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Scotland's Under 18 Men finish 3rd at the Easter Cherbourg Classic tournament in France.
Scotland’s Under 18 Junior Men travelled with the squad preparing for European Championships, Division B in Tel Aviv, Israel. Faced with a hectic schedule with echoes of “planes trains and automobiles”, the team arrived a day early to acclimatise and were able to fit in a light practice session before facing Manchester Magicin the first of what was to prove three challenging and ultimately rewarding group games. Scotland - Manchester (1st Pool Game) Scotland were facing a very tough Magic unit for the second time in a short period having lost to them at the Haris tournament in Manchester (Dec 27th – 29th 2009), However with a slightly different squad on this occasion and hopes were high. Scotland started well opening up a double digit lead early, which they were not to relinquish for the whole of the game, Manchester made a run in the 3rd quarter behind some aggressive trapping defence. However, Scotland were not unduly troubled and controlled the closing minutes for a 10 point win. The Scots vociferous Chanteurs did not go unnoticed by the hosts and provided added support for their team. Portugal - Scotland (2nd Pool Game) Perhaps as a reward for their excellent victory the previous evening the Scots were given the early game on Saturday, a 9.30am start to face the Portuguese, who coincidentally they will play in the EuropeanChampionships, Division B come July. This was a closely fought game with the Portuguese having difficulty in dealing with the size of Scotland's bigger players Alistair Fraser (who would later be named in the All Star 5, Cameron Buchan and Grant Mackay to the fore. Again the Scots built an early advantage only to have this eaten into, before finally asserting against chippy and aggressive opponents. Scotland, holding on for a six point win, realise this was a skirmish, as the importantbattle occurs in Tel Aviv. Having won this encounter Scotland were almost assuredly in the semi finals, not withstanding a series of unlikely results! These results inevitably came to pass with the situation entering the final game; three teams were in contention for two places. A Scotland win would have been the simplestoutcome, however a number of permutations might leave them 1st 2nd or possibly3rd. Having consulted John Nicol ourresident statistician, the team knew what was required: A win = Group winners Lose by less than 5 = Group winners Lose by less than 12 = Group 2nd place Lose by >12 = Group 3rd place Scotland - Switzerland (3rd Pool Game) Having lost to Manchester earlier in the day the Swiss knew that only a win would suffice, and not even that might be enough, as their points differential was inferior to both Magic and Scotland. Again the Scots started strongly playing an inside out game and excellent defence to take a 12 point lead, however an inability to sustain this allowed the Swiss to surge back and claim a 10 pointlead which meant they were only three points from knocking the Scots out. However outstanding composure by the Scotsbackcourt, Lee Reilly (who would also make the “All Star 5”) and Jonny Bunyan steadied the ship and the Scots reduced the deficit to three points at the end to ensure top spot. Reilly hitting 3free throws in the final few seconds to pip Manchester for this honour. It was a bittersweet dressing room as the coaches and players were disappointed to have lost but satisfied that the jobhad been done and the group secured. That ended the serious part of the competition for Saturday however, Scotland had entrants in both the dunk and the 3 point shooting competition, both Euan Cameron (3 point) and David Anderson (Dunk), making their respective finals which were to be played on the Sunday the classification day. Semi Final Scotland - Austria Again the Scots started with the early game this time versus a very strong Austrian unit who had disposed of England the previous dayby 3 points in overtime. The Scots coach decided to tweak his starting unit and introduced Euan Cameron into the mix to offer another outside threat and this strategy paid immediate dividends as he scored an early three to enable the Scots to jump to an early 7 point lead, however this represented the high water mark as a combination of outstanding Austrian perimeter shooting and poor Scottish free throw shooting, the Scots were defeated by 8 points, with the Austrians, who like many of the teams competing are going to European Championships, going on to the final against anexcitable Tunisian team. The Scots were left to play for 3/4 against our by now old rivals Manchester Magic. Again the support offered by the travelling fans was appreciated and also contributed to the positive impression created bythe team. 3rd Place Playoff Scotland - Manchester Coach Doug Reilly again decided to rotate his players and Davy Rowan started at point in place of the rested Lee Reilly, this did not in any way inhibit the intensity and level of play. Davy and Kyle Haldane, who scored his tournament high of 14 points combined to dominate a Manchester unit who had taken the flamboyant Tunisians to the last second in their semi. Another highlight was a brave defensive foultaken by Fionnlagh Dover along with three boards which highlighted the teameffort. This effort did not allow Manchester to “key” on individual players and made their defensive jobdifficult. Coach Reilly was able to rotate his bench as the game wound down with the players taking a deserved ovation from the spectators both Scottish and neutral, who had been impressed by both the skill and attitude of the team. 3 Point & Shooting Competition Euan Cameron placed an unlucky 2nd having shot his poorest in the final, either of his early round scores would have been enough to win, however in front of a capacity crowd Euan was narrowly defeated by asharp shooting Swiss (William Tell). In the dunk contest David (Superman) Anderson placed 3rd, however it is fair to say that he was the crowd favourite, executing his final dunk wrapped in a flowing Scottish Saltire. After the completion of the Tournament our hosts laid on an impressive banquet at which all the teams ate and drank and made friendships that will hopefully stand the test of time. All that was left was the Awards Ceremony. All Star Five Omar Apada, Tunisia Lee Reilly, Scotland Sofiane Mrad, Tunisia Carlos Novas Matteo, Austria Alistair Fraser, Scotland The Scots were honoured with two further awards which speak to the positive impression that players, and supporters had made with our hosts, firstly the team was awarded the “Fair Play” award which goes to themost sporting team at the tournament. Also the fans were awarded “Best Fan” award which is presently with Alan Buchan, proud father of Cameron who is part of the squad, Alan and a number of parents returned to the venue to collect their honour. Thus the evening and Tournament ended on a high for Doug Reilly’s team, who would like to thank AS Cherbourg for anexcellent tournament, and even better hospitality. Squad David Anderson Jonny Bunyan Cameron Buchan Euan Cameron Fionnlagh Dover Alistair Fraser Dale Grieve Kyle Haldane Lee Reilly Davy Rowan Niall Mackle Grant Mackay Ben Warrington http://www.ascherbourgbasket.com/ |
