Kentish Express Ashford & District
BASKETBALL: LIONS LAND CHRISTMAS INVITATION TOURNAMENT VICTORY ON TENTH ANNIVERSARY
The North School Lions celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their Christmas Invitational Basketball Tournament and Charity Drive on Saturday.
The Lions went into the tournament as defending champions and on a terrific run of form, however no team had won back to back CIT titles in five years and the line-up of teams was the best since the event started. The Lions opened the group stage against the 2017 champions Whitgift and captain Harvey Kemp-Green poured in a game high 14 points to get the home team’s campaign off to the perfect start with a 44-26 victory. In the second game, Christ’s College Finchley defeated Havering Sixth Form College 51-19.
The Lions were up against old nemesis Havering Sixth Form College in game three and this time it was forward Luis Beaumont that who did the damage for the home team.
He scored a game high 19 points to lead the Lions to a crucial victory which put them on the brink of making the final.
Tournament newcomers Christ’s College Finchley (CCF) surged to a 42-30 victory over Whitgift to secure their place in the final.
Game five was a preview of the final as the Lions took on CCF. The sharpshooting trio of Kemp-Green, Roshan Thakali and Oakley Rigby drained eight first-half three-point field goals and the Lions never looked back, recording a 53-40 victory.
The win meant that they ended the group stage a perfect 3-0 and had secured their place in the final.
The final game of the group stage saw Havering and Whitgift battling for third place and after a see-saw battle it was Whitgift who won 37-34.
The final started with Lions guard Conal Parnell attacking the rim at will for 10 first quarter points and Rigby hitting back to back threepoint baskets to open up an 11-4 lead. CCF were boosted by Oskar Gusiak and Brandon Shomade, whose 13 points reduced the deficit to three, but man of the moment Kemp-Green hit two three-point baskets that gave the Lions a 23-17 lead.
In the second quarter, Gusiak maintained his strong start for CCF, but the Lions resumed their shooting masterclass with Kemp-Green, Rigby and Diogo Araujo-Simoes connecting on five three-point baskets for a 52-38 lead at half-time.
In the third quarter, the Lions got an explosion of energy from AraujoSimoes, who made a difference with his rebounding, defence and ballhandling wizardry. The Lions were finally able to slow down the CCF break and with Parnell and Thakali combining for 11 points, the home team increased their lead to 68-45. CCF fought until the final buzzer, but the Lions had a response for every run, and they sealed a 79-59 victory with a basket by Kai Guthrie, the team’s youngest player at just 13 years old.
The All-Tournament was made up of Nathan Osatimehim, Havering Sixth Form College; Brandon Shomade, Oskar Gusiak, CCF; and Oakley Rigby and Harvey Kemp-Green of The North School Lions. KempGreen capped off a phenomenal day by being crowned the C.I.T’s Most Valuable Player.
Alongside the tournament, the Lions run their Christmas Charity Drive in support of the Salvation Army. Every year, the contributions of food, clothes, and toys grow and it shows no sign of letting up.