News Update - 2007
Basketball - Academy Win Second Consecutive National Title
The Community College's Men's U-19 Basketball Academy successfully defended their British Colleges National Title at Loughborough University last Tuesday (12/4) whilst the Women came a creditable 4th against tough opposition. Both Teams won through to the Nationals by winning the Eastern Regional Tournaments last December.
Both teams had worked hard on their defence in training in the knowledge that the short match format of one 12-minute period of play could lead to shock results. The Men started well by destroying Swansea College Academy 39-6 as the Welsh team (containing many of their Nat. U-20's League team) completely failed to deal with HCCA's full court press. Coaches Tony Garbelotto and Solomon Ayinla gave the bench a run in the second match against the weakest team in the group Worcester 6th Form as The Academy cruised to a 35-11 victory and a guaranteed semi-final berth.
The final group match produced the closest contest of the Tournament as HCCA resumed rivalry with 2002 National Champions Richmond College Academy to decide who would top the section. This was a tough scrap in which neither side could break free. The early stages belonged to Richmond and Albert Margai twice clawed HCCA back in contention with 3-pointers as Samuel Toluwaise picked up two quick fouls limiting his defencive effectiveness. The Academy then edged ahead and were 2 points up when Richmond hit a tough outside shot on the buzzer to level the scores at 23 and take the match into sudden-death overtime. Richmond had first possession but turned the ball over to man-of the match Albert Margai who was fouled driving to basket. Margai hit the second of his two shots from the line to win the match and set up a Tuesday morning semi-final with East Durham Academy who finished runners-up to South Notts Academy in Group 2.
The match with East Durham Academy (Winners in '01 and '03) was a repeat of the 2004 Final. This match was another tense affair with HCCA having to display their powers of recovery to edge into the Final. East Durham moved into a 12-5 lead with 4 minutes left. Coach Garbelotto called time-out and adjusted the press defence. This started to pay dividends immediately and lead to East Durham's big dominant centre to pick up his third disqualifying foul. Joe Ikhinmwin and Orlan Jackman took charge of the boards giving HCCA far more controlled possession allowing Tophil Kintu and Toluwaise to lead the scoring in a 7 point run and a 13-12 Academy lead. With less than a minute on the clock and the game stretched, East Durham were desperate to score but missed an outside shot, rebounded by Ikhinmwin who passed to Toluwaise on the wing. The Academy Captain set off on a powerful drive for basket but slipped on a wet patch in full flow and released the ball with two East Durham players in close attendance. The officials stopped the game and crucially gave HCCA in-bounds possession to the disbelief of East Durham Coach Craig Lynch. Following heated discussions between coaches and officials, the call stood and HCCA scored from the inbounds to compound Coach Lynch's frustration and see The Academy into the Final.
The finesse of South Notts Academy overcame the power and battling qualities of Richmond in the second semi-final to set up the Final confrontation with HCCA on their home court. However, The Academy held a massive psychological advantage over South Notts having beaten them by 33 points in the English Schools National Cup earlier in the season. HCCA stepped up the defencive intensity from the tip and reduced South Notts to long-range shots. In contrast, Margai drove to the hoop and scored 3 baskets to open up a 6-2 lead. Coaches Garbelotto and Ayinla then wrong footed South Notts by going to a zone defence. Kintu, Ikhinmwin and Fola Adeleke stretched the lead out to 11 points with just three minutes remaining before South Notts hit a trey and a further 3 from the line to cut the lead to just 5. Toluwaise was then fouled under the basket and drained both shots, Ikhinmwin sank a further basket inside to stretch the lead out to 9 points. Match top scorer Kintu (7) hit the final points as HCCA ran out 22-13 winners. Richmond College picked up the bronze with a thrilling 24-22 win over East Durham.
The U-19 Men meet South Notts again at SPACe in the 1/4 Final of the BCS National Cup on 27/4. The Academy Men are looking for a clean sweep of all National Under 19 trophies this season. As well as retaining the British Colleges Title, HCCA are also in the Final of the English Schools National Academies Cup where they will play either Cardinal Newman College from Preston or Moulton College Academy.
The Community College's U-19 Women battled hard to secure 4th place. Competing in the Tournament for the first time, HCCA remained in contention for a place in the final right up to their last group fixture.
Despite a fantastic comeback, The Academy paid the price for a slow start in their opening match against Cheadle College (Cheshire) and nearly turned round a 10 point deficit before losing 24-22. They then registered the biggest margin of victory of the competition with a 41-5 demolition of Coleg Glan Hafran (Wales). The third group match against favourites Bilborough College (Nottingham) saw The Academy lose 13-32. However, HCCA came back with a thrilling 19-17 win over Taunton's College in their final match of the day. This left The Academy in 3rd place on 9 points, one point behind Cheadle with Bilborough guaranteed a place in the Final having won all their matches and with just Coleg Glan Hafran left to play. HCCA needed to beat Richard Huish College (Somerset) in their final group match and hope that Taunton's could overturn Cheadle.
The Academy resumed on Tuesday morning with a tense 19-17 win over Richard Huish to move into 2nd place, but then had to endure Cheadle beating Taunton's 22-15 to leave HCCA in 3rd place overall. With Bilborough head and shoulders above all other teams in the competition, The Academy fell one point short of the Final thanks to a poor first 5 minutes against Cheadle. Despite the efforts of HCCA's player of the tournament Bobbi Thompson hitting 6 points, The Academy lost by 3 points (15-12) to Taunton's College in the bronze medal match. With some desperate defending, neither side were able to score in the final two minutes of the match as a tired HCCA missed a couple of crucial lay-ups. Bilborough beat Cheadle in the final to deservedly become National Champions for 2005. They now go on to secure a National double when they face Moulton College in the English Schools Academies Cup Final later this month. Moulton beat HCCA in the semi-final just before Easter.
The Women now look to close out the season by beating Hertfordshire University in the Final of the SESSA Cup next Wednesday 20/4. They also need just one more victory to secure the SESSA Premier League Title for the third consecutive year.
British Colleges National Basketball Tournament Results 2005
Men
Swansea College Academy .....Won 39-6
Worcester 6th Form Academy...Won 35-11
Richmond College Academy....Won 24-23
East Durham Academy.............Won 17-12 (Semi-Final)
South Nottingham Coll. Acad...Won 22-13 (Final)
1st HCCA
2nd South Notts College
3rd Richmond College
Women
Cheadle College.......................Lost 22-24
Coleg Glan Hafran....................Won 41-5
Bilborough College..................Lost 13-32
Taunton's College.....................Won 19-17
Richard Huish College...............Won 15-12
Taunton's College ....................Lost 12-15 (3rd Place play -off)
League Table Final positions after play-offs
1. Bilborough College 5/0 15pts 1
2. Cheadle College 4/1 13pts 2
3. HCCA 3/2 12pts 4
4. Taunton's College 2/3 10pts 3
5. Richard Huish 1/4 7pts 5
6. Coleg Glan Hafran 0/5 5pts 6
HCCA Men
Samuel Toluwaise (Capt), Albert Margai, Tophil Kintu, Orlan Jackman, Joe Ikhinwim, Fola Adeleke, Ewart Mason, Lenval Greer, Isaac Omirin, Joe Amoah, Leon Johnson, Michael Ogundare
HCCA Women
Bobbi Thompson, Fiona Scarlett, Jade Harris, Tara Ismail, Carlene Harris, Tanine Nicholas, Ndaye Manga, Ruby Regan
For further information, contact Chris Morris via this e-mail address or call him on 07786-485223.
Chris Morris
The Community College Shoreditch
13/4/05
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