Reds narrowly defeated against Magic
On Saturday 27th April our U14s travelled to the Manchester Basketball Centre for their Playoffs Semi-Final. Ahead of the game the players and coaches were presented with their League Championship Trophy and winners medals.
Winning their division for the 2nd season in a row and this time remaining unbeaten through the season was a remarkable achievement, especially given the club has outperformed teams from some of the most established basketball clubs in England.
In their Semi Final game, the Grizzlies were up against Manchester Magic 3, whom the Grizzlies had already played and beaten twice before this season, in two hotly contested games.
This semi-final played out very much the same, with both teams showing great technique and energy levels to rack up baskets with the first quarter ending 12-13 to Magic.
The 2nd quarter started with Magic looking to edge ahead, but good defence and clinical finishing saw the Grizzlies storm back to go into half-time still only 1 point behind at 25-26. The 3rd quarter was again very even, with Magic taking a late basket to take a 39-42 lead – and the 4th continued to be a real battle with both teams looking to edge ahead.
As the game went into the final seconds, with just 2 points separating the teams, the Grizzlies pushed all the way to level but Magic held off sustained pressure from the Grizzlies to take the narrowest of wins 52-54.
Coach Tom Watson was immensely proud of his team’s performance in the game and the whole season;
“I’m filled with pride for the dedication and teamwork shown by the boys. To have gone undefeated in the league was a fantastic achievement, but the reaction to this game also showed me the players have real character and resilience, to learn from the defeat and be stronger for it, and immediately look forward. They’ve been incredible individually and as a real team, and they can’t wait to go again next season!”
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