Jun 5, 2024
Ealing's Basketball Stars Shine at the London Youth Games
By Jamie H
The London Youth Games are a truly unique tournament that regularly showcase the best of what one of the greatest sporting cities in the world has to offer.
Whether it’s legendary track athletes like Sir Mo Farah or world-renowned footballers like Raheem Sterling, the Youth Games have played host to a plethora of great young sports stars. This is said to highlight the tremendous character that our players and coaches have exemplified leading up to the finals and that they continued to present in said finals. Representing Ealing, there was a lot of pressure mounted on the shoulders of the players, but they were seemingly unfazed by this burden as they made not only the school, but the entire borough of Ealing proud.
Both the under-14s and under-16s competed in the semi-finals with the under-14s playing in the morning and the under-16s in the afternoon. The u-14s faced the representative from Waltham Forest in their semi-final and proved that they were there to compete. Starting off trailing (down by a point at the end of the first quarter), they quickly came back to lead by five points at the halfway mark. Despite a valiant showing from the opposition, Drayton cemented their victory by the third quarter thanks in large part to some very impressive offensive performances from Lincoln C (18 points) and Daniel R (who led the game for points with 21). The game ended an emphatic 52-36 to Drayton, lining up a final against Southborough High School – who represented the borough of Kingston upon Thames.
The final started as a tight affair as Drayton trailed by only two points at the end of the first quarter (17-15) but by the end of the half Southborough had extended their lead to 8 points (35-27). In the third quarter, Drayton managed to pull the game back to a five-point margin but despite standout performances from David P – who led the game in rebounds – and Daniel R who scored a phenomenal 41 points, Drayton were unable to pull the game back. Whilst the under-14s eventually lost, they made the school proud with an impressive run of results and they will be eager to win gold next year. The future of Drayton’s senior basketball team looks promising.
In the afternoon, the under-16s played their semi-final against Harris Invictus Academy – the representative of Croydon. Drayton started by taking a healthy lead of 10 points courtesy of contributions from Joseph W and Mikel M. Following a renewed sense of optimism from Harris Invictus – having scored 11 points and with them beginning to apply pressure on us - Drayton ensured that they would win with a scoring spree towards the end of the third quarter. Points from Almamy D (with 9) and Joseph W (with 15) proved pivotal in securing the spot in the final for the under-16s as the game finished 35-31 to Drayton.
In the finals, Drayton played Haydon School from the borough of Hillingdon and they quickly took a comprehensive lead within the first quarter. Drayton led by 14 points by halftime at 29-15 and they were well worth their score with players like Joseph Wright (14 points) and Mikal M (10 rebounds and a few key blocks late on) giving excellent performances. The game became a very cagey affair for the third quarter as little happened with few points being scored but it came alive again in the final quarter and tensions were high. With a few minutes left Haydon School gave it their all but Drayton’s lead was too great for them and a few key blocks and points from Drayton gave us the win. The match ended 45-26 to Drayton in what will go down in the school's history. The fact that Drayton managed to have two teams that made it to the finals of their respective age groups highlights the character and ambition of both teams and the broader culture of sporting success at Drayton.
