At 12:24 p.m

Haydn Gill07-Sep-2001At 12:24 p.m. yesterday, there was a loud chant from the balcony ofthe Cable & Wireless BET Sports Complex. Lodge School, Lodge School,Lodge School, Lodge School, bellowed two dozen present and formerstudents along with fellow supporters.Fifteen minutes later they were forming a guard of honour in front ofthe pavilion to welcome the new champions of schools’ Under-15cricket.The three-day final was far from over, but The Lodge, just havingsuccessfully defended their first-innings total of 232 by dismissingQueen’s College for 202, were virtually guaranteed their first evertitle at this level since Cable & Wireless took over sponsorship ofthe competition in 1986.Their hero on the day was Rio Brathwaite, whose off-breaks earned himfour of the last five wickets after Queen’s College resumed on 158 forfive.But, as coach Clifton Phillips stressed before the match, teamwork wasthe key to their success.The guys were very, very tough throughout the season. Mentally, theyseemed to be in it when things were going the other side. They alwaysstuck in there and did what they were asked to do, he said.This team has played consistently together for three years two yearsin the final of the Under-13 and having lost once, they wanted to getit right here. Cricket is on the up at the school. There is a lot ofinterest. At one point we contemplated entering two teams in thiscompetition. There are a lot of players who didn’t get the opportunitythis year.Queen’s College, who came within 30 runs of The Lodge’s total, shouldnot be disappointed over their effort in the final.There is always disappointment when you lose, but I believe the guysplayed a tremendous game of cricket, said Mike Gaskin, head ofQueen’s College’s Physical Education Department.For an Under-15 game, the commitment to the game over the three daysby both teams was tremendous. Even though at the end of the day welost on first innings, the Queen’s College team must be commended on agreat performance. We played some rash shots today (yesterday) and therun out we had yesterday (Wednesday) hurt us a little bit, but I wouldhave to give credit to the guys for playing the kind of game theyplayed over three days. The batsmen batted well, they were committed.For the first 45 minutes yesterday there was some encouragement forQueen’s College, who were facing a stern test to score the further 75runs they needed for the lead.The cream of their batting was despatched the previous evening butKyle Hope and Selwyn Atherley raised their hopes temporarily byadding 19 runs with little bother.Brathwaite, however, turned the contest Lodge’s way by removing bothbatsmen and another while one run was added. The off-spinner inducedHope into giving a bat-pad catch to forward short-leg and then forcedMarlon Harte into swinging a full-toss straight to square-leg.Brathwaite has been the man that has been tossing up this season. Heis the surprise package, Phillips said about the player who won theMan-Of-The-Match award in a match in which he also made 31 in thefirst innings as an opening batsman.He was asked to do it against Alexandra in the semifinal and he did agood job.Brathwaite also took care of the patient Atherley, who batted for anhour for his five runs, eventually played a cross-batted stroke andwas lbw.Queen’s College tried to mount another effort with a stand of 19between Caleb Knight and Mario Gill. The Lodge, however, had the finalsay. Knight edged Brathwaite to slip and fast bowler Andre Gillwrapped up the innings by flattening the leg stump of anincapacitated Christopher Jordan.