By beating Stenying Grammar School in the previous round Archbishop Lanfranc’s U16 basketball team qualified for the National Finals in Nottingham on 29 April.
Lanfranc were set to play Roundhay School from Yorkshire in one semi-final while Haberdashers’ Aske’s, from South London, played North Bromsgrove School from Birmingham. These proved to be four excellent school teams.
Roundhay led early on but a three pointer from Joel Lancaster gave Lanfranc a 22-18 lead at the end of the first quarter. This was reversed in the second quarter as Lanfranc could only score 11 points and trailed 33-37 at the half.
A change of tactics proved decisive as Lanfranc changed to a 3-2 zone. This restricted Roundhay to only 12 and 11 points in the remaining two quarters while Ali Mahmood scored 13 points on his own in the third. Disaster almost struck as Ali fouled out with 12 minutes still to play but this was the signal for the rest of the team to shoulder the responsibility. This they did in no uncertain fashion with Nathan Nicholas, Campbell McGuire and Matthew Don taking crucial rebounds and points as Raymond Amoah stepped up the defence. Roundhay’s fate was sealed in the closing minute as Matthew Waldron, who had led the team magnificently in the final quarter, scored a breakaway basket after a lightning steal.
Final score: Archbishop Lanfranc 85 Roundhay 78
Leading scorers: A Mahmood 17, C McGuire 16, N Nicholas 15, M Waldron 9, M Don 6.
Having travelled the country to reach the finals Lanfranc faced near neighbours Haberdashers’ Aske’s, who had had a similarly hard fought semi-final.
This proved to be another tough match as Lanfranc trailed 18-20 at the quarter and 37-40 at the half. Another change of tactics - this time to three players playing a triangle zone and two playing man-to-man defence on Aske’s two international players. The move again proved decisive as Lanfranc outscored Aske’s 24-15 in the third.
The lead continued to change hands with only 3 points separating the teams with just 90 seconds remaining in the match. Once again Lanfranc’s superior teamwork carried the day.
During these 90 seconds, Ali hit two 3 point shots, Campbell hit 4 from 4 from the foul line, as Nathan and Matthew Don took more crucial rebounds. Matthew Waldron and Ralph Pemberton sealed a resounding victory with outstanding defence on the opponents’ two main scorers.
A fantastic team performance from all those involved.
Final score: Archbishop Lanfranc 81 Haberdashers’ Aske’s 74
Leading scorers: A Mahmood 23, N Nicholas 18, C McGuire 16, M Waldron 12, M Don 8
Other squad members: R Amoah, B Bray-Sackey, R Daley, M Islam, H Kamoju, J Lancaster, P Osei-Bonsu, R Pemberton