Barking Abbey Defend Solent Pre-Season Tourney Title

Barking Abbey won the Solent Under-18 Pre-Season Tournament for the third consecutive year this weekend, seeing off Manchester Magic in the final.

The tournament, known as BasketballvsCancer this year whilst raising funds for charity on behalf of Bev Guymon, saw eight of the top U18 teams in the country competing as part of their season preparations but quickly became a two horse race as both BA and Manchester steamrolled through the group stages.

In the final, BA, led by 11 points a piece from Joe Junior Mvuezolo and Josh Steel, secured a 15 point victory – tying for the closest anybody had got to them all tournament.

“It was a total team effort with everyone contributing for the tournament trophy,” said BA head coach Frank Holloway. “I couldn’t be happier with this group of guys.

“We played well on the defensive end throughout the tournament. Our ball pressure forced a lot of turnovers which we converted into points on the board.”

“This is a great event to participate in, with some of the better teams in the country,” continued Holloway. “It’s a great way to start our season, and we want to thank Solent for the invite once again.”

Final MVP: Joe Junior Mvuezolo
All Tournament Team: Joe Junior Mvuezolo, Josh Steel, Jo Swindells, Pharroh Gordon, Myles Laurent-Smart

Full results and leading scorers:

Saturday Results

Birmingham beat Solent 45-44
Leading scorers: Birmingham – Sedale Hanson-Young 14, Callum Lawson 13/Solent- James 15, Cox 8

Barking Abbey beat Medway 43-14
Leading scorers: Medway – T Russell 8, E. Johnson 2/Barking- N. Smith 6, J. Steel 6

Manchester beat Bristol 56-32
Leading scorers: Bristol – J. Walsh-Norman 10, K.Ozoemelam 8/Manchester- P. Gordon 20, N. Hardacre 8

Lewisham beat Reading 29-27
Leading scorers: Lewisham – Kavell Bigby-Williams 12, Jason Witter 5/Reading – G Emms 7, I George-Kacou 5

Solent beat Medway 37-28
Leading scorers: Solent – James 20, George Ivens 6/Medway – Tyler Russell 10, London 4

Barking Abbey beat Birmingham 52-14
Leading scorers: Birmingham – Sedale Hanson- Young 6, Williams 2/Barking – Karolis Kundratos 13, Joe Junior Mvuezolo 6

Reading beat Bristol 56-41
Leading scorers: Bristol – D. Williams 10, E, Elmi 10/Reading- T. Devereaux 17, T Goodyear 6

Manchester beat Lewisham 62-47
Leading scorers: Lewisham – Kavell Bigby-Williams 20, Jason Witter 6/Manchester- Joe Swindells 12, Raheem Idris 9

Birmingham beat Medway 62-25
Leading scorers: Medway- M. Rae 12, E. Johnson 4/Birmingham- Rolls-Tyson 28, Lawson 12

Barking Abbey beat Solent 58-43
Leading scorers: Barking – Joe Junior Muezolo 13, Josh Steel 10/Solent – James 22, George Ivens 4

Lewisham beat Bristol 42-16
Leading scorers: Bristol- K Ozemelam 8, E. Elmi 8/Lewisham- J Witter 8, Bigby-Williams 8

Manchester beat Reading 52-33
Leading scorers: Reading- M. Davis 15, G. Emms 6/Manchester – Gordon 10, Austin 8

Pool A Group Standings
1st Barking Abbey
2nd Birmingham
3rd Solent
4th Medway Park

Pool B Group Standings
1st Manchester
2nd Lewisham
3rd Reading
4th Bristol

Sunday Results

Manchester beat Medway 56-55

Barking Abbey beat Bristol 48-19
Leading scorers: Barking Abbey- Karolis Kundrotas 13, Reis Pinnock 5/Bristol – Joseph Walsh-Norman 10, D. Williams 4

Reading beat Birmingham 39-35
Leading scorers: Birmingham – Callum Lawson 15, Reece Turner 10/Reading – M. Davis 10, G. Emms 5

Lewisham beat Solent 40-22
Leading scorers: Solent- James 8, George Ivens 2/Lewisham- Kavell Bigby Williams 8, K. White 6

Barking Abbey beat Lewisham 50-21 (semi-final)
Leading scorers: Lewisham- K. White 6, H. Abdul 6/Barking Abbey – Josh Steel 16, Calvin Nevill-Kintu 12

Manchester beat Reading 46-30 (semi-final)
Leading scorers: Manchester – Pharorh Gordon 10, H. Ali 5/Reading- I George Kacon 11, M. Davis 5

Solent beat Bristol 38-34 (classification)

Birmingham beat Medway 59-45 (classification)
Leading scorers: Birmingham A’s- Sol Rolls Tyson 24, Callum Lawson 9/Medway- Tyler Russell 24, M. Rae 6

Barking Abbey beat Manchester Magic 50-35 (final)
Leading scorers: Magic- Swindells 12, P Whelan 6, K. Nwagboso 6/Barking Abbey- Joe Junior 11, Josh Steel, 11, Karolis Kundratos 9

Final Standings

1st Barking
2nd Manchester
3rd Lewisham
4th Reading
5th Birmingham A’s
6th Solent
7th Medway
8th Bristol

The weekend was also an England Basketball referee clinic, with Nadine Dudley, Luke Siena, Aaron Senior being named to the All-Tournament Referee Team, as voted for by coaches and FIBA assessors.

Thoughts?