Well last saturday the 15th of February saw the 2014 Sureshot National Cup Finals at the Amaechi Centre in Manchester. There would be four games starting off with the U16 Girls’ Final between GCA Haringey Angels and Sevenoaks Suns.
Sevenoaks seemed to be a little short-handed when only 7 players took part in the warm-up but this was not going to be a problem in the game.
The Suns have a one- two punch that must be one of the most impressive in this country. Their names are Daniela LIZZI and Gabby NIKITINAITE. These two were simply awesome and controlled the game from tip to final whistle.
This one would turn out to be a comfortable victory as the Girls of Haringey simply had no answer to Daniela and Gabby. The Suns would run out comfortable victors with a scoreline of 57-78.
The MVP was Daniela LOZZI with a statline to die for. She had a triple double of 10 rebounds, 13 steals and 23 points. Add to that 5 assists and shooting 57% from the field and 88% from the free throw line. Gabby was right behind her with 5 assists 8 steals and 26 points.
This was as dominant a performance as I have seen in a long time.
So Game 1 was over and next would be the U16 Boys Final
This game would see Peckham Pride taking on Ipswich and this one looked like it was going to be an absolute classic. At the end of the 1st the score was 14-13 in favour of Peckham but at the half Peckham had turned it into a 10 point game 33-23.
From here there was no way back for Ipswich as they were steamrollered by the London boys who would run out winners by a scoreline of 79-53.
Kemar HAWES (6) would have an efficiency rating of 26 and would finish with an equal game high of 18 points plus 5 steals, 5 assists and 8 rebounds.
The leading scorer for Ipswich was Mark James with 18
This was another dominant performance by the London boys who, after the 1st Quarter never gave Ipswich a look-in.
And so onto the U18 Women. This would see Sevenoaks Suns back on the floor this time to take on Hertfordshire Warriors.
This game would be competitive for longer than the other two but in the end the Suns would run away with it.
The truly dominant player in this one was Megan LEWIS who simply did it all for the Suns. She would finish with an MVP performance of a game high 17 points 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals. She was ably supported by Millie Stevens with 13 points and Natalie Busch with 11 points.
For the Warriors Eleanor Bishop with 15 points and Bethany Sarson with 12 put up a good fight. Sarson nailed 4 three-pointers for her 12 points, but it was all in vain as The Suns picked up Championship number 2 on the day with Gabby, Isabella Lambros and Daniela picking up winners medals number 2.
The final game of the Sureshot National Cup Finals Day would see Birmingham A’s taking on Newham All Star Sports Academy(NASSA).
And what a game this would turn out to be. It was electric and a wonderful demonstration of junior sport played at the highest level.
At the end of the 1st the scoreline was 15-19 in favour of NASSA. Javel SMALL led with 7 points for the Londoners while Callum LAWSON had the same score for the Birmingham A’s.
At the half NASSA extended their lead by 1 to 30-35. Dawkins had 12 in that quarter but Lawson was now leading the way with 13. This game was intense with no quarter asked for or given. Roosevelt Davis for NASSA now had 7 boards.
And so it is onto the second half and the intensity went to another level. Callum LAWSON also went to another level and by the end of the 3rd he would go 10 for 18 from the field and would have 23 points and an efficiency rating of 30…more than double any other player on the court.
However despite his best efforts the A’s would lead by just 2…51-49.
Javel SMALL was doing it for NASSA and had 16 points with good help from Dawkins with 13.
And so onto the final stanza and to put it mildly, until the dying embers of this one, nobody knew who was going to win this game. Javel SMALL went to work but then so to did Callum LAWSON. NASSA would go on a run only for the A’s to fight back and then the Birmingham boys would extend their lead only for NASSA to fight back.
In the end it would be the Birmingham A’s who would get the job done. Lawson was the MVP with 31 points 18 rebounds and 3 assists. He was well supported by Hanson-Young with 20 points 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Turner had 10 points and 4 assists.
For NASSA, Small would finish with 26 points and 5 rebounds. Dawkins finished with 18 pts and 10 reb.
This game had been an absolute joy and could have gone either way, however in the end the A’s would get the victory and Head Coach Nigel HANSON would have a smile as big as the Bullring on his face.
After all of the above, I have still not mentioned the best aspect of the day for me.
That’s still to come.
Later
Mike S
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