Fury shoot the lights out

City Of Edinburgh Kings v Clark Eriksson Fury U18 Men’s Cup Final

The tip was won by Kings who went straight into their offence but failed to score, fury then returned and scored the first basket of the game. Cameron Buchan then followed this up with yet another basket putting in another shot putting Fury up 0-5. Lee Reilly was fouled and went to the line making 1 of his 2 foul shots. He was then fouled again and added another point to kings’ tally. This was quickly returned by fury with Bryan Munnoch driving to the hoop to score an easy layup. After 4 minutes of play the score was 4-12 to Falkirk. Kings gained momentum with Niall Mackle hitting a 3 and after a turnover from Ali Fraser kings converted with a layup. Jonny Bunyan was fouled and went to the line to shoot 1 which was unsuccessful however his basket kept Falkirk up 10-17 with 3 minutes remaining. A strong post move from Ali Fraser saw Fury increase their lead to 9 which was followed by another 2 points and Edinburgh called a time out with the score 10-21 with 2 minutes remaining in the first period. Some quick ball movement by Kings led to Grant Mackay scoring a jump shot in the middle of the key, putting Edinburgh back into contention. Fraser was fouled and went to the line to add another point to Fury’s lead. Another steal from Falkirk led to a 3 from Steve Leslie putting Fury ahead 12-27 going into the 2^nd quarter.

The second quarter started with 3 minutes of closely contested play but no points were scored. Niall Mackle then went to the line and added another point to kings’ total. Another few minutes of play led to no points being added as both defensive efforts increased. Mackle went up strong to add yet another 2 to Kings’ score followed by a fast break layup from Lee Reilly making the score 17-27 with 3 minutes of the half remaining. This was then interrupted by the hall lights going off which stopped play momentarily. Lee Reilly got things moving again with a fade away jump shot. This was closely followed by a big rebound from Falkirk’s Fraser who went up for 2 making the score 22-31. Lee Reilly then went in over the top of Fraser to score the last basket of the half making the score 24-31.

The 3^rd quarter began with Fury taking possession however they failed to score at their first attempt and Kings followed with the same. Ali Fraser then finished with a strong dunk over Grant Mackay putting Fury up 24-34. A drive from Davey Rowan led to a quick pass to Mackle for an easy 2 points. Fury rallied again and scored keeping the pressure on. Bunyan added to this with a pull up jump shot making the score 28-38 with 5 minutes remaining followed by another powerful dunk from Ali Fraser. The score was then made 30-40 by kings and Fury used a time out. Niall then scored a shot followed by taking a charge for his team, spurring them on as they entered the last 4 minutes of the 3^rd quarter. An offensive foul by Fury led to a shot by Mackay making the gap between the two 8 points. A strong rebound from Grant then led to team foul shots as Fraser fouled. He added another crucial point and brought the gap to 40-44 with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter. Fraser then went up and was fouled and executed a 3 point play Lewis Neill Was fouled and went to the line to put the score at 42-47 going into the 4^th quarter.

The crowd erupted as the players entered the court and Kings began their offence Leading to a 3 from Lee Reilly, the gap was closed to 2. Fraser had another 3 point play and kept the pressure on for Kings. Ali Fraser put up another 2 for Fury, leaving the score at 48-56 to Fury, with 5 minutes left of the final. Kings’ Niall Mackie then scored one of two free throws to cut Fury’s lead to 7. Thanks to another Mackie free-throw, the score stood at 50-56, until Ali Fraser once again scored from the offensive rebound. Jonny Bunyan was then fouled as he drove to the basket – he made the shot, but missed the resulting free-throw, the score now standing at 50-60 to Fury. The Fury fans took to their feet as the team returned to the court following a time out in the final 30 seconds, and Ali Fraser stepped up to the line and added another point to increase their lead to 11. Following that free throw, he finished the game with a dunk, and the final score came to Kings 50-63 Fury.

Kings head coach Doug Reilly was disappointed with the result. “We executed our defence plan almost perfectly,” he commented. “We just didn’t make the baskets that counted.”

Fury coach John Bunyan said how the team did not come into the game complacent, and expected a very tough match. “Some of our players were nervous, and we struggled to score in the 2^nd quarter, and it was difficult with two of our guys fouled out, so credit to the players who stepped in.”

Written by Stacy McDonald

Game Stats (box score)