Game
Time and Teesside Basketball
League produced another great
event at the Olympic Torch
handover ceremony in
Middlesbrough with over 50
players competing in a 2v2
tournament. The three age
categories of U12, U16 and over
16 came alive with some superb
displays of individual skill,
attracting large numbers of
spectators.
The event was hosted by
Middlesbrough Council in central
park to celebrate the handover
of the Olympic Torch from
Beijing to London and the
Middlesbrough crowd were able to
watch the ceremony on the large
screen TV which has been present
in the town gardens for the 2008
Olympics. Basketball was one of
five sports chosen to stage
activity and with Game Time only
having less than two weeks to
plan, they managed to pull off a
corker with the basketball
tournament providing a magnet of
entertainment as stars of the
present, past and future battled
away to win the top prizes which
included £120 in Foot Locker
sports vouchers, medals and Game
Time merchandise.
The U12 tournament proved the
development of basketball is on
the right track as a cracking
final was produced by the Cobras
and Tees Thunder with brothers,
Youssef & Ahmed of the Cobras
edging the win over Cameron &
Lauren. The Final was won with a
score of 6-3 after the Cobras
pulled their way back from 3-0
down to win the game.
The U16 category was probably
the most exciting as a host of
very talented youngsters showed
off their skills on the court.
The Bulls did well with Liam
McBride proving a formidable
defensive presence, although
they would fail to make the
final after being beaten by the
eventual winners, The
O'Connor's. The brother-sister
team of Patrick and Christina
brushed aside good quality
opponents to earn their place in
the final and come up against
the star studded 'DJ Marshall'
team with Marshall Patterson,
Dan Brown and Jordan Nicholls.
With the bonus of a sub and
older team, the advantage looked
to be with DJ Marshall, however
12 year old Patrick O'Connor
stepped up again and again with
great plays. Christina, the only
female in the category proved
she was more than capable of
holding her own as she scored
two baskets and dived onto any
lose ball she came across.
Marshall, Jordan and Dan didn't
disappoint as they played as
best as any 13 & 14 year old
player could hope for but it was
the, at times, breathtaking
ability of the youngest player
in the category who led his team
to glory by hitting the game
winning shot with an audacious
one handed basket from 15 feet,
beating their opponents 9-7.
If
the U16 category was the show of
skills, the over 16 category was
the show of passion as
established stars in their own
rights battled with each other
to make the final. The teams to
watch included Hartlepool with
the talented Luke Thompson and
Steve Harrington, Pathological
Liars with Damian Warriner,
Matthew Norman and Chris Lyle
and the High & Mighty with 6'10
Andrew Marshall and 7'1 Dean
Hanson.
The Pool stage was exciting in
itself with Stockton Riverside
and Low & Mighty showing their
ability but failing to overcome
the favourites. Richmond Vikings
were another team when bathed in
the shadows of the twin towers
agreed to laugh rather than cry
at the big guys sheer dominance.
In Pool A the Pathological Liars
sailed through to the final and
their opponents would be the
winner of Hartlepool v High &
Mighty. In a hotly contested
encounter, even the
unquestionable talent of Luke
Thompson was not enough as the
Twin Towers comfortably won and
headed to the final.
In the heated final, passion was
overflowing as tempers reached
boiling point with both teams
desperate to win. The strength
of Damian Warriner
made
for a more difficult task, but
the High & Mighty still managed
to dominate as both Hanson and
Marshall played to their
strengths down low and focussed
on powering their way to the
basket, a tactic that had led
them to the final and to this
point no player had been able to
stop. Warriner did use his
athleticism to good effect and
clawed his team back into the
game with a succession of nice
shots, but it would not be
enough as the High & Mighty hit
three baskets without reply to
win the final 11-6.
As for the MVP's the U12 and U16
categories were fairly easy to
select with Youssef Badi and
Patrick O'Connor standing head
and shoulders above the
competition. The Over 16 was a
little more difficult as Damian
Warriner showed skill, power and
heart while Andrew Marshall and
Dean Hanson showed intelligence
and dominance in sticking to
their strengths. In the end
though the award was made to
Luke Thompson, who although
didn't make the final was noted
as the most talented player on
display.
Special thanks to Lewis Tovey
from Ransome
Sporting Goods for providing the
baskets for the event. Thanks
also to David Whitney, Stephanie
Edwards and Shannon Edwards for
keeping the scores and Steve
Lynas, Wade Tovey and Sid
Nicholls for refereeing.
Thanks to Decorative Concrete
Solutions and Foot Locker for
sponsoring the event.
