Yesterday, the 1st V Basketball team achieved an historic win in the U19 Dynamik School’s National Cup. After going unbeaten in the pool stage, the team knocked out a strong Hayward’s Heath Sixth Form College side to advance to the last 16 in the country, an incredible achievement!

The game started cagily, with both sides playing physical defence, and scoring was low in the first quarter. The opposition’s size and structured play allowed them to build a small lead. The 1st V fought back in the second quarter, playing with excellent tempo and intensity to take a small 2 point lead into the half time break. In the 3rd quarter, captain Toby S stepped up, hitting three 3 point shots in the space of a few minutes to set up a dominant quarter where he scored 16 of his game high 34 points (to go with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 6 steals). This built out a substantial lead and the team never looked back, continuing to defend with intensity, run in transition and move the ball at good tempo, in order to secure a comfortable 69-42 win against a strong, well coached opposition. We would like to thank Hayward’s Heath and their coaches for making the long trip to us and wish them the best with the rest of their season.

The win was a genuine whole team performance, but standout performances include Shawn V’s excellent all-around performance (8 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks), Victor F’s hustle (15 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks) and Charlie H’s scoring (15 points, 2 assists). We are pleased to say that every player contributed superbly in their role and a special mention should go to Steve F for his excellent defence, which sadly does not show up on the stat sheet, he was relentless in shutting down the opposition captain and main creative threat all game.

As well as being a historic day for the school and the 1st V, yesterday also marked an impressive individual milestone; Toby S (pictured) became the first player in Rich’s Basketball history to reach the milestone of 50 caps, having earlier this season been the first player to pass 1,000 points for the 1st V. We would like to congratulate Toby on these achievements and thank him for his hard work and commitment to STRS Basketball.

Thank you to all the boys for their hard work and for the support and assistance of students and staff. The 1st V will now play away in either London or Brighton next week, date and opposition tbc, with the hope of advancing to the quarter finals.