Basketball: Falkirk’s Jump2it champions narrowly beaten

Maddiston were one of five teams who were Scottish area winners of their respective Jump2it competitions and on Sunday advanced through to the final game after a round robin series between the five area champions.

Maddiston won the Falkirk Jump2it for the seventh time in a row, defeating 16 other schools on the way to Sunday’s final event – a final they won two years ago and in that team was Fury’s Andrew Mellville – now in Italy this week at the Jnr NBA Europe camp.

Basketball is blossoming in the Falkirk Primary schools, where 33 schools play in Falkirk’s PS league and it is a key foundation to Fury’s National League programme.

The game was played during the Glasgow Rocks’ last game of the regular season against Plymouth Raiders. They took the win by 12 points to finish fifth in the British League Championship table.

Fury’s three former players have all played a significant part in the recent Rocks resurgence, that has seen the pro team win 11 straight at home. Sunday’s game against the Raiders saw former Fury star and Rocks captain, Kieran Achara, play his last regular season game, as he has announced his retirement from the game after the play-offs.

Jonny Bunyan fell foul of a dubious call against the Flyers, when he was adjudged to have committed an unsportsmanlike foul in the final period.

The third former Fury star – Ali Fraser – had two big games at the weekend, with 19 points against Wolves and 15 points against Plymouth.

The Rocks now face London City Royals in the quarter final with the first leg this Friday at Crystal Palace National Sports Arena, and the second leg at the Emirates Arena on Sunday at 5pm. The winners advance to the Final 4 where its likely number one seeds London Lions will be the opposition.