-pointer before adding another long jumper, sandwiching four points from Clarke to turn a 60-55 nail-biter into a comfortable double-digit (69-59) cushion.
However, the surge proved doubly adverse for Yellow, who further had to deal with the loss of their top-scorer when Morris picked up his fifth foul just four minutes into the period. That didn’t stop him from playfully trying to sneak on to the court just minutes later, though, until referee Peter Springer quickly spotted the ineligible player.
It was about the extent of any Yellow late-game comeback.
Yellow never threatened thereafter, merely conceding the contest after never getting any closer than eight points until the final seconds when they jokingly sent on all ten players on the floor for a possession.
They probably needed their entire roster to slow down a rampaging Blue early in the game when their opponents scored the contest’s first seven points, and nine of the initial 13 for a 19-10 first-quarter lead.
But Morris quickly countered, scoring a pair of jumpers while cleaning up the offensive glass as Yellow went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 19 within the first two minutes of the second.
Morris wasn’t done yet, though, having gone coast to coast for a lay-up, before hitting yet another jumper as part of an individual 12-point effort in the period that put Yellow ahead 39-34 at the break.
And they maintained that five-point cushion for much of the third quarter, until Jare Alleyne’s huge trey spurred Blue’s 11-5 finish to the period to give the champs back a lead (57-51) that they wouldn’t relinquish.
Singh finished with 13 points while Morris led all scorers on the day with 16.
Earlier, Antoine Lawrence hit a crucial three-pointer just before the buzzer to give St Leonard’s the Two-Ball title with a finals-best 16 points over Barbados Community College, Harrison College and Queen’s College.
