News Update - 2004

HACKNEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASKETBALL ACADEMY - BRITISH COLLEGES BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS 2004

Hackney Community College Basketball Academy has won the British Colleges Basketball Championship and confirmed its status as the premier Basketball Academy in the UK.

The Shoreditch based Academies' Under 19 Men won the right to represent Eastern England following victory over last year's National Finalists Moulton College last December and travelled to Nottingham on the first weekend in April for the Finals as favourites. All of the best College Basketball Academies in the Country were present as Regional Champions and all were beaten comprehensively by Hackney.

The format of the Finals placed the 8 Regional Champions into two groups with HCCA and main rivals East Durham Academy kept apart. The condensed nature the matches (one 12 minute stop-clock period) had the potential to create upsets, so Coaches Tony Garbelotto and Solomon Ayinla had drilled the players to work exceptionally hard with a full court man-to-man defence employed throughout the entire 12 minutes in the hope of minimising the possibilty of shock results.

Hackney's superior defence, fitness, strength and skill blew the opposition away. The group stage saw comprehensive victories over Cardiff College Academy, City of Wolverhampton College Academy and London rivals Richmond College Academy. The nature of the victories was also designed to intimidate the teams in the other group which it did to great effect.

At the end of Day 1, Hackney and East Durham remained unbeaten and on course to meet in the Final. On Day 2, East Durham squeaked past Richmond 22-21 in the first semi-final, whilst HCCA took on Bilborough College Academy from Nottingham and won 35-27. The Final with East Durham was a close affair for the first 6 minutes with HCCA leading 12-8. However, Hackney pulled away from here scoring 21 points and conceding only 2 to beat the Champions for the previous 2 years by 33-10. Richmond beat Bilborough to claim 3rd place.

Throughout the five matches HCCA scored 164 points and conceded only 72. This was a victory based on defence that required all members of the squad to contribute. Top scorers were Darius Defoe (41) Jean Wakanena (37) and Samuel Toluwase (32) with Leban Hassan and Ewart Mason also making double figure contributions. New recruit Hassan and Ewart Mason came off the bench at a crucial stage to guide HCCA to victory over Bilborough in the semi-final, while Nuer Maker put in a towering defensive performance in the crucial victory in the group stages over Richmond.

 Academy Organiser Chris Morris said:

" I'm delighted for the players and the Coaching Team of Tony Garbelotto and Solomon Ayinla who have prioritised victory in this Tournament since the start of the season. In Tony and Solomon, we are lucky to have the best coaches in the UK and this has been reflected in the results and development of the squad. The whole squad were superb both on and off the court and made many friends with their skill, attitude and behaviour. They are a credit to The College and a team the whole of Hackney should be rightly proud of. Holding the British Colleges title will be of massive benefit with recruitment of new players and will help secure the additional funding we require to push our Academy Programme to the next level and stay at the top."

This victory is yet another success for HCCA Basketball that has won the Southern England Student Sports Association (SESSA) Premier League and Cup for the 3rd successive year. The Women require just one more victory against Canterbury College to win the SESSA League for the second successive year. The Senior team are favourites to win the London Metropolitan Premier League and are on course for a showdown against Middlesex University in the London Met. Cup. An already fantastic season could get even better!

Full Squad: Samuel Toluwase, Darius Defoe, Jean Wakanena, Nuer Maker, Dean Smith, Ewart Mason, Leban Hassan, Adam Lovelock, Isaac Omirin and Joe Amoah.

Results:

HCCA 43 v 7 Cardiff College

HCCA 26 v 10 City of Wolverhampton College

HCCA 27 v 18 Richmond College

HCCA 35 v 27 Bilborough College (Semi-Final)

HCCA 33 v 10 East Durham College (Final)

Final National Rankings:

1. Hackney Community College Academy (East)

2. East Durham College Academy (North East)

3. Richmond upon Thames College Academy (South East)

4. Bilborough College Academy, Nottingham (East Midlands)

5. Richard Huish College Academy, Taunton (South West)

6. Cardinal Newman College, Manchester (North West)

7. City of Wolverhampton College Academy (West Midlands)

8. Coleg Glan Hafran Academy (Cardiff College, Wales)

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