The Island Year 8 boys Basketball Tournament took place this Tuesday. The first game was between Carisbrooke and The Island Free School. Liam showed impressive composure by scoring 2 breakaway lay-ups to give Carisbrooke the lead. The Free School replied, but Shai and Charlie sealed the game with his inside shooting. It was a great start for Carisbrooke!
Their next opponent was the confident Priory school who won their previous match convincingly 16-0. It was a close encounter, with both teams missing a few lay-ups. Shai stepped up to take a shot from outside of the 3 point line and it went sailing in, putting Carisbrooke 3-2 up. Priory upped their game and took the lead. With time running out, Carisbrooke knew that one basket could take the win. With some great teamwork, they managed to steal the ball and break with Mason finding the target to settle the game 5-4.
The next challenge Carisbrooke faced was against The Bay. The majority of their players towered over the Carisbrooke team. The Bay dominated the boards and collected rebounds at either end to take a 12-0 win.
Carisbrooke’s confidence took a hit after the heavy defeat, but they were determined to bounce back against the tricky Cowes team. Cowes had some fast players who traveled well with the ball, causing problems down the wings. Against the run of play, Carisbrooke took the lead, and the confidence started to rise in the team thanks to another 3 from Shai. Daniel and Liam added to the tally but Cowes hit back, taking the lead. A breakaway chance leveled the game, and with 10 seconds left on the clock, Cowes managed to find the target right at the death to take the win.
The final game of the tournament was against Medina College, and Carisbrooke was determined not to go out with a third defeat. The game started very cagey with missed chances at both ends. The deadlock was broken by points from Charlie, then later Lucas added to Carisbrooke’s tally. They maintained the pressure, with two more points from Mason to take the game out of reach.
As the results were announced, there was a tie for second place between Priory School and Carisbrooke College, and they had to go to a shoot-out. With Priory starting strong, their first shooter put them 1 up. Shai leveled the score making it 1-1. The priory second shooter put them 2 up, and Carisbrooke’s second shooter missed the opportunity to tie the game. With Priory’s third shooter missing, and the game 2-1 in favor of Priory, Mason had to make the shot to keep Carisbrooke in the running for second place.