Garrison survive Austin rally to take Girls' title - Jan 24, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
TWO TITLE GAMES weren't enough to separate Garrison and St Lucy last year.
And neither were four quarters in the latest instalment of basketball's newest rivalry.
Nine-time finalists Garrison are back on top the WIBISCO Shirley Girls' Basketball totem pole again, overcoming Anna Austin's furious fourth quarter rally before eventually nipping adversaries St Lucy 53-50 in Friday's overtime thriller at the Barbados Community College [read more]
TWO TITLE GAMES weren't enough to separate Garrison and St Lucy last year.
And neither were four quarters in the latest instalment of basketball's newest rivalry.
Nine-time finalists Garrison are back on top the WIBISCO Shirley Girls' Basketball totem pole again, overcoming Anna Austin's furious fourth quarter rally before eventually nipping adversaries St Lucy 53-50 in Friday's overtime thriller at the Barbados Community College.
Two years of heartbreak are finally behind the Dayrells Road lasses after successive championship losses in 2008 and 2009 left Garrison still in search of an unprecedented fifth Wanda Maynard Challenge Trophy.
However, this time around seasoned point guard Chantal Husbands was able to stand up long enough to see her side home and take the MVP award - but just barely.
Hours before the start, Husbands was declared medically unfit to play, only taking the court due to her mother's pleas.
And it didn't help Husbands' situation any that the game dragged into an extra period - the first time in the tournament's nine-year history that overtime was needed to decide a winner in the title game.
But the nail-biting finish came as no surprise considering the recent history between the two opposing schools.
It's a rivalry that has taken a completely new dynamic after St Lucy's boys trumped their heated foes in November's league final, while Garrison returned the favour for the Pearson Griffith Challenge Trophy just weeks later.
And that history clearly wasn't lost on Austin, the star St Lucy guard whose own heroics nearly brought a historic girls title to Trents.
Facing a double digit deficit towards the end of the third quarter (34-23), the dynamic Austin accounted for all of her team's 18 fourth-quarter points to force what seemed to be an unlikely overtime session, after Husbands and Garrison forward Shannon Hackett appeared to put the contest out of reach.
Overcoming a listless two-point effort in the first half, Austin opened the fourth scoring eight unanswered points on an array of open court lay-ups and midrange jumpers to pull St Lucy within just one point (36-35) two-and-a-half minutes into the period.
However, the rally seemingly came to a halt when Hackett ended the two-minute drought with a short jumper while Husbands and Nikita President added baskets of their own to put Garrison ahead 42-35.
The Austin onslaught was far from finished though, as the clutch utility player began making her way to the line instead, scoring four free throws in succession as part of an 8-1 burst that levelled the scores at 43 with one minute to play.
Two empty Garrison possessions later and Austin was at it again, coming up with what seemed to be the game winning basket on a transition lay-up which gave St Lucy an improbable 45-44 lead with seven seconds remaining.
But it was Husbands' heroics that eventually won out on a day she earned every bit of her MVP trophy.
The craft playmaker dramatically sent the game into overtime, hitting the second of two free throws after drawing opposing centre Ashlee McClister into a shooting foul on the subsequent inbounds play.
Then Husbands returned to marshal Garrsion's stifling defensive effort in the extra period with Jelisa Harewood opening the session with a strip of Markayla Yearwood which she converted into open court points preceding two decisive steals.
President added three crucial baskets following each subsequent stop as Austin was held to just two scoreless shot attempts in the final five minutes.
Just as the two schools split last year's Division 2 Boys' trophies, so too were the bleachers equally divided with their fervent fans as the carnival-like atmosphere had the competing players struggling to hear the period-ending horn.
From Husbands' opening lay-up to her final steal nearly two hours later, each basket and stop was greeted with rapturous applause from both sides of the indoor gymnasium.
But none more so than Garrison's last stop that allowed Husbands to dribble out the clock.
'The first championships would've been the sweetest, but this one is really special,' expressed victorious head coach Orland Roach.
'With the type of injuries we had coming in I can say that this one is truly special.'
Husbands finished with a team high 22 points, Hackett added a further 18 while Austin led all scorers with 27 points.
Garrison reach ninth straight final - Jan 17, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
THE ONLY TEAM to have contested every girls basketball final is returning to the title game again.
Chantal Husbands scored eight of her team-high 22 points in the fourth period, including the eventual go-ahead basket as Garrison reached their ninth successive final in the WIBISCO Shirley Schools Basketball Competition through a thrilling last-second 62-60 victory over Combermere at the Barbados Community College on Friday [read more]
THE ONLY TEAM to have contested every girls basketball final is returning to the title game again.
Chantal Husbands scored eight of her team-high 22 points in the fourth period, including the eventual go-ahead basket as Garrison reached their ninth successive final in the WIBISCO Shirley Schools Basketball Competition through a thrilling last-second 62-60 victory over Combermere at the Barbados Community College on Friday.
It was the stuff of which legends are made, after the resolute point guard overcame injury and a daunting 11-point fourth-quarter deficit with one of her more resilient, if not attractive, performances.
The plot couldnt have been scripted any better for Husbands heroics, as the star guard watched from the side with a chest ailment while the upset-minded Combermere spearheaded by Makela Walcott, Rhea Holder built a 52-41 advantage early in the last period.
But eight minutes and eight Husbands points later, Garrison held the only advantage that mattered the last one.
The four-time champs were a different side from the previously listless outfit once their seasoned floor general returned to lead the charge at both ends of the floor.
Husbands successive steals upon re-entry led to five unanswered points from Nikita President and Shannon Hackett, before she called her number on two straight transition lay-ups the last capping an 18-6 run that gave Garrison a 59-58 lead.
And the crafty point guard probably would have had another basket in the open court just moments later were it not for Holders spectacular chase down block from behind.
However, Holders tenacious defensive effort failed to mask her teams monumental fourth-quarter collapse at the other end, as Combermere wasted several chances within the final minute to retake the lead.
Holder herself was guilty on three possessions alone missing a short runner while committing successive turnovers along the baseline after a couple of empty trips from the Garrison.
Even after the unlikely Jelisa Harewood had extended Garrisons lead to three (61-58), Walcott still found herself open for a potential game-winner after two Alexandra Haynes free throws reduced the deficit to one point.
But Walcotts last-second, medium-range jumper fell agonisingly short, hitting the front ring before Husbands hauled in the ensuing rebound ahead of the final whistle.
Earlier, Combermere surprisingly built an early double-digit first-quarter lead (18-8), which soon became a 31-17 advantage midway through the second after capitalising on the initial struggles of Husbands and President.
Garrisons early woes were further compounded when that backcourt pair failed to utilise the towering Hackett on the inside, as Holder and Walcott turned each of their subsequent turnovers and missed shots into transition points the other way.
And when Hackett finally got involved, it didnt help matters that she too struggled against the length of Dalia Scantlebury and Thandeka Smith in the paint.
Walcott led all scorers with 27 points and Holder added 25, although just two of those came in that decisive fourth quarter.
Hackett assisted Husbands with 17 points and President scored ten for the Garrison, who will play first-time finalists St Lucy in Fridays final.
Combermere make first ever Final Four - Jan 15, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
COMBERMERE ARE THROUGH to their first ever WIBISCO Shirley Girls Basketball Final Four.
And they didnt even have to take the court to get there.
The Waterford lasses booked the fourth and final playoff spot after fifth placed Harrison College fell to title contenders St Lucy 40-23 at Trents in the season finale [read more]
COMBERMERE ARE THROUGH to their first ever WIBISCO Shirley Girls Basketball Final Four.
And they didnt even have to take the court to get there.
The Waterford lasses booked the fourth and final playoff spot after fifth placed Harrison College fell to title contenders St Lucy 40-23 at Trents in the season finale.
Anna Austin poured in a game high 16 points as the hosts never allowed Kolij to surpass neither the initial seven-point half-time deficit (24-17), nor the idle Combermere for the last semi-final berth.
Reigning champs Queens College play St Lucy in the first of Fridays playoffs at 3 p.m. at the Barbados Community College, while former queens and eight-time finalists Garrison face Combermere in the other semi-final match-up.
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