England Victorious, Haris Tournament Day 3

It was England who were crowned champions of the 5th annual Haris Memorial Tournament yesterday, as they routed Manchester 1 73-49 in the final.

England never relinquished their lead after going up 2-1 just over two minutes in, putting in their best performance of the tournament and cruising from start to finish against a Magic side who’s fight-back never came.

Josh Ward-Hibbert was named MVP, with a 20 point, 3 rebound, 2 assist and 4 steal effort in just 22 minutes of action.

England’s Harry Turner had 9 points on 3/4 shooting (in 8 and a half minutes), John Stewart had 8 points and 9 rebounds, whilst Raph Thomas-Edwards had 8 points and 11 rebounds. Manchester were led by Jack Crook’s 14 point-12 rebound effort on an efficient 6/11 from the floor, whilst Dujon Lattie and John Gould each had 12 points respectively.

Full stats from the final can be found here.

Haris Memorial Tournament Final Standings 2010
1st England
2nd Manchester Magic 1
3rd Breitengubach
4th Luxembourg
5th Cyprus
6th Cheshire
7th Manchester Magic 2
8th Solent

Full results from Day 3
Cyprus beat Magic 2 77-57
Cheshire beat Solent 74-67
Magic 1 beat Luxembourg 82-76
England beat Breitengubach 72-59
Magic 2 beat Solent 96-90 (7th Place playoff)
Cyprus beat Cheshire 70-63 (5th Place playoff)
Breitengubach beat Luxembourg 84-53 (3rd Place playoff)
England beat Manchester 1 73-49 (Final)

Notes

• Jack Crook’s statement game in the final sent a strong message to the England coaching staff. With Dylan Johns and Zak Wells being perhaps too larger projects before the Europeans, I think Jack is looking good to be part of England’s front court.
• Josh Ward-Hibbert has shone for England throughout the tournament and shown he belongs. I expect him to be a key part of the squad this summer.
• It was interesting to look at both Jamie Battish and Skyler White who have flown in from Australia and America respectively. Battish can flat out score-he loves to shoot the ball, whilst Skyler White is a versatile 3/4 man, who has great vision for a guy his size and has the ability to create his own shot.
• Magic 2, who are in fact Manchester Magic’s U16 team got the upset of the tournament when they beat Solent U18’s in the 7th place playoff (Solent are currently 3rd in the U18 South Premier National League with a 7-1 record).
• Massive thanks to the Manchester Magic/Amaechi Basketball Centre for being responsible for such a professionally run tournament and welcoming me up there. In particular, Garry Latham, who ensured I had everything I needed and Ryan McAdam, Josh McGinn and Jack Crook who were my housemates for three days!

Did you attend the tournament? Who impressed you? What did you think? Drop a comment and let us know!