Haris Memorial Tournament-Day 2

Day 2 of the Haris Memorial Tournament went down with a bang, with a number of down to the wire games and impressive individual performances. The days results see the semi-finals set, with Magic 1 taking on Luxembourg and England taking on Breitengubach.

Magic 2 vs Luxembourg
The first game of the day saw Magic 2 take on Luxembourg in what many could have predicted to be a one sided affair. Luxembourg came out firing and cruised to a 129-56 victory.

Jo Hoeser led Luxembourg with 23 points, Tom Welter had 20, Kevin Moura had 19 whilst Alex Laurent had 16. Cairo Young was the only player in double figures for Magic with 12 points, whilst Conor Porter had 9, Ruari Macmanus had 8 and Kayin Darbey had 5.

Breitengubach vs Cyprus
Over on the other court, Breitengubach and Cyprus were opening the day. Breitengubach came out with a 74-64 victory.

Breitengubach were led by Alex Angel’s 18 points, whilst Philipp Daubner had 14, Christopher Wolff had 10 and Johannes Thiemann added 8. Eliades Stefanos and Stylianou Giorgos had 20 points each respectively to lead Cyprus, and Mandovanis Rovertos added 8.

Cheshire vs England
On paper, England’s national team should have no trouble dispatching of Cheshire, but it proved a little more difficult than expected when the Jets’ Niel Gillard went off in the first half, looking unstoppable as he netted himself 15 before the half time break to give Cheshire a 42-40 halftime lead.

England regained some composure in the second half and thanks in no small part to Gillard picking up an injury, and sitting for a large portion of the third quarter, they cruised to win the third and fourth quarter by 10 points each, winning the game 90-72.

Jamie Battish top-scored for England with 16 points, Raph Thomas-Edwards and Simeon Esprit both had 13, whilst Josh Ward Hibbert added 12. For Cheshire, Jack Griffiths (who is only a 1995 born), had 22 points, Niel Gillard had 18, whilst Joe Franklin added 11.

Magic 1 vs Solent
Magic 1 had no trouble dispatching of Solent over on Court 3 as they cruised to a 27 point victory, 74-47.

John Gould had 16 points to lead Magic, Luke Meakin added 15, Jack Crook had 13 whilst Dujon Lattie had 7. Ollie Roberts had 15 to lead Solent, with Jonny Grant adding 12, Dane Inglis 11 and Ryan Clasper 7.

Cyprus vs Solent
After an hour break, the games resumed, putting Solent up against Cyprus, with both teams still looking for their first win of the tournament. It was Cyprus who got it done, winning 71-56.

Vlachos Andreas led Cyprus with 23 points, Stylianou Giorgos and Michail Simon added 15 points each respectively and Mandovanis Rovertos had 11. Jack Preston and Ollie Roberts led Solent with 15 points a peice, with Roberts scoring all his 15 in the second half, Dan Bryan had 9 whilst Adam Wilkinson had 5.

Magic 2 vs Cheshire
On court 3, thanks to good home crowd support Magic 2 almost pulled off an upset, but couldn’t quite get it done, losing to Cheshire 64-61.

Niel Gillard led Cheshire with 16 points, Joe Franklin added 13, Greg Krippa had 7, whilst Rob Smith and Mike Hinchliffe had 6 each respectively. Conor Porter led Magic 2 with 13 points, Kyle Squire had 11 to join him as the only other player in double figures, whilst Adam Jones and Kayin Darbey each had 8.

England vs Luxembourg
England vs Luxembourg was perhaps the most anticipated match-up of the day as it would place England against their first ‘real’ competition of the tournament (and even then, Luxembourg isn’t exactly a basketball powerhouse). England’s defensive inefficiencies were once again exposed in the first half, as Luxembourg’s Alex Laurent destroyed them for 15 first quarter points and 9 in the second for a 24 point first half. It wasn’t quite enough though, as England led 55-51 at the half.

With England up 98-95, and Luxembourg with the final possession of the game as the clock wound down, England inexplicably fouled Luxembourg’s Laurent on a three point attempt (who by this point had 30 on them), sending him to the line to tie the game with 1.8 seconds left. After making the first, he missed the second, and intentionally missed the third-being waved off by the ref for just launching it at the backboard, giving England possession and allowing them to run out the clock and get a 98-96 victory.

Simeon Esprit was the high man for England, finishing with 22 points, Raph Thomas-Edwards had 18, John Stewart had 17, Josh Ward-Hibbert had 16, and Jamie Battish added 12 to join them in double figures. For Luxembourg, Laurent finished with 31, Tim Steffen had 19, whilst Bob Melcher had 18 and Louis Arendt had 14.

England will face Breitengubach in their semi-final today.

Magic 1 vs Breitengubach
As England were defeating Luxembourg on Court 1, there was drama unfolding on Court 3 as Magic 1 took on Breitengubach. In a game that Magic had led from the tip, Breitengubach had come storming back into it, with a fourth quarter surge, eventually leading 54-49 with a few minutes remaining. John Gould hit a huge three pointer and then split a pair of free throws to bring Magic within 1 at 54-53. After a strong defensive stand, Magic regained possession setting up point guard Josh McGinn’s heroics. Backing his man down on the baseline, he hit a tough fadeaway jumper in his grill with 5.7 seconds remaining to give Magic the lead 55-54. Breitengubach couldn’t respond, and McGinn split a pair at the line giving the Magic a 56-54 victory.

The win booked Magic 1’s place in the semi-finals against Luxembourg.

John Gould led all scorers with 14, Josh McGinn had 10, Jordan Whelan had 7 and Jack Crook added 6. Philipp Daubner led Breitengubach with 13 points, Philipp Winter aded 10 whilst Alex Engel and Johannes Thiemann each had 8 respectively.

Notes

• Play of the tournament so far, came courtesy of Cheshire’s Niel Gillard who crossed England’s Simeon Esprit so bad, that Esprit ended up on the floor-much to the delight of the crowd.
• On the topic of Gillard, he really came out with a point to prove against England after getting cut from their initial squad list-I wonder if Bucknall is reconsidering…
• There’s a real chance we could see an all-English final-England vs Magic 1 anyone?
• Jack Griffiths has been shining for Cheshire-and the kid is only a 1995 born! One to watch…
• Luxembourg’s Alex Laurent’s first half clinic on England was the performance of the tournament so far. Impressive.