Preston, England – Myerscough earned its second regular season title of the season, with the U18 Conference team securing the Northwest Conference league title, finishing the season with a 20-2 record.
The Academy side went into the last game of the season knowing that the win would allow them to be crowned as champions and that the loss would provide the league title to opponents Manchester Giants Blue.
A high-scoring first quarter would see first-year guard Nic Thornton have the hot hand hitting three straight three-pointers only to see Manchester lead 26-25 at the first break.
Both teams continued to trade scores until late in the second quarter, where the home side would steal a tight lead as second year, Jamie Lambert, would hit the buzzer beater to end the half and allowed Myerscough to take a slender 5-point lead (48-43) into the half.
Myerscough limited Manchester to just 22 points in the second half as they ramped up their defensive intensity. Manchester managed to close the gap to just three points early in the third quarter, but Myerscough would extend its lead to 12 going into the final quarter. From there on, Myerscough would control the tempo of the game and run out comfortable 86-65 winners.
“The guys came out ready to play today remained focused all game. Defensively in the second half we really homed in on what we had discussed during our scout, and this allowed them to build up confidence as the game progressed.” said U18 coach Lewis Scott. “They have built up a strong resilience over the season and become more mature as the season developed, today shows the league title it was well deserved.”
Team Captain Vadim Creanga added, “Winning the league was a big accomplishment for us as we have worked incredibly hard all season to ensure that this day would come. Going into our last game we felt confident as ever, which was shown as the game was won comfortably.”
Ruben Forde had a game-high 21 points while Charlie Mason added 18 points and Ruben Hezekiel chipped in 12 points. Sheeham (14), Smiuarasan (13) and Sumner (12) led Manchester Giants.
Other weekend results:
Saturday 18th March 2023
D2 Men v St Helens Saints – 98-92 L
Top Scorers
Mandre Costa – 15 points
Euan Birch – 14 points
Emmanuel Yeboah – 12 points
Sunday 19 March 2023
U16 Conference v Cheshire Wire – 58-52 L
Top Scorers
Thomas Windle – 25 points
Cam Sales – 12 points
U18 Premier v Manchester Giants – 87-98 W (Overtime)
Top Scorers
Daniel Nwauzu – 31 points
Adam Coxon – 23 points
Kamarni Steadman – 12 points
D3 Men v Liverpool – 78-65 W
Top Scorers
Emmanuel Yeboah – 23 points
Daniel Azancot – 19 points
Robbie Gilmour – 15 points
D2 Men v Worcester Wolves – 78-77 L
Top Scorers
Stephen Asante – 18 points
Peter Asante – 10 points
Euan Birch – 10 points
Dan Davies – 10 points
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