Manchester Magic defend U16 National Cup title

Manchester Magic successfully defended their Under-16 National Cup title with a 98-68 win over Bristol Academy Flyers on Saturday afternoon at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester.

Demi Babalola was named MVP after dominating on the glass with 24 rebounds (10 offensive) to go with his 20 points, two assists, five steals and two blocks as he led his side to back-to-back National Cups, after they defeated London Lions last year in the final.

A 10-2 run sparked by back-to-back threes from Tom Richardson – who finished with 20 – to end the opening quarter saw Manchester get a cushion they would not give up the rest of the way.

Nathan Brown had 21 points for Magic, while last year’s MVP Jack Walton had 11 points and seven assists.

“It’s what we’re doing at the younger age groups. We get these kids in very early and work with them a lot. The support we have around the Magic facility from the parents, all the volunteers us progress as a club,” said Magic head coach Tom Paraskeva

“We thought [the Flyers] were going to play a bit more zone defence, but they played man, so we just do what we do, which is to focus on us. We prepared but in the end you have just got to work as hard as you can.

“Demi [Babalola] worked really hard and played for the team. It’s about the team, couldn’t be more proud of the guys. We had multiple 20-point scorers, multiple people on the boards and it’s all the little things, Henry Philpotts was amazing just rebounding, Nathan [Brown] with his gap defence. A whole team performance.”

Bristol were led by 22 points from Corey Hill with Marcos Perez-Tosca adding 14.

Box score.

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