Month: July 2017

Basketball Wales

Follow the progress of our Wales U16 players at the European Championships

Magic’s Sion Gordon, Ben Gordos, Luke Gordos and Fredric Rouse were selected in the final 12 of the Wales Under 16 Boys squad for the FIBA Under 16 Boys European Championships in Andorra. The Team are led by Magic’s Aurimas Verbukas (aka Coach Ollie).

Mystics’ Beth McLoughlin has been selected in the final 12 of the Wales Under 16 Girls squad for the upcoming FIBA Under 16 Girls European Championships in Gibraltar.

Wales Under 16 Boys Schedule/Results:

Division C – 23rd – 30th July – Group A in Andorra La Vella, Andorra

Sun 23rd at 1:15pm Wales 55 – 64 Moldova Ben played 19 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 steals, Luke played 23 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, Fredric played 9 minutes, 3 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 2 steals and Sion played 16 minutes, 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal

Mon 24th at 11:00am Wales 47 – 43 Malta Ben played 19 minutes, 9 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal, Sion played 20 minutes, 2 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, Luke played 9 minutes, 5 rebounds and 1 steal and Fredric did not play

Wed 26th at 3:45pm Wales 66 – 81 Gibraltar Ben played 36 minutes, 31 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal, Sion played 31 minutes, 6 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks, Luke played 12 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists and Fredric played 8 minutes, 2 rebounds

Thu 27th at 1:15pm Wales 53 – 85 Armenia Sion played 24 minutes, 6 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals, Fredric played 16 minutes, 7 points and 3 rebounds, Luke played 13 minutes, 2 points, 1 assist and 1 steal and Ben played 11 minutes, 1 assist

Sat 29th at 1:15pm Wales 47 – 58 Albania 5-8 Classification Games, Sion played 32 minutes, 6 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, Luke played 30 minutes, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 1 block, Ben played 13 minutes, 2 points, 5 rebounds 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block and Fredric played 6 minutes

Sun 30th at 11:15am Wales 65 – 60 Moldova 7th/8th Classification Games, Sion played 21 minutes, 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 4 blocks, Luke played 32 minutes, 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, Ben played 22 minutes, 8 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal and Fredric played 14 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound and 2 steal

Wales Under 16 Boys finished 7th

Wales Under 16 Girls Schedule/Results:

Division C – 25th – 30th July – Group B in Gibraltar

Tue 25th at 5:30pm Wales 48 – 46 Gibraltar Beth played 26 minutes, 7 points, 10 rebounds and 2 steals

Wed 26th at 3:15pm Wales 31 – 63 Armenia Beth played 29 minutes, 5 points, 8 rebounds and 1 steal

Thu 27th at 3:15pm Wales 47 – 45* Principality of Monaco *Overtime Beth played 36 minutes, 5 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal

Sat 29th at 3:15pm Wales 33 – 61 Malta Semi-Final, Beth played 30 minutes, 7 points, 10 rebounds and 1 assist

Sun 30th at 3:15pm Wales 45 – 66 Georgia 3rd/4th Classification Games, Beth played 29 minutes, 8 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists

Wales Under 16 Girls finished 4th

(All times are UK times, follow links for LiveStats)

Gina Brierley

Mystics Alumni Brierley’s progress with GB Under 20s at European Championships

Mystics Alumni Gina Brierley was selected in the final 12 of the GB Under 20 Women’s squad for the FIBA Under 20 Women’s European Championships in Israel.

Gina came through the Manchester Mystics’ junior programme and represented the senior team in the WBBL before heading to the US to attend Saint Leo University as a Freshman last year.

GB Under 20 Women Schedule/Results:

Division B – 8th – 16th July – Group B in Eilat, Israel

Sat 8th at 6:30pm GB 69 – 46 Ireland Gina played 9 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 steal

Sun 9th at 4:15pm GB 74 – 48 Romania Gina played 7 minutes, 2 points, 1 steal

Mon 10th at 4:15pm GB 50 – 88 Israel Gina played 18 minutes, 5 points, 1 rebound

Wed 12th at 2:00pm GB 58 -70 Belarus Gina did not play

Thu 13th at 6:30pm GB 38 – 72 Croatia Gina played 21 minutes, 1 point, 1 rebound, 2 assists 

Sat 15th at 2:00pm GB 71 – 77 Czech Republic 5-8 Classification Games, Gina played 3 minutes

Sun 16th at 1:30pm GB 49 – 77 Israel 7th/8th Classification Games, Gina played 18 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound

GB Under 20 Women finished 8th

(UK times, follow links for LiveStats)

All GB games for U20, U18 and U16 Men and Women will be Live Streamed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/fiba

Manchester Magic U12s

Future looking bright for Magic as Under 12s show promising signs

Manchester Magic’s future looks in very good hands judging by the performances and success of their talented kids.

For the past couple of weeks, members of the Under 12 squad, some as young as eight, have been back and forth to Leeds for tournaments, winning one and earning lots of praise for their play and behaviour.

In the two-day Leeds Force Invitational on 8 and 9 July, Magic Black were crowned champions after winning every game, with Magic Red joint second alongside the hosts and London United.

Magic Black’s Thomas Kelly was voted tournament MVP.

In the Champion of Champions event on 15 July, Magic took just one team to Leeds and finished second to Manchester Giants, losing to their city rivals in the final after beating them earlier in the competition.

Magic’s Matthew Goodwin picked up one of two MVP awards on offer.

With the summer break fast approaching, the focus will soon turn to the National League camps at the end of August as the players prepare for the new campaign in September.

Magic will be fielding three teams at Under 14 level – one in the Premier and two in the Conference.

Manchester Mystics

North West U13 Girls Finish 4th in Regional Development Tournament

Manchester Mystics had five players on North West duty for the Under 13 Girls Regional Development Tournament that took place this weekend.

Mystics’ Charli Wroe, Olivia Forster, Eleni Vourliotis, Esha Nayar and Josephine Vourliotis did themselves proud as part of the 12-strong squad for the two-day event at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Belle Vue.

They were joined by Mystics coach Ashley Tensel as the team’s assistant coach, plus Sam and Jim Forster, who were the team managers.

Saturday’s Results:

10:35am vs East Midlands: Skills Challenge NW win, Q1 NW win, Q2 draw, Q3 NW win, Q4 NW win, NW win
12:45pm vs South: Skills Challenge NW win, Q1 NW win, Q2 NW win, Q3 S win, Q4 NW win, NW win
2:55pm vs South West: Skills Challenge NW win, Q1 NW win, Q2 NW win, Q3 NW win, Q4 NW win, NW win
6:10pm vs South East: Skills Challenge SE win, Q1 NW win, Q2 SE win, Q3 SE win, Q4 SE win, SE win

Sunday’s Schedule:

10:05am Semi-Final vs London: Skills Challenge NW win, Q1 L win, Q2 L win, Q3 L win, Q4 L win, L win
12:55pm Shooting Test (Mystics’ Josephine Vourliotis)
2:35pm 3rd/4th Yorkshire: Skills Challenge NW win, Q1 NW win, Q2 Y win, Q3 Y win, Q4 Y win, Y win

North West finished 4th

Mystics U13 North West
Manchester Magic logo

May nets shooting crown as North West Finish fifth

Manchester Magic’s Bradley May won the shooting contest at the Under 13 Boys Regional Development Tournament in Manchester as North West finished fifth.

The 12-year-old beat off players from nine other regions to take the title on Sunday.

May was joined in the 12-strong North West squad by club-mates Sam Andrew, Harrison Ball, Ben Brown, Matthew Giwa and Matthew Goodwin.

The boys represented the Magic in style during the two-day competition at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Belle Vue, winning six of their seven games and coming out on top in each of their seven skills contests.

Due to a three-way tie for first place after the group games, North West missed out on the semi-finals and played off for 5th to 10th place on Sunday.

North West were coached by Cheshire Wire’s Stephen Welsh, with Magic’s Gary Williams acting as his assistant. 

Saturday Results:

9:30am vs South West: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 SW win, Q2 NW win, Q3 SW win, Q4 NW win, NW win (via Skill Challenge)
11:40am vs West Midlands: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 WM win, Q2 NW win, Q3 WM win, Q4 NW win, NW win (via Skill Challenge)
12:00noon – Shooting Test
2:55pm vs South East: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 SE win, Q2 NW win, Q3 SE win, Q4 SE win, SE win
6:10pm vs East Midlands: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 EM win, Q2 NW win, Q3 NW win, Q4 NW win, NW win

Sunday Results:

9:00am vs North East: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 NW win, Q2 NW win, Q3 NW win, Q4 NW win, NW win
11:50am vs Yorkshire: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 Y win, Q2 NW win, Q3 NW win, Q4 Y win, NW win (via Skill Challenge)
12:55pm Shooting Test: North West Win (Magic’s Bradley May)
1:30pm vs South: NW win Skill Challenge, Q1 NW win, Q2 NW win, Q3 NW win, Q4 NW win, NW win

North West finished 5th out of 10

Bradley May

Magic’s Bradley May