Stella Azzura and London United were respectively crowned U18 and U14 champions at the Future Stars International Tournament.
England finished runners-up in both categories at the event held over three days at Brunel University, London.
The tournament featured an U14 category for the first time as London United Legends secured the title against England in an OT thriller. Elijah Imevbore earned MVP honours with a huge 31-point, 22-rebound double-double performance.
The U14 category was contested by England, Stella (Italy), Platon Academy (Greece), London United, a select team of the best young players in the category in the Greater London Area.
Mattia Santinon won MVP of the U18 category as he led Stella to victory over an unbeaten England. Santinon played the full 40 minutes of the final tallying 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The U18 competition featured England, Stella, Porshe BBA Ludwigsburg and WHO’S NEXT, a select team of US and UK players, and home town London United Legends face-off.
The tournament was accompanied by an International Coaching Conference, supported by Basketball England.
Jenson Green posted a team-high of 16 points in his debut to lead England U14 boys past London United, 67-61 to open their Future Stars tournament on Friday afternoon.
Matthew Akintolu contributed for 15 points and six rebounds, while shooting 66% from the floor. Ege Cakmakkaya added 14 points and eight rebounds in his team’s victory.
England dominated throughout the game as they led by as much as 18 points entering the fourth quarter. However, London United came up short as England held onto their lead in the final act of the game.
Elijah Imevbore dropped a game-high 23 points performance but it was not enough for London United in their first game.
E.Bargilu had a game-high 30 points to go with six rebounds, shooting an efficient 86% (13/15) from the floor, but Stella Azzurra fell to Platon Academy, 73-114, in their opener.
Z.Konstantinous led his team to this probant win as he scored a team-high 19-points coming off the bench. Platon took an early lead in the first quarter with an 11-0 run and never looked back.
On their second game of the tournament, England U14 blew out the Italian team 124-47, allowing only nine points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter.
Emmanuel Onwuneme scored a game-high 23-point as six England players scored in double-digit. Jenson Green followed up from his tournament opener with an incredible performance, missing on a triple-double for one steal (14 pts, 11 asts, 9 sts).
F.Luckenti scored a team-high 19 points for Stella Azzura in his team’s tough loss. The second of his team in the tournament.
Barlos Andreas had a game-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds, six assists and four blocks, but Platon Academy fell against London United, 78-113.
A convincing start gave a decisive lead to London United (30-10) in the first quarter. Keaton Dain had a good performance from the bench as he tallied 20 points, five rebounds and four steals. Kian Davies scored 20 points, shooting an efficient 90% (10/11) from the field.
In their second game of the day, London United thumped Stella Azzura, 137-28, as London United clinched their seat in the final as they are set to face England U14.
The Italian side will face Platon Academy in the 3rd place match-up on Sunday morning.
A strong third quarter started on a 14-0 run gave a decisive lead to England U14, to a 104-70 victory, keeping a perfect 3-0 record.
Emmanuel Onwuneme dropped a solid double-double performance (25pts and 12 rebounds) in England U14’s second outing of the day. The victory meant that England qualified for the final on Sunday against London United.
B.Andreas’s 22points and 10 rebounds double-double was not enough for Platon. The team will now play for third place against Stella Azzura U14.
Platon Academy prevailed in the 3rd place game, 93-64, over Stella Azzura.
Barlos Andreas concluded his good tournament with a 16 points team-high performance for the Greek side. Kavalos Marios added 13 points.
F.Luckenti’s 21-point performance was not enough for Stella as the Italian side finished 4th with a 0-4 record in the tournament. L.Banchetti added 14 points in the loss.
England U14 suffered an heartbreaking OT loss, 93-87, against London United. England was up by three with 37 seconds remaining, until Elijah Imevbore tied the game with three-pointer, sending both teams to overtime.
An 8-0 run to start the OT gave a decisive lead to London United as Myles Barry (34pts and 7 rebounds) scored seven of his team’s 13 points in the period.
Matthew Akintolu had 21-point and 11 rebounds double-double but it was not enough for England. Emmanuel Owuneme added 19 points before fouling out at the end of the fourth quarter.
Imevbore earned MVP honours after a monster 31-point and 22 rebounds double-double performance in the final.
Toby Holmes had a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds performance in his debut but it was not enough as London United fell 73-98, against England U18 team to open their Future Stars tournament.
The third quarter proved decisive as England were able to improved on their 9-point lead acquired at half-time to a 21-point advantage putting definitely London United in the rearview.
Harry Sheehan and Nojus Zajankauskas led England as they both contributed for 20 points each.
Junor Falente contributed for 24 points on his debut in the loss of his team.
Stella Azzurra earned an important success on their opening game of the tournament against BBA Ludwigsburg, 70-69.
E.Ravaliou’s (9 points) lay up proved to be the game winner for Stella with 24 seconds remaining on the clock. However, D.Hinkov (18 points) missed the chance for Ludwigsburg to steal the game with two seconds left in the game.
T.D’argangeli had 14 points and 10 boards in a double-double outing and D.Kolev added his 14 points to his team’s tally in the narrow win.
A.Pival recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, J.Baumer added 11 points for Ludwigsburg in the loss.
On their second game of the day, London United fell again, against Who’s Next, 96-91. London United held a 9-point lead at half-time but eventually ran out of gas in the second half of the game.
A trio of Who’s Next players recorded double-double performances on their debut, Antonio Munoz (29 points & 11 assists), Oluwademilade Bablola (17 points & 10 rebounds) and Joshua Okoduwa (19 points & 12 rebounds) contributed greatly in their team’s victory.
Toby Holmes had another top performance with a team-high 27 points for his team, in 31 minutes. Ash Sempala contributed for 16 points as Junor Falente and Markus Hegmev both added 13 points to their team’s tally.
England U18 took down Stella Azzurra after double OT, 94-90, behind a 20-point performance from Isaac Spurrier to open the second day of action at the Future Stars International tournament.
Despite a six-points deficit at half-time, England were able to turn the game around on a 11-0 run to close out the third quarter, taking an eight lead entering the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Spurrier thought to have sealed the game as he gave a three-point advantage to his side from the charity stripe with eight seconds left on the clock. However, he fouled out on a three-point attempt from T. D’argangeli (21 pts, 16 rebs, 7 asts). With tree seconds remaining, D’argangeli stayed ice cold to send the game to overtime.
The turning point of the game arrived in the second period of overtime as D’argangeli received his fifth and final foul. The Italian side then struggled to score as England took a decisive advantage.
Larry Duru had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Corey Hill added 17 points for England U18.
D.Kolev contributed for 18 points in the loss for the Italian side.
J.Baumer lead BBA Ludwigsburg to a 73-58, victory over Who’s Next with a near triple-double performance as he tallied 32 points, 10 assists and 9 steals.
The turning point of the game was the second quarter as Ludwigsburg only conceded nine points from their opponents. The German side were then able to hold onto their lead to win the game. D.Hinkov added 17 points for Ludwigsburg.
Antonio Munoz lead his team in scoring with 17 points and Joshua Okoduwa had a solid game with 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in the loss.
D’argangeli delivered another great performance for Stella Azzurra against London United with 20 points, however, it was not enough as Stella fell, 87-76, to London United.
A trio composed of Toby Holmes (20 points), Ash Sempala (22 points) and Junior Sanchez (25 points) led London to victory as they overturned a nine-points deficit following a tough start in the first quarter.
Nathan Sherman added 12 points from the bench for Stella.
On their second game of the day, England took down Who’s Next, 76-65, and kept a perfect record (3-0).
Kervy Mabaya posted a game-high 19-points to go with eight rebounds to lead England U18 as Isaac Spurrier had another double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
England, which never trailed, took an early lead and controlled the game. However, Who’s Next were able to cut their deficit to just four point entering the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, a solid defence in the fourth helped them secure the win as their opponents only scored in single digit.
Babalola had a team-high 17 points and added 11 points for Who’s Next.
England thumped BBA Ludwigsburg, 49-72, as they punched their ticket to the final later on day three of the Future Stars International tournament.
David Cimochowski dropped a game-high 23 points to go with 11 boards in a double-double performance. Another impressive defensive display in the fourth quarter from England secured the win as they allowed only seven points in the fourth quarter of the game.
Kervy Mabaya had a double-double (12 points and 14 rebounds) and Harry Sheehan added 12 points in the victory.
Dani Hinkov led Ludwigsburg with a team-high 17 points in the loss. The German team will now play in the third place game.
Stella Azzurra clinched their spot in the final with a convincing, 108-73, win over Who’s Next.
A great start saw the Italian side lead by 30 points at the end of the first quarter (43-13) behind a trio of D’argangeli (15 points), Santinon (13 points) and Kolev (25 points).
Stella will now face England in the final, in the second match-up between these two teams following the double OT thriller on Day 2 of the Future Stars International tournament.
Revell had 19 points for Who’s Next. The loss meant that the team finished fifth-place.
Dani Hinkov dropped a monstrous 48-points, 10 rebounds double-double performance to help BBA Ludwigsburg earn a third-place finish over London United, 105-95, in OT.
The first half of the game was an intense back and forth affair between the two sides, however, London took a serious advantage as they entered the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead. A solid fourth quarter from Ludwigsburg saw them cut their deficit down to one point with 26 seconds remaining.
With five seconds on the clock, Heymer-Legg sinked both his free throws to give a three-point lead to his team in what looked like a definitive advantage. However, Dani Hinkov tied the game with a three-pointer just before the buzzer to send both teams to OT.
In OT, Hinkov and Ludwigsburg sealed their comeback victory to secure their top-three finish at the Future Stars International tournament.
Ash Sempala led London United with a team-high 22 points. Junior Sanchez (15 points & 12 rebounds) and Cameron Thomas (14 oints & 10 rebounds) from the bench had double-double in their loss.
England U18 fell to Stella Azzurra U18, 71-85, in the Future Stars International tournament at Brunel University.
A poor start proved to be costly for England as they were never able to erase their 14-points deficit following the opening quarter (9-25).
Once again, Stella Azzurrra were able to count on their incredible trio composed of D’argangeli (26 points, 7 rebounds & 7 assists), Kolev (23 points & 9 rebounds) and tournament MVP Mattia Santinon (19 points, 7 rebounds & 8 steals) to secure the victory.
Corey Hill led England with a team-high 19-point and Zajankauskas added 16 points in the loss. The England U18 reached the final with an unbeaten record.
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