Leeds, England- Myerscough attended the City of Leeds Basketball Club Invitational over the weekend. Playing 5 games in the space of 2 days. Myerscough pitted themselves against Belfast, Edinburgh and Leeds.
The first-year team would claim first place out of four teams with a 4-1 record across the 5 games with strong performances over all teams in the tournament. The lone loss came in the 75-64 game against Belfast who finished 3rd overall.
Myerscough’s Emmanuel Hezekiel was voted as MVP for the tournament while Ruben Forde was named in the All Star 5.
Emmanuel Hezekiel and Ruben Forde with their awards.
Emmanuel Hezekiel shared his thoughts on his award and the tournament “Winning MVP wasn’t really on my mind, I really wanted to work on some things in preparation for a big year, carrying on the success we managed to have this year.” Hezekiel also stated, “With all the losses in the finals we had this year I really wanted to get the job done and encourage my teammates to stay focused and play their best basketball closing out every game strong.”
Ruben Forde on his thoughts for making the All-star 5 “Honestly I was shocked when they said my name, but it was great to know that I was acknowledged for ability and skill throughout the tournament as an all-star”.
Saturday 22nd April 2023
Game 1: Myerscough BA v Belfast Pheonix (Ireland) 64-75 L
(10-19, 17-15,18-25,19-16)
Myerscough would suffer their only loss in the tournament. Belfast started fast and capitalised on Myerscough’s sluggish start. Belfast held strong through their interior defence and were able to generate baskets in transition early, building up to a 20-point lead. Myerscough would finish the game strong to cut the game back to single figures but didn’t have enough to complete the comeback.
Top Scorers: Belfast were led by J.Byrne who finished with a game high 23 points, Ruben Forde top scored with 14 points supported by Emmanuel Hezekiel with 12 points
Game 2: Myerscough BA v Edinburgh (Scotland) 70-57 W
(16-15, 29-12, 9-9, 16-21)
Myerscough made it back to 1-1 with a comfortable win v Edinburgh. Myerscough used a 29-point second quarter to build an 18-point lead going into the half. The trio of Ruben Forde, Ruben Hezekiel and Adam Coxon proved to be too much for the Kings.
Top Scorers: Adam Coxon led the way for Myerscough with 15 points, Ruben Forde finished with 14 points and Emmanuel Hezekiel finished with 12. Edinburgh’s Lennox Miller Led the way for the Scottish team finishing with 15 points.
Game 3: City of Leeds v Myerscough BA 54-75 W
(15-15, 16-15, 18-20, 5-25)
Myerscough would make it 2-1 as they would battle hard with Leeds in what was a one-point game for 3 quarters of play. Going into the 4th Myerscough ramped up their defence and held the Yorkshire based side to just 5 points in the quarter.
Top Scorers: M.Maffezoli Leeds would tie a game high with Myerscough’s Vadim Creanga for 14 points, Emmanuel Hezekiel would continue his high level of consistency and finished with 11 points.
Myerscough would finish day 1 as the top seed with a 2-1 record.
Sunday 23rd April
Semi Final: Myerscough BA v Belfast Pheonix 72-55 W
(11-10, 21-15, 22-20, 18-10)
The rematch from game 1, Myerscough avenged their 1st game loss. A back and forth first half would see Myerscough build up 7-point lead going into the half and from there wouldn’t look back and continued to build its lead. Myerscough connected on 13 3 pointers which would break the Belfast Zone. Ryan Grant connected on 6 3 pointers leading Myerscough to the final.
Top Scorers: Ryan Grant Led the way with 19 points, Vadim Creanga with 17 points. For Belfast J.Byrne Led the way with 19 points and F.Rogers had 18 points (4 3 pointers made).
Final: Myerscough BA v Edinburgh 69-59 W
(25-20, 14-12, 16-9, 14-18)
Myerscough would outlast a strong Edinburgh outfit. It would come down to who wanted to win it the most as both teams were fatigued from the heavy schedule. Emmanuel Hezekiel and twin Brother Ruben would step up their game to win the battle of the boards as Edinburgh’s height could have proved to be too much. Ruben Forde had a strong performance from the bench impacting both ends of the floor, winning key rebounds and finding his way to the basket.
Top Scorers: Ruben Forde finished with 16 points, Adam Coxon had 12 points and Emmanuel Hezekiel finished with 10 points. For the Kings D. Tubb had a game-high 18 points supported by L.Miller who had 16 points.
Coach Lewis had this to say “It was a great event; every game was competitive. It was just what our guys needed. It was unpredictable you couldn’t call who was going to win the tournament. It allowed us to try some new things and concepts out and it allowed us to find out more about our players.”
Myerscough would like to thank everyone at the City of Leeds Basketball Club for the invitation and hosting a great event.