As the showpiece event for Game
Time's basketball bonanza which
witnessed five schools finals,
the Celebrity game was a nice
way to round off a great day for
basketball. Never before has so
much attention been focussed on
promoting such a high profile
event for schools basketball and
the response from schools and
parents was fantastic with, on
average more than 150 people
watching each final and over 250
people watching the Year 11
final between Norton School and
High Tunstall, including the
Mayor of Redcar & Cleveland and
the celebrities who were very
impressed with the event and the
standard of the two teams.
For the main event, over 400
people turned out to watch the
Celebrity game and were in for a
real treat as the Celebrities
pushed the professionals all the
way. At half time there was more
entertainment from PSD crew
member; Gizmo, a Turkish break
dancing champion who wowed the
crowd with his moves. On top of
all the entertainment and the
finals was also the charitable
element and Game Time have
chosen to support The Whizz Kids
charity for this event in
association with Mecca Bingo
Stockton.
The Game Time team were joined
on court by young competition
winner, Matthew Morrish who is 8
years old from Carlin How, East
Cleveland. The competition
winner for the Celebrity team
was Alan Slasor who is one of
Game Time's rising stars and
showed he can handle the big
stage, finishing the game as top
scorer with 29 points. The twin
models, Kirby & Fallon were
unable to participate in the
game due to illness but were
there in support of the Celebs
and were happy to meet their
young and older fans!
The game got underway with the
Mayor of Redcar & Cleveland
throwing the ball up for the tip
off. 5'3" celebrity; Kirby was
pitted against 6'10" giant,
Andrew Marshall who
unsurprisingly won the ball and
found the running Daniel Cooper
for the first 2pts of the game.
The Celebrity's were quick to
respond though as Alan Slasor
fired in his first shot to tie
the game. Cooper again found the
net with a long range shot but
the Celebs kept up with the pace
to take the lead through Slasor
and speedway star; Gary Havelock
who converted a shot from under
the basket.
Principul, the energetic R&B
performer started well for the
Celebrity's as he stole the ball
twice and set up the running
Havelock for his second shot of
the game. Havelock was looking
dangerous on both offence and
defence and Game Time would have
to keep a watchful eye on him.
Game Time edged back into the
lead as sharp shooting Cooper
hit a nice 3 pointer which was
then reciprocated by big men;
Andrew Marshall and Wayne Bailey
to take a 15-8 lead. In the
seventh minute young Matthew Morrish extended Game Time's
lead by 1pt from a successful
free throw. Celebrity
player/coach; Jaycie Hall
provided some confidence with
two well worked baskets, one
after bouncing the ball off Game
Time player/coach; James
Thomson, who then returned the
favour by dribbling on his knees
and scoring the following two
baskets to maintain an 8pt lead,
20-12.
Alastair Brownlee was happy to
pick up a lose ball in the ninth
minute and continue his dribble
the full length of the court
although he was unlucky in
missing his shot, which seemed
to bounce in and around the rim
before coming out.
At the mid way point of the
first half Rob Bryson broke free
for the Game Time team to slam
home an athletic dunk to the
appreciation of the cheering
crowd. Bryon added one more
basket to take Game Time to
24-14 but a terrific period from
the Slasor led Celebrity team
produced a 10-0 run to tie the
game. Slasor knocked down 8pts
while Hall added a nice shot
from just inside the key.
The feathers of Game Time were
now being well and truly
ruffled, but they stuck with
entertaining the crowds, Adam
Walsh and Thomson making
impressive shots but it was the
Celebrity team who would go into
half time with their heads held
high and a 1pt lead over the
professional coaches of Game
Time, 30-31.
During half time PSD performer;
Gizmo produced some spectacular
break dancing, which was
followed by a dance routine from
the Stockton Parent Support
Cheerleaders, who gave a great
contribution throughout the
event. Then it turned to
competition time as people from
the crowd entered the knock-out
comp, with Matthew Brown winning
the over 14 category and Alex
Bailey winning the Under 14's.
Both winners received a big
basketball prize bundle.
The second half saw Slasor pick
up where he left off as he
collected the first basket with
a nice lay up and the Game Time
team contemplating playing
harder defence on the youngster.
After initial baskets from
Thomson and young Morrish, who
was ecstatic to have scored a
basket, Rob Bryson and Daniel
Cooper shared the majority of
Game Time's points and in the
seventh minute big man; Andrew
Marshall was momentarily side
tracked as the Macarena began to
play and Marshall started
dancing at the centre circle.
His Macarena and break dancing
attempts brought delight from
the crowd and the players
although the Celebs kept their
focus to keep scoring the
points.
From the eighth minute onwards
the lead changed a massive 13
times with both sides trading
baskets. The solid defence of
Alastair Brownlee and Anthony
Vickers should have carried a
health warning as both Celebs
gave their all to ensure they
had the best chance of winning.
A clattering by Havelock on
Thomson in the tenth minute
brought one of the few fouls in
favour of Game Time with the
ones against the professionals
seeming to come with a big grin
from the officials!
With Slasor on fire and Game
Time stuck in entertainment
mode, the Celebrity's crept
ahead first by 1pt, 48-49
through Havelock as he converted
a fine shot off the backboard,
then by 3pts as Slasor collected
his 29th point after a lay up,
then by 5pts as Havelock again
found the net with a two handed
power lay up. When Game Time
looked at the score, they were
down 7pts, 48-55 and with less
than a minute on the clock, time
was running out in what was
finishing as a great and
exciting climax to the game.
Bryson hit a 15 foot jump shot
and Walsh weaved his magic
through the celebrity defence to
pull back 4pts, but time was
slipping away. In the final
seconds Cooper found the cutting
Thomson who hit the final shot,
but it was not enough as the
cheering celebrity's earned a
3pt win, 54-57 and bragging
rights for the next year.
All the players from both sides
enjoyed a great day and the
event was thoroughly
entertaining with great skills,
shots, athleticism and even the
bloopers on display to ensure
everyone went home happy and
looking forward to the next
event.
The Most Valuable Player award
went to the 29pt performance of
Alan Slasor, the 13 year old
competition winner for the
Celebrity team who was
on form
all night, providing a valuable
asset to the Celebrity cause.
Game Time are now considering
reducing the age limit of the
celebrity winner to 5 for next
years game!
Not only was the tremendous
support beneficial to the
players on court, the event was
also in support of the Whizz
Kidz charity, with a donation of
over £200 being made to Whizz
Kidz via Mecca Bingo Stockton,
who have chosen Whizz Kidz as
their charity for the year and
aim to raise £9,000. The
organisers would like to thank
everyone who helped produce the
event and all the supporters who
came along and contributed to a
fantastic day. A special thank
you to Steve Lynas & Gordon
Barnes, who refereed the whole
event.
