Lord Taverners National Junior Championship 2009

Northern Ireland Juniors Take Silver in the National Championships………

Team Northern Ireland had an early start to their Lord Taverners National Junior Championship journey to Buckinghamshire, but even at 7am they were all raring to go.  After a short puddle hop to Luton airport and coach journey the party of 26 players, coaches and fans arrived at Stoke Mandeville Guttmann Sports centre.

Outstanding dedication was shown by Jack Agnew who travelled across by ferry with his Dad after Jack had an operation that didn’t allow him to fly. The pair travelled through the night and early morning to make sure Jack was able to attend the championships. Jack was rewarded for his dedication and was presented with an award by famous actor and HolbyCity star Robert Powell.

Jack Agnew with Robert Powell above;

Team NI U15’s

At 2pm on Friday the Northern Ireland under 15’s lined up in their newly acquired Green Lord Taverners shirts against London .  Is was a close match with both team captains James MacSorley and Jim Palmer leading the scoring but with outstanding defensive determination and scores from Simone Mathews and Cameron Campbell, Northern Ireland emerged victorious with a score of 19-11.

Next Team NI young guns faced Northwest England . This proved to be one of the hardest games that they faced as it was end to end basketball with some lovely baskets from Luke Marshall and Jason Wallace.  The game went right down the wire and was only won with 0.8 seconds left on the clock by Captain James MacSorley; after a faked shot then basket drive. When the ball dropped through the basket the whole centre erupted in applause.  Team NI won 20-18

At the end of day one Northern Ireland were leading their pool with 4 points closely followed by London and Northwest with 2 points each.

Saturday morning started with a pep talk from coaches Debee Steel and Steven McAleese followed by what proved to be a tight game against West Midlands .  Both squads were popping up shots but nothing seemed to want to drop. But when the scoring did get started there was no stopping either squad. It was only great final minute pressing from the whole squad that allowed Team NI to continue their winning streak. Final score 13-8.

The final game of the pool was against Wales .  This proved to be an easier game for the Northern Ireland squad which allowed the coaches to give everyone a really good run out.  Good scores from Eoin Nagle and Jack Agnew allowed NI to stack up the points.  Great defensive work from the Browne brothers Connor and Dane kept the Welsh main shooters to difficult outside key shots late on in the game. Final score 18-5.

With four wins under their belt team NI were ready to attack the quarter finals against South East which proved more challenging than first expected.  With some faultless shooting from Cameron Campbell , who knocked down the final basket of the game whilst being fouled to pick up 3 points and strong defence from the rest of the team, NI managed to secure a fifth win.  Final score 17-14.

Sunday saw the semi-finals and undefeated team NI facing East Midlands ,the kids hit it off with a very strong start and held a good lead at half time, going onto to an easy win with a final score of 12-6 and a well deserved place in the final.

Tension began to rise as the final drew closer but injured Padraig Farrell and team mascot Conn Nagle kept the team focused and the adrenaline pumping.

Team NI faced the undefeated East in the final. East got off to a strong start with some big shots from their forward and great plays from their point guard, but team NI tried to hold on with a strong defence. Offensively NI struggled to hit shots and was placed under pressure by a half court lockdown on Captain James MacSorley. At halftime the East had a dominating lead of 10-2. A motivational team talk from coaches McAleese and Steel along with the introduction of Jason Wallace changed the tempo of the game as NI began to claw back into the game. Unfortunately the East’s press was too much for the now tiring NI to handle. With 1 minute left on the clock NI were down 15-9 and captain MacSorley drops a bombshell 3 pointer to bring it back to within reach.  After the 3 pointer James was picked out by their two top defenders and with 8 seconds left on the clock MacSorley pops off the back of the screen to pop up another 3 pointer; time seemed to slow right down and until the ball bounced off the front of the rim; unfortunately in the wrong direction to take the game into overtime.  East held onto the ball until the final buzzer sounded and east secured the victory and gold medal.  Final score of 15-12.

Team NI U15 Above

Team NI U19’s

The Northern Ireland under 19’s had a comfortable start on the Friday against London . Stern defensive work by Charles Rankin allowed George Wallace to take his fair share of baskets. Eimear MacSorley replaced Rankin after the break and the game started to drift away from the London team. Adam Bamford pitched in with a few baskets and with the clock now running down there was now way back for London . Final score, 35-8 to Team NI. West Midlands suffered the same fate as the now impressive NI team were flowing through the gears running out comfortable 21-6 winners.

Next up for the under 19’s came North West England. The game started off a tight encounter with both teams trading baskets early on and it took the second period to come before the NI team could impose themselves on the game. The guys showed good team spirit and eventually secured a 16-11 point win.

The NI Team were now full of confidence and this was put to the test as they faced a well organised and skilful Yorkshire side. The game proved to be an excellent encounter with Yorkshire taking and maintaining the lead Team NI found it difficult to break down Yorkshire ’s tight defence. The guys took a few baskets as the game was drawing to a close and they managed to reduce the gap to 3 points in the last 30 seconds. Overtime looked possible but it was not to be with a 3 pointer hitting the rim and almost dropping in the final second. Final score, 18-15 to Yorkshire.

The NI Team were handed a tough test in the semi final on Sunday when they faced up to a dogged East Midlands side. The English team started of the quicker of the two and put the NI Team under some intense pressure. Again the baskets just wouldn’t drop for NI and at the other end East Midlands were pulling ahead. With the missed chances now racking up, the dream of reaching the final slipped away and East Midlands ran out 14-9 winners.

The day ended in slight disappointment for the under19’s as the 3rd place playoff game was won by North West England.  The game was a tight encounter, a real spectacle with end to end action and as both teams traded baskets. The NI team looked good for 3rd place having a 1 point lead with 20 seconds left on the clock, however it wasn’t to be as North West stole 2 points in the dying seconds to take the game by 1 point. Final score 16-15 to North West England.

Team NI U19 Above

4th Place is only seen as a disappointment because of the way the crew carried themselves throughout the tournament. They pulled together, worked well as a unit and played some fine Basketball. Coaches Steel and McAleese added “We are really impressed with the performance and professionalism of the entire Northern Ireland squad. It was particularly pleasing to see the young kids in the Final, after Captain MacSorley all of our U15 players are relatively fresh into the game, Campbell, Agnew and Marshall have only been playing the sport for a couple of years and their development is encouraging for the future”.

Team NI Above