Barking Abbey Claim Inaugural Battle in the Capital U19 Title

Barking Abbey came out victorious in Battle in the Capital Under-19 division that debuted this weekend at UEL SportsDock.

It wasn’t without its drama however, pulling out a 61-55 overtime thriller in the final to escape a spirited BTM Select team who were led by an incredible performance from tournament leading scorer Cameron Hildreth, as he poured in 26-points.

Flynn Boardman-Raffet picked up tournament MVP, dropping 17 points in the final, and averaging 12.6 across the tournament where he led BA to a perfect 5-0 record as their size and depth proved too much for the opposition.

“It was an honour for us to take part in such a well-organised tournament against some great European and home competition,” the MVP said.

“As a team, we stuck together and played with passion throughout the tournament. I feel truly blessed to win MVP but couldn’t have done it without my teammates and coaches. It was a great way to end 2019 for me and my team, and sets a standard for us going into 2020!”

“A big thank you to BTM for putting on a great event,” BA Head Coach James Vear commented. “It was nice to end the year winning the tournament especially as it was a team effort with both our D1 and D3 players contributing.”

Elsewhere, James Watt College claimed third place, defeating Oostende 48-38 in the playoff, giving all top three spots to English teams at the tournament.

Final Standings

1) Barking Abbey
2) BTM Select
3) James Watt College
4) BC Filou Oostende
5) Mayfield School
6) StrideYourPassion
7) TTT Haarlem
8) Northfleet

All games were played with 8 minute running clock quarters on Day 1, and 10 minute running clock quarters on Day 2.

The tournament is in its third year, but historically has focused on Under-16s with this year the first time it has added in the Under-19s. The Under-16 and Under-14s portion of the tournament will take place next weekend at UEL.

Find all of the U19 tournament results and scorers here.

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