RAF Final Four's U16 2008 Final

Manchester Magic 95 (26, 52, 76)

Sheffield Junior Sharks 61 (16, 34, 47)

According the form book, Magic were clear favourites, having beaten the Junior Sharks 3 times in the league and once in the cup. Except for one game, however, they had been tight affairs and the Sheffield boys were looking to upset the form book. The Manchester boys remembered clearly the upset at Cranwell last year, and were all set for revenge.

After a battling opening couple of minutes, the threes starting raining in for Manchester. The game plan of keeping Manchester’s incredible size advantage to a minimum fell to bits and when the Junior Sharks came out on the shooters, the inside players for Manchester had free going. To be honest, it never looked as if Manchester were going to relinquish the lead in spite of the brave performance by the Junior Sharks. Every one gave their all, but heads started dropping, and the semi-final performance against Birmingham had clearly taken a heavy toll on the players. The game turned into a disappointing final, where the Juniors could not produce a performance worthy of the final and the disappointment was there clearly for all to see. The game finished 95-61; John Gould for Manchester was named MVP of the final—he did set the tone by opening with 3 3 pointers.

Scorers: Devon van Oostrum 19, John Stewart 18, Calvin Morant-Hudson 12, Conor Faulkner 4, Josh Adams 2, Jim Rose 2, Quincy Kaka 2, Anton Smith 2, Jack Reid, George Brownell, Harry Glover, Atif Khan

Thanks to all the players for a great season, to Calvin, John, Jim, Anton, Harry, Jack, Devon, and Atif, and of course all those U15s who played such an important part in our team, Conor, George, Q, and Josh—they continue the fabulous Junior Sharks tradition of playing up. Also thanks to the new U16 head coach, Steve and team manager, Sian. There’s much to be proud of and this is only the start of everyone’s potential in basketball.

And of course, now knuckle down for those GCSEs!
Duco, U16 Sheffield Junior Sharks Coach