Falkirk Fury win unprecedented under 14 double

March 30 was the first time in the history of the Scottish Cup, at under 14 level, that the same club have won both finals in the same season – a superb Fury achievement.

A resounding boys win saw Fury defeat an Inverness Lions side, whonever gave up, by a scoreline of 85-22 and the Fury girls team defeated West Lothian Wolves 36-24 in a tighter affair.

The boys, who competed at the Battle in the Capital in London over Christmas against top quality English sides and have dominated the under 14 scene in Scotland this season, have had several of their team play in the Scottish under 16 Division 1 league.

The team who were a top under 12 side have steadily progressed and have players from six of the eight Falkirk secondary schools.

MVP in the cup final, Andrew Mellville, had a whopping 33 points and 11 rebounds and has made huge steps in his basketball development since coming into the club as an under 12 player. Ben Adams had 15 points and grabbed six rebounds with three steals, with Harvey Berry also on 15 points with nine rebounds.

Fury racked up 37 points off their fast break and 70 of the 85 points were scored in the paint. No player had more than 19minutes and none less than 13 minutes as Fury ran their

bench throughout.

The Fury team in the final was as follows: Andrew Mellville, Ben Adams, Harvey Berry, Robbie Gilmour, George Henderson, David Black, Leo Serafini, Jack Shand, Kai Mungall, Glen Beattie. Reserves – Max MacAuley and John Crozier. Coach was Dave Cooper with assistant coach John Bunyan (pictured).

The girls under 14 team, like the boys, worked extremely hard as a team and produced some stunning stats, particularly on the rebounding front, with five players collecting an astonishing 56 rebounds between them.

Fury opened well in the final against a West Lothian Wolves team who, despite working hard throughout, could not match the energy from the Falkirk side. Fury played solid team defence and were always ahead in a game, where not only did they do an amazing job on the boards but made over 20 steals as they worked as a team on the defensive end.

Captain Chelsy Hughes led by example with 10 points, 15 rebounds and three steals, stats that earned her the MVP award of the final. There were some great other candidates for the MVP accolade, with Sophie Cram hitting seven points personal, grabbing 13 rebounds and focing five steals. Olivia Mitchell also had seven points and added 6 rebounds with four assists. Abby Reid had six points and 15 rebounds and Emily Dagger produced six points personal, seven rebounds and five steals.

In fact, the whole team worked very hard for the 12pt win and a place in history.

The Fury team in the final was as follows: Chelsy Hughes, Olivia Mitchell, Sophie Cram, Emily Dagger, Abby Reid, Rowan Brockie, Raven Murray, Lucy Brown, Jodie Girvan, Eve Balloch , Rose Tyrrell, Amy Kelly. Coach was Rebecca Lonsdale with assistant coach Jenna Beattie.