On Friday at the City Center - which is just barely still standing - game two of the Central Zone High School Basketball Finals were played.
SCA played Wesley in the girls final. SCA had won game one but trailed for most of game two.
But in a thrilling finish, SCA won 27 to 23 - regaining the Central title for the first time in 17 years. Top scorers for SCA were Kersha Pollard with 13 and Gilda Estrada with 12 while Jenae Samuels had eight for Wesley. Then in the boys final, SJC took on the dominant Sadie Vernon High. Sadie Vernon had won game one with a remarkable 52 points from Kasheif Thomas - including nine three pointers.
Well, in game two he was equally dominant - even if he only had 36 points - which isn't too bad at all for a championship series clinching game.
And Sadie Vernon did clinch the championship, dominating SJC 94 to 79. Now, whenever we air a story about Sadie Vernon, it's always bad news but tonight it's about excellence and the students weren't too shy about it:..
Kashief Thomas, Averaged 44 points PPG in Finals
"No playoff games is ever easy, it's always tight games. The team played best defence. In the first game I had to set a statement with 53 points. In the second game I knew tay had to come to me because it was I who hurt them on Thursday. So my plan was telling the team that we have to hit from all angles. We came out and each player hot from all angles and won the game easy."
Ryan Michael, Guard, Sadie Vernon High School
"We have dominant and talented players and like they say every ship has to have a leader, Kashief is our leader."
Jules Vasquez
"You average over 40 points a game in the finals which is unconscious. Explain how did you do that and is that your best effort?"
Kashief Thomas
"To make a long story short I think I am a senior player to this season. It's like nothing to me, I've been doing that. I played with senior players like Darwin Leslie, Rupert Brown and all the rest of Belize Bank players and so it's started from the Bulldogs camp. When this season came it was like nothing to me, it's like working out."
Ryan Michael
"There were a lot of people out there who didn't want to say that Sadie Vernon won because there are always negative comments on the radio. Sadie Vernon - I find a home. We always work as a team in what we do. Before the volleyball season started we were working out. Every time we always put in more and now it work out for us in the end."
Charles Armstrong, Center
"We have talented players."
Peter McCoy, Forward
"I don't really watch the negative part of Sadie Vernon, I see Sadie Vernon as a positive place. When I got there I feel good. The things we do at Sadie Vernon; we don't do anything bad, we bring up our school in sports that is why people don't like us when it comes to sports because we dominate sports and we do our school work and stay active in school. We keep playing ball and work out hard. When it comes to the nationals we win nationals easy, then we go to the Caribbean to represent Belize. "
Both SCA and Sadie Vernon now move unto the national championships in San Pedro this weekend.
