St. Thomas / St. John Interscholastic Athletic Association opened play on Wednesday afternoon with two varsity games at Antilles School’s Mark C Marin Center.
The Lady Hawks started the defense of their title with a convincing 53-22 victory over the Lady Canes. Yemeli Santana-Rodriguez led the Hawks with 13 points. Kayla Laplace scored all of her 12 points in the paint for the winning team. C’Orna Greene dropped a game-high 14 points in a losing effort for the Hurricanes.
Both teams’ next game is against the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Lady Rays. The Hurricanes will face them first on Friday at 4 p.m., and three days later, on Monday, the Lady Rays will host the Hawks at 4 p.m. You can see both games at the Digna Marie Wheatley Gymnasium on Ivanna Eudora Kean’s campus.
The second game of the day was in the varsity boy’s division. Antilles School boys were less than hospitable hosts as they conquered the All Saints Vikings 70-17 at the MCM Center. The Canes used a suffocating defense, generating 16 steals and a balanced offensive attack, with Dillen Webbe and K’Nard Callendar setting the pace with 15 points each. Tamir Browne was the top scorer for All Saints with 8 points.
The Hurricanes will face a more challenging opponent in their next contest as they travel to Rays Country to take on the league-defending champions, IEKHS, on Wednesday. The Vikings will take the court on Feb. 3 against Gifft Hill School, also at Kean’s gymnasium. Both games will start at approximately 5:30 p.m.
The middle school boys games scheduled for Thursday at Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School are postponed and will be played later this season.
There will be two games on Friday starting at 4 p.m. and five games on Saturday, commencing at 10 a.m. You can witness all the action at the Digna Marie Wheatly Gymnasium on the campus of IEKHS.
In the varsity male division, the league runner-up from the 2021-2022 campaign will commence their journey to improve on their second-place finish when the Antilles Hurricanes take on the Vikings of All Saints Cathedral School at 5 p.m. Charlotte Amalie High School, Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, and Gifft Hill School round out this five-team division.
The Rays are the defending champions in the varsity boy’s division, as they sported an unblemished record at the end of last season. They will start their title defense on Friday as they welcome the Barracudas of Gifft Hill School, St. John, to the Digna Marie Wheatley Gymnasium.
There will also be action in the Junior Varsity and Middle School Divisions. Charlotte Amalie entered two teams in the JV girl’s category. They are joined by the Virgin Islands Montessori School and Peter Gruber International Academy. Both schools entered teams in the JV boy’s division. Antilles School and Ivanna Eudora Kean High School are also participating in this age group.
The final category in this year’s league is the newly instituted Middle School Division. This category was created to ensure students are competing against players of similar age. It showcases student-athletes who are presently in the sixth to eighth grades.
Antilles School, Julius Sprauve School, Gifft Hill School, and Addelita Cancryn Junior and Intermediate Schools all entered teams in both the male and female divisions. Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School and VIMSPGIA are only participating in the boy’s division.
The MS division opens on Thursday, with two boys’ games at the BCB gymnasium. VIMSPGIA and Antilles School will take the court first at 4 p.m. Addelita Cancryn will face BCB at 5 p.m. in the second game of the day.
