Year 9 Triumph In Harris Cup After Nail-biting Win Away From Home

On Tuesday 27th January, Our Year 9 team travelled to play Harris Academy Peckham in the basketball Harris Cup in what ended up being an extremely close encounter.

After the first quarter, HBAED were down 18-3 after a quick start from the Harris Peckham boys. Junior then took it upon himself to take charge on the offensive end with terrific attacking of the rim and playmaking to help lift the HBAED boys’ spirit. Significant second quarter contributions from Christopher and Suleman helped the HBAED comeback to a 24-24 score at Half Time after a dominant second quarter display.

After an inspiring team talk from Mr Weir at half time, the boys went back out into the 3rd quarter with a focus on defence being the main objective. Uriel stepped up with courageous rebounding and was assigned with guarding the other team’s best player, a challenge he accepted and excelled at. Great contributions off the bench from Gabriel, Suleman and Isaac helped the boys go into the 4th quarter with a 30-28 lead.

The final 12 minutes saw both teams intensify their defence, which made baskets scarce. As legs became tired, neither team wanted to risk the loss. After Chris was fouled while attempting a layup in the final three minutes, he drilled one free throw to put HBAED up 36-35. Peckham then used a timeout to draw up a play that saw their shifty point guard break through our defensive line and score a floater with 50 seconds left on the clock.

Junior then wasted no time, glided up the court and sunk a contested layup with seven seconds left on the clock to send the HBAED through to the next stage of the Harris Cup! The boys defended and attacked courageously all game and thoroughly deserved the win, a massive well done to all the boys!

Written by Mr John Williams.