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Home International Tournament
Saturday 20 November 2004
This competition was hosted by Lancashire Constabulary at the Vida Sports Centre in Blackpool. The men’s competition was contested by England, Scotland and Wales, whilst the women’s competition comprised only one match between England and Scotland.
The women’s game was won by Scotland, although, there was a spirited fight back by the English which proved to be insufficient to claw back the lead amassed by the winning team in the first quarter.
The final score was England: 36, Scotland: 46. Top scorers were Corinne Stone (England-West Midlands) and Jackie Jack (Scotland-Lothian & Borders) both with 13 points, and Pam Donoghue (Scotland-Lothian & Borders) with 11 points. The Most Valuable Player was Sue Pesticcio of England-Avon & Somerset.
The first game of the men’s competition between England and Wales proved to be the most exciting, and decided the final result of the tournament. Wales narrowly won each of the first two quarters by a margin of a single point. They won the third by a single basket, and held on to win the game in the final seconds by two points. The Welsh captain, Clive Jones (South Wales) lead by example, scoring 27 points in the game. This earned him the accolade of Most Valuable Player.
The remaining two games went very much according to the formbook, with Scotland losing to the Welsh by 29 points, and to the English by 20 points. The full scores were as follows:
England: 83 Wales: 85
Wales: 108 Scotland: 79
Scotland: 68 England: 88
Top scorers in the tournament were Ray Longman (Wales-South Wales) with 56 points, Elliot Thomas (Wales-South Wales) with 39 points and, Leigh Browne (England-Cambridgeshire), Russell Jenkins (Wales-South Wales) and Clive Jones (Wales-South Wales) all with 37 points.
The trophies were presented by the Section Chair, Andrew Cameron (Chief Constable-Central Scotland), and Michael Barton (Chief Superintendent-Lancashire Constabulary), following a dinner at the De Vere Hotel, Herons Reach, Blackpool.
The Basketball Section would like to thank Steve Legge, the Tournament Commissioner, who was assisted by students from the Basketball Academy at Blackpool Sixth Form College. Thanks also to Roger Harrison and Alan Richardson from England Basketball who assisted with the arrangements for referees and table officials.
