Coach Dwayne Cunningham said Finals MVP Tahj-Malik Campbell was the difference as Jamaica College (JC) came away with a narrow 37-34 win over Old Hope Road rivals Campion College, in the deciding Game Three of the ISSA Under-14 basketball competition, at the stadium courts on Monday.
Campbell led the Old Hope Road school with a game-high 15 points and six steals, getting good support from Jordon Nicholas Brown, who grabbed six rebounds. Nathan Whyte was Campion's top scorer with six points.
JC led 10-8, 22-17 and 29-27 through the first three quarters, but Campbell produced a top class defensive effort closing stages to help his team hold off a determined Campion.
"It was more difficult than I had imagined," Cunningham stated. "I was looking at primarily how they did against other teams, compared to how we did against those teams," he said.
"I thought we would be able to run away with the game based on the (competition's) restrictions on the players at this level, because everybody has to play ... but they stepped up and did well," he commented.
"The experience that Malik brought to the table overwhelmed their effort. He had some real great defensive plays that put us over the top, so his experience was what really did it for us," Cunningham stated.