The BBL and WBBL’s show-stopping marquee event at London’s O2 Arena took place over the weekend, with the very best male and female basketball players fighting it out to take home the BBL Play-offs title.

In the BBL final, the perennial favourites Leicester Riders took on the reigning BBL Trophy winners, the London City Royals. It was familiar territory for the defending-champion Riders who reached their sixth final in eight years.

The Riders came flying out of the gates to take an early eight-point lead at the end of the first quarter but the Royals fought hard in the second quarter to keep the gap the same, with both sides picking up 21 points in the quarter.

The second half, however, was a completely different story as Leicester’s strong defensive display restricted the Royals to just 25 points for the remainder of the match, their strength illustrated by the Riders 14 points from turnovers. The defending champions, meanwhile, romped home with 27 points in the third quarter and 22 in the fourth to win 93-61 and retain their Play-off title for the third year running.

Tim Williams was instrumental in the victory with an impressive return of 10 rebounds to go with his 20 points, earning MVP honours in the process. JR Holder also contributed an impressive 17 points and his teammate Jamell Anderson fired home a further 14 points.

In the WBBL Play-off final, the Leicester Riders were again in action as they took on the defending champions Sevenoaks Suns.

In a much closer affair, the Suns raced to an early six-point lead at the end of the first quarter before relinquishing the lead as the Riders scored 12 unanswered points, to fall behind by four points going into the break.  

However, despite being down by 10 points in the third quarter, the Suns quickly regained control to go on a 13-0 run to finish a point ahead at the end of the quarter, somehow managing to keep the Riders at bay for over four minutes.

After a back and forth final quarter, the Suns found themselves behind 50-46 before making yet another decisive run – scoring seven straight points – with just 90 seconds remaining on the clock to retain the Play-off title for third successive year.

Brea Elmore scored 17 points for the Riders, however with little bench support she was unable to bring the title home for her side. Meanwhile, Sevenoaks’ Janice Monakana secured the MVP award thanks to her 23 points off the bench, including the shot that broke the deadlock late in the fourth quarter, a lead her side didn’t relinquish again as they secured the victory 60-55.

One of British Basketball’s biggest weekends lived up to the billing this past weekend as the BBL and WBBL Trophy finalists tipped off in Glasgow.

The BBL final saw an all-London showdown between the Royals and the Lions, with the Royals aiming to create history by winning silverware in their maiden BBL season. Meanwhile, the Lions were hoping to add to their BBL trophy collection having already won the Cup earlier this year.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning led the Royals' scoring with 26 points and Ashley Hamilton added 25 points in the first final to go to overtime in BBL history. Justin Robinson led the Lions with 20 points and Ladarius Tabb and Brandon Peel added 17 points each.

In a low-scoring first half, the first quarter saw the Lions hold a 4-point lead before a fightback, largely thanks to Hamilton scoring 14 points in the quarter on his way to the Most Valuable Player award, saw the Royal briefly take the lead. Despite this, the Lions held on for a 2-point lead at half-time with the score 38-36.

The Royals retook the lead after the interval with Bryan-Amaning again dominant close to the basket and they maintained that with an impressive cameo from former Lions guard Orlan Jackman.

The Lions forged back ahead 69-62 with four and a half minutes remaining, but Hamilton again brought the Royals back into the game with two baskets in a 7-0 run.

Lions captain Joe Ikhinmwin looked to have won it for Lions with a three-pointer 24 seconds from time, but Ed Lucas matched that with six seconds left to send the game into an extra period.

The Royals hit the first eight points of overtime before Ikhinmwin hit another three. But the closest the Lions could get was three points, Bryan-Amaning fittingly scoring the final basket with two seconds remaining.

In the WBBL final, the Leicester Riders retained their title in a closely fought contest against the Durham Palatinates.

Leicester held the lead for the majority of the game, even creating a 10-point gap at the end of the first quarter. However, a lapse in concentration allowed the Palatinates to go into the half having reduced the deficit to a single point.

The Riders regained control early in the second half, going on a 12-4 run to extend their lead to eight at the end of the third quarter thanks in part to MVP Kate Oliver’s all-round display. A nervy finish allowed Durham to battle back before a couple of pivotal free throws saw the Riders home with just seconds left on the clock.  

Claire Paxton led the Riders' scoring with 18 points and Kate Oliver, voted most valuable player, added 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and five blocks. Paxton also proved pivotal with a team-high 18 points, shooting 8/9 from the floor.

Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby and Theairra Taylor led Durham's effort with 18 points apiece as the underdogs came close to causing an upset.

An action-packed day of basketball saw a new BBL and WBBL Cup Winner crowned in a couple of thrilling contests, displaying the best of British Basketball.

BBL Cup Final

The London Lions roared home in the BBL Cup Final at Arena Birmingham to clinch the trophy for the first time in 8 years.

The Lions were in control throughout the match, outscoring the Glasgow Rocks in each quarter before eventually running out 68-54 winners, thanks in large part to Brandon Peel’s MVP performance which included 21 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists.

The final score-line was the lowest-scoring in the Cup’s 30-year history, despite the best efforts of Peel who was the only player on either side to go into half-time with double digit points to his name as his side went into the break with a 10 point lead.

The third quarter saw Peel add another 10 points to his tally and extended the lead to 13. A small comeback in the final quarter cut the deficit to 7 points, before a 7-0 run at the end of the game secured the title for London.

Vince Macaulay was head coach the last time the Lions won the Cup and his side continued its season dominance over the Rocks, having previously won both meetings between the sides this campaign.

"It's very special for the club and all the individuals on the team," said Macaulay. "Yes, we're winning a title now with the guys you see in yellow, but you've got to remember the people who helped us get here along the way."

WBBL Cup Final

In the Women’s final, the Sheffield Hatters beat the Sevenoaks Suns thanks to a last-second three-pointer from Helen Naylor.

The Hatters were led by MVP Sarah Toeaina’s 15 points and 13 rebounds, in a game they lead for almost the entire game, bar a blip in the fourth quarter which saw the Suns overturn a deficit which was up to 12 points in the third quarter. A Jess Good three-pointer gave Sevenoaks the lead before relinquishing it shortly afterwards thanks to a strong response from Sheffield.

A Cat Carr shot with 7.4 seconds remaining appeared to give Sevenoaks the title before Naylor hit the game winner with just 0.9 seconds remaining, ensuring victory for the Hatters.

“We fought for one another and today we went to battle,” said Toeaina. “Sevenoaks were a well-coached team and never went away. But, to persevere and push through definitely paid off in the end.”

BBL All Stars

Surrey Scorchers emerged victorious in a thrilling final to emerge as the BBL All Stars champion at the Copper Box Stadium in London.

The Scorchers defeated last years’ treble winning side Leicester Riders in a close contest which eventually finished 36-33 to claim their first piece of silverware in 10 years.

MVP Jordan Williams was his side’s standout performer, creating the plays which saw Scorchers to group wins over Worcester Wolves and Bristol Flyers after they’d lost their opening fixture 43-30 to Flyers. Having started the tournament with a defeat to Bristol Flyers, Scorchers looked set for a tough afternoon at the Copper Box Arena.

In the semis Scorchers dispatched of Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 34-24 while Riders put out defending champions London Lions 36-26 to set up the final.

Scorchers, won over the crowd and battled it out with Riders for 12 gripping minutes but the two sides couldn’t be separated, needing an overtime period. In the additional 60 seconds it was MVP Williams who made multiple big plays down the stretch as Scorchers took the £25,000 title 36-33.

The British Basketball All-Stars Championship included 12-minute games, a 5-point line and a Golden Buzzer Power Play – where everything for the next 2 minute period is worth double, in an adapted game created by Matchroom with the intention of adding excitement and end to end action, as the top eight BBL teams battled it out for their share of a £100,000 prize fund.

Results:

Double Elimination Stage

Worcester Wolves 6-45 London Lions

Bristol Flyers 43-30 Surrey Scorchers

Glasgow Rocks 40-45 Esh Group Eagles Newcastle

DBL Sharks Sheffield 30-24 Leicester Riders

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 31-25 DBL SharksLondon Lions 29-21 Bristol Flyers

Sheffield Worcester Wolves 17-49 Surrey Scorchers

Glasgow Rocks 22-37 Leicester Riders

Bristol Flyers 27-36 Surrey Scorchers

DBL Sharks Sheffield 20-31 Leicester Riders

Semi-Finals

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 24-34 Surrey Scorchers

London Lions 26-36 Leicester Riders

Final

Surrey Scorchers 36-33 Leicester Riders

FAST 5 Netball

On Saturday October 13 the Fast5 All-Stars netball competition heads to the Copper Box Arena to showcase the most exciting tournament in British Netball. 

The teams are now confirmed and will feature defending champions Loughborough Lightning, Surrey Storm, Strathclyde Sirens, Severn Stars, Team Bath, Manchester Thunder, Benecos Mavericks and Wasps Netball.

Some of netball's greatest players have flown in to fill All Star positions and combine with some of the brightest home-grown talent for the 2018 British Fast5 All-Stars Championship. Brand ambassador and newly-appointed director of netball for Surrey Storm, Mikki Austin, will also don the mid-court bib.

The tournament features 12 minute matches, a five-point line for those brave enough to shoot from distance and a Golden Buzzer offering double points during their two-minute Power Play. Unlike traditional netball, teams are made up of five rather than seven players and shooters have the opportunity to net long-bombs from a five or three-point zone, or they can play it safe for one point under the net. All eight teams will play at least two games across five hours as they battle it out and see who will take home the title, the trophy and the £25,000 winner's cheque.

All Stars Basketball

This Sunday sees one of the highlights of the British Basketball League season take place with the All-Stars Championship at the Copper Box Arena, London. Eight of the BBL’s best teams will compete in one of the most exhilarating tournaments in sport.

Each match will last 12-minutes, with features such as an all-star 5-point line and a Golden Buzzer Power Play promising an incredibly action-packed afternoon, showcasing some of the finest basketball talent the UK has to offer.

Defending champions London Lions will be joined by BBL treble winner Leicester Riders, Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, Glasgow Rocks, Surrey Scorchers, Bristol Flyers, Worcester Wolves and DBL Sharks Sheffield.  

The draw for the double elimination stage of the British Basketball All-Stars Championship has been made, with London Lions to open their title defence against Worcester Wolves. The second match of the afternoon will see Bristol Flyers against Surrey Scorchers before Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks take on Esh Group Eagles Newcastle. Finally, the draw pitted Sheffield Sharks against Leicester Riders in match four.

The tournament begins at 1pm on Sunday, October 14th at the Copper Box Arena, London and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Arena and Sky Sports Mix throughout. The British Basketball All-Stars Championship starts with a double elimination group stage comprising a total of ten matches. Win your opening match and you’ll face another winner for a place in the semi-finals, while teams who lose their opening matches face off to remain in the competition.

After each side has played two matches, those with one win and one defeat play a third match with the winner advancing to the final four. London Lions won the inaugural British Basketball All-Stars Championship last year, beating Newcastle Eagles 26-25 in an enthralling final. Justin Robinson was MVP on the day and Lions will be hoping he can help fire them to a successful defence this weekend.

This past weekend saw a historic weekend for Great Britain’s Wheelchair Basketball teams with the men emerging victorious against the USA, whilst the women fell just short in the final and the Netherlands in the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship finals in Hamburg.

The GB Men defeated the Rio Paralympic champions for their first global gold medal, claiming a 79-62 win over the USA.  The men had gone down 66-59 to the USA in the pool stages but 17 points apiece for George Bates and Harry Brown saw them avenge that defeat in the showpiece. Sunday’s showdown was the third time the USA and Great Britain battled for the world title. The US came out on top in the previous ones, in 1994 and 2002.

There was never more than a basket or two in it in the opening quarter and in a tough, physical encounter, GB led by eight points in the second quarter - 38-30 - before the USA brought it back to 38-33 at the interval. In the second half, the momentum stuck with Great Britain, and US coach Ron Lykins searched for a rotation to match the British as they extended their lead in the third quarter. But it was to no avail. Five GB players scored double-digit points: team captain Philip Pratt (12 points), Harry Brown (17), Greg Warburton (15), Lee Manning (12) and George Bates (17). Jake Williams (15) led the USA.

The GB women on the other hand struggled to get a foothold in the game and eventually succumbed to a 56-40 defeat to a Dutch side that had already beaten them in the Pool stage of the competition. This match was also a rematch of the Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze medal game and was the first time that either side had made the finals of the World Championships, with the Netherlands’ previous best finish being a bronze in 2014.

They struggled to get their shots away and the Dutch were able to capitalise and go in comfortably ahead at half-time. But GB never gave up and top-scorer Robyn Love's shooting helped close the gap to 34-30 with two and a half minutes to go in the third quarter. That was as close as it got as six fourth-quarter points from Bo Kramer and a big contribution from Mariska Beijer saw them claim victory. Love finished on 12 points with eight apiece from Helen Freeman and Amy Conroy.

Molten are delighted to announce our formal partnership with Totally Netball, the leading Netball organisation in the Midlands who will now be using Molten Netballs across all of their leagues.

Totally Netball is all about giving Netball back to ladies who loved playing when they were younger but allowed life to take over. Having only started in 2017, Totally Netball have gone from strength to strength having already expanded to 10 leagues in 11 locations.

Molten are the proud leaders in the design and manufacture of sports equipment including the acclaimed Molten netball, the official ball of the Fast5 All Stars Netball - the renowned world and British shortened version of the game - of whom Molten are one of the official sponsors. The Molten balls were recently used at their Inter League Tournament, held at the Northampton Girls High School.

Brett Daynes, Director of Totally Netball, said; “I recently met with Gary Cartwright, the National Sales Manager of Unicorn Products Limited and we are both really looking forward to our future relationship. We used some of the Molten balls at our recent tournament and had very positive feedback from the players and umpires.”

Anybody looking to join a Totally Netball team should visit https://www.totallynetball.co.uk/ for more information on how to get involved.

Alternatively head to https://www.playwiththebest.com/netball/netballs.html to see our full range of netballs.

This past weekend saw the fourth instalment of the Hoopsfix All-Star Classic return in style after a year-long hiatus in front of a sell-out crowd at the Brixton Recreation Centre.

Molten supply the ball and have been proud sponsors of the event since its inauguration in 2014 which showcases some of the finest young British basketball players over two matches, called the Underclassmen Game and the Class of 2018 Game.

Several big names of the sport were in attendance in the 700-strong crowd including Great Britain and England seniors, Commonwealth Games silver medalists, GB's performance director, Basketball England’s pathway manager, BBL players and coaches as well as legends of the game in the UK.

The first game of the day saw Team Black run out 85-71 victors over Team White in the first-ever Underclassmen game. Ade Adebayo took MVP honours, helping lead his side to victory with GB junior internationals Mate Okros and Hosana Kitenge also adding 11 points apiece in the win.

Adebayo commented: “It was a great feeling to win MVP after working so hard - it was a humbling moment. I really enjoyed playing and it was such a fun atmosphere, too, which made it amazing."

Meanwhile in the Class of 2018 game, GB Under-18 Brian Amabilino-Perez took MVP honours in the with 20 points - including 11 in the fourth quarter - along with 10 rebounds to lead Team White to a thrilling 85-88 win over Team Black.

Sesan Russell added 19 points in the win for Team White including a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch to leave the opposition needing a three for overtime and Josh Edwards’ effort rimmed out at the buzzer.

The two teams would go into the final quarter level at 62-62 to leave the contest evenly poised with the intensity picking up at both ends. Amabilino-Perez began to make his mark with eight points including a huge throwdown to send the sell-out crowd wild. Micheal Anumba and Edwards, who combined for 39 points, kept their side in contention with the game still tied at 76-76 with 3:46 remaining.

But a dramatic four-point play from Edwards provided a thrilling finish with Team Black down 85-86 with 15.1 seconds left on the clock. Russell held his nerve from the foul line and it would be enough to hold on for the win for Team White.

“I didn’t expect to be MVP, but it was a great feeling,” said Amabilino-Perez – who also featured in the event in 2016. “It was a really great event and it was good to see all of the British basketball talent coming together. “The game was awesome with a really great atmosphere so it was a pleasure to play in.”

Find out more about the Brixton Recreation Centre on the link below:

https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/lambeth/brixton-recreation-centre

Photo Credit: Mansoor Ahmed

Sevenoaks Suns have won back-to-back play-off finals after defeating Leicester Riders 69-44 at the O2 Arena.

The Suns were led by League and Play-Off final MVP Cat Carr who scored 19 points in addition to her 8 assists and 8 rebounds. Carr was helped along the way by Chantelle Pressley adding 12 points and Judit Fritz 10.

Sevenoaks hit the ground running, racing to a 7 point lead at the end of the first quarter before shutting the Riders out to take an 18 point lead into halftime, up 38-20, with Carr scoring 15.

Leicester attempted to mount a comeback in the third quarter, at one point reducing the deficit to 15 points, before the Suns rallied to extend their lead to 20.

Unfortunately, that rather put the nail in the coffin for the Riders and despite a spirited effort in the final quarter, they were unable to match Sevenoaks once again and finished the period trailing by an additional 5 points, meaning the Suns finished the match 25 points ahead.

Holly Winterburn who was the only member of the Riders to make double digits, scoring 12 points, with Sevenoaks’ defence proving too strong, holding Leicester to just 25% shooting from the field and only 16% from three. Leicester’s issues were compounded by the dominating way the Suns out-rebounded them at both ends of the floor.

The Suns collected their fourth title in two years, the club’s consecutive double, having already secured Championship honours at the end of April.

The Leicester Riders secured their third trophy of the season and their second treble in as many years as they defeated London Lions in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people at the O2 on Sunday.

Led by Trayvonn Wright, who was awarded MVP honours, the Riders ran out 81-60 winners over the Lions in the BBL Play-Off Final.

Wright scored 11 points, adding 13 rebounds and 2 blocks to help the Riders produce a dominant display over the crowd-favourites.

The Lions held a slender lead after the first quarter, but were soon after shut out by a terrific defensive display by the Riders, who regained the lead in the second quarter thanks to a 10-2 run, allowing Leicester to go into halftime 39-28 up, scoring almost twice as many points as their opponents in the quarter.

As the Riders began to heat up, the Lions shooting began to freeze over, as they were unable to recapture the lead in the second half.

Leicester edged a scrappy third quarter 19-15, which also saw London’s veteran centre Flo Larkai ejected from the game after a scuffle with Leicester’s Shane Walker, although in truth it had little bearing on the result.

15 points down and just a quarter left in the match proved too much for the Lions to overcome, despite posting their highest points tally in any quarter, as they were once again outscored by the Riders as they cruised to a comfortable victory.

The Riders continued their terrific defensive form throughout the second half, forcing London to shoot just 34% and only 10% from beyond the arc in the match.

Meanwhile, JR Holder (20), Pierre Hampton (19) and Leicester’s retiring captain Tyler Bernardini (17) did the majority of the damage for the Riders, who at one point had a lead of 25 points.

Brandon Peel (22) and GB international Paul Guede (10) were London's main men with Guede's second-quarter threes proved to be the only ones the Lions hit in the entire game.

The result for the Riders meant that they have now won 8 of the last 12 available trophies whereas the Lions have now reached the final twice in 3 years, being defeated both times.