PE & Sport
National 3v3 Basketball Competition
On Sunday 8th July, a Trinity Year 8 team came second in a National Basketball competition in Sheffield.
The competition was hosted across two days and saw 197 teams play 371 games. Trinity took two teams, four Year 8 boys and four Year 11/12 boys. The 3v3 game format is a very fast paced version of the regular game lasting ten minutes or as long as it takes one team to score ten baskets. Each possession lasts only twelve seconds and it is typically very physical and flamboyant.
The Year 11 boys had a difficult time playing teams that were a year older than them. The Year 8 boys, however, made good progress, ending up Runners-Up in a competition of 32 teams from up and down the country.
Group Stage
The first game for the Year 8s was against the Milton Keynes Monstars.
Having had very little warm up, it was no surprise that we struggled to contain the opposition, falling behind by 3 baskets. We warmed into the game as the clock moved towards full time and the final score was 6 each. 3v3 rules dictate that there must be a winner and extra time is played until the first team scores 2 baskets. We took the lead but eventually lost 8-7.
However, we went on to win our other group games and it came down to the a game against the Monstars again. This time around we were ready. We made fewer mistakes and had learned the format of the competition much better this time around. We qualified through to the quarter finals by virtue of a 10-6 win, stopping the clock with 30 seconds to spare.
Quarter-Final
We were drawn against Hollinwood Hellfires and moved court for this game.
The referee was firm and far more like the standard of referee that we encounter on a Friday night in the Sherwood Youth League. More foul calls were made and the physical game that had been allowed to flow in the heats had to be tightened up to make sure players were not fouled out (4 individual fouls means a player has to leave the game). Hollinwood fell into foul trouble and one of their more influential players was removed from the game. We started well and finished strong winning the game with over 2 minutes to spare winning 10-4. The free throw scoring in this game was particularly impressive.
Semi Final
The semi final was against Shropshire Warriors who were significantly shorter than the average team in the competition. It could be tempting to assume that this would be easier game but at this stage in the competition all teams were of a good standard. The final score was 10-4, again inside the 10 minutes.
Final
We were drawn in the final against Chester Jets. This team have a great heritage and are highly regarded in all age groups of basketball often featuring in the National League finals. This was going to be a difficult game.
The court was surrounded by other players and spectators as well as the DJ pumping out music and the match commentators. There was an excellent atmosphere and it was a great event to take part in.
Unfortunately Chester got a good start and pulled into a quick lead. Their guard had a few good fakes and drove strong to the basket. Despite Trinity playing well, Chester stretched their lead to 6-1 and eventually further to 8-2 before we really started to get back into the game. Unfortunately it was too little too late and Chester eventually won 9-4. We managed to prevent them winning inside the 10 minutes and perhaps if the game had been a few minutes longer we could have got closer.
Still, it was an exceptional performance from the only school team at the event. To have reached the final was a great achievement and perhaps next year we can go one step further.
