U13 & U15 Junior Final Fours Recap

By Sam Neter on April 5, 2014

The Under-13 and Under-15 Final Fours take place on Saturday in Worcester, with all teams battling it out for the right to be called national champions.

Read on for all the final results, standout performers and notes.

U15 Final Fours

Peckham-Pride-U15-National-Champions-2014

Peckham Pride repeated as Under-15 National Champions with a 71-68 victory over Cheshire Wire in the final on Saturday afternoon at University of Worcester Arena, Worcester.

It was anything but easy, with Cheshire refusing to go away, but the duo of Thai Segwai and Gedi Juozapaitis led the Pride to their second consecutive championship.

“What a cracker,” said Peckham coach Emerson Westerby after the game. “We knew that Cheshire Wire were a team to be reckoned with and they’ve done some great things over the season, so for it to be that tight, 71-68, it’s amazing and nice to come out on the right side of it.”

Segwai was named MVP, finishing one assist short of triple double, with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, whilst Juozapaitis had 21 points and 8 rebounds.

Joe Cummins led the Wire with 19 points and 7 assists, whilst Sam Wilson had the majority of his 17 points in the second half. Max Jones added a 15 point, 11 rebound double double.

Box score.

Game 1
Peckham Pride beat Sheffield Junior Saints 76-61 (semi-final)
In a repeat of last year’s Under-14 third place playoff, Peckham Pride proved too much for Sheffield as they booked their place in the final.

Junior Saints didn’t go down without a fight though, reducing the lead to ten in the final 3 minutes before succumbing to the size, strength and athleticism of the Pride.

Gedi Juozapaitis had 33 points to lead Peckham as Junior Saints had no answers for him throughout the game.

Game 2
Cheshire Wire beat NASSA 94-68(semi-final)
Cheshire Wire rolled past NASSA with a 26 point victory behind an impressive performance from Sam Wilson.

Wilson finished with 32 points, 20 of which game in the first half, before being forced to leave the game with an ankle injury when the score out of reach for NASSA.

Game 3
NASSA beat Sheffield Junior Saints 86-67 (3rd Place Playoff)

Under 13 Final Fours

NASSA successfully pulled off the three peat at Under-13 level, defeating Leicester Warriors 117-62 in the final on Saturday afternoon at University of Worcester Arena.

Emmanuel Obeng-Amponsan, who is playing his first season of basketball, was the standout performer on his way to MVP, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 6 steals, as NASSA jumped out to a 26-17 first quarter lead and never looked back.

“It feels good,” said NASSA coach Aurimas Verbukas. “We try to develop players at NASSA but this is a bonus of that, we tell the guys, both the U13s and U15s that are here at the Final Fours that winning is just a bonus.”

Hadrian Mariano Basilio added a 23 point, 10 rebound double double on 11/15 shooting, and Dylan Darbin finished with 18 points for NASSA.

When Leicester’s Kareem Queeley, who has been one of the top performers at U13 level in the country this season, fouled out midway through the third period, things went from bad to worse for the Warrior, who scored just 13 points over the next 15 minutes.

Queeley finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocked shots, but 11 turnovers in his 25 minutes before being forced to exit.

Box score.

U13 Final Standings

1st NASSA
2nd Leicester Warriors
3rd Worthing Thunder
4th Bradford Dragons

Game 1
Leicester Warriors beat Worthing Thunder 77-56 (semi-final)
Leicester rode the tall and talented Kareem Queeley all the way to their twenty one point win over Worthing.

He had 32 of Leicester’s 36 first half points but they still trailed at halftime, however, in the third period Queeley’s teammates stepped up, and along with another 9 points from him to take his total through three quarters to 45, Leicester created some breathing room and allowed them to run out victors.

Game 2
NASSA beat Bradford Dragons 94-59 (semi-final)
NASSA took down Bradford convincingly, as Bradford’s undefeated season finally came to an end.

Bradford had been blowing out teams all season long, before having a two point victory over London Baltic Stars in their quarter final to get to Worcester, and then succumbing in the semi to another London based side.

NASSA came out looking to push everything but couldn’t get away from Bradford early, however, a dominant second half where they held Bradford to ten points in the third and then just six in the fourth, allowed them to book their place in the final.

Game 3
Worthing Thunder beat Bradford Dragons 75-73 (3rd place playoff)
Worthing Thunder had a come from behind victory, surviving a wide open Bradford jump shot at the horn that would’ve been the game winner had it gone down.

Notes

To be updated.

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