Hartlepool Heat Basketball

Stockton Schools U13 Basketball Tournament

(Sponsored by Hartlepool HEAT)

On Tuesday 6th March 07, Four Stockton Secondary schools took part in a Tournament organised in partnership with Grangefield School, Stockton Borough council and Hartlepool HEAT.

Seven teams entered in what proved to be a very successful and enjoyable event with over 75 pupils taking part.

The teams were split into two pools. Each team played the teams in their pool once with the two teams at the top of the pools to play the runner up in the opposite pool in semi finals before a final with the winning team taking hold of the Hartlepool HEAT Stockton Schools U13 Shield. The winning team would also receive an individual medal and there was also an MVP (Most valuable Player) award and a Hustler award for the person who gave 100% all throughout the tournament All officiating, time keeping, score keeping and awards were provided by Hartlepool HEAT.

Pool A	Pool B
Blakeston A	St Michaels A
St Michaels B	Conyers B
Conyers A	Blakeston B
Grangefield	Grangefield

Blakeston A v St Michaels B started the tournament on court 1 and over on court 2 St Michaels A took on Conyers B. Both games were slow at first but it wasn’t long before all four teams were playing fast break basketball. St Michaels were showing their worth with both teams playing excellent basketball but great inside plays from Blakeston give them the edge with a 14-10 win. While Conyers (a team new to basketball) more than held their own and worked hard for each other every minute they were on court but couldn’t hold out against a well drilled St Michaels A falling 15-6.

The second round of games placed Conyers A against Grangefield who also were a new team to basketball but Grangefield were just too tall and too strong for the Conyers team and managed a great result of 14-6 on their home court. Over on Court 2, St Michaels A were playing their second game in a row against a fresh, tall Blakeston team. The game started fast but soon slowed as St Micheals who controlled the game throughout tired, managing a good win 8-4.

St Michaels 2 were in action next against a Conyers team playing their second game in a row and it showed, the team spirit was there for Conyers but the team were tired from giving their all in the first game and fell to an 8-0 defeat. Conyers 2 over on the other court were giving Blakeston 2 a tough time and it wasn’t till the last minute that Blakeston scored the deciding few baskets running out winners 10-6. Next up was the game of the tournament, St Michaels 2 v Grangefield. The game started with a quick basjet from Grangefield, before St Michaels hit back. That was to be the pattern of the whole game with end-to-end action and the lead changing 4 times. The game finished 12-10 with both teams leaving the court with their heads held high after an excellent game of basketball.

The Pools finished as follows:

Pool A		Pool B
1st	Blakeston A	1st	St Michaels A
2nd	Grangefield	2nd	Blakeston B
3rd	St Michaels B	3rd	Conyers 2
4th	Conyers A

The first Semi final placed St Michaels A against Grangefield with St Michaels just winning with some good ball movement and finishing. The second semi final was an all Blakeston meeting with both teams strong inside. This was an excellent game to watch with Blakeston A nudging it at the end.

The so the final was set as St Michaels A v Blakeston A. Another end to end game were the lead changed hands twice and could have gone either way, unfortunately for Blakeston it was St Michaels who held on for a 10-8 win.

Finalists Blakeston A

It was then time for the awards. The first award was the ‘Hustler Award’ and this was awarded to Natasha Sahani from Conyers for never giving up, working hard on defence and helping out her teammates.

MVP was Demon McKenzie and this was awarded for outstanding performances all throughout the Tournament.

Then it was St Michaels turn to walk up and collect their prize, The Hartlepool HEAT Stockton Schools U13 Shield.

ST Michaels claim their prize awarded by Hartlepool HEAT’s Anthony Robinson.

Well done to everyone who took part; check our training guide for information of how to join our club sessions and thank-you to everyone who helped out especially Coach’s Fisher and Harrington who organised the event.