Scots Marie Buchan (formerly Falkirk Fury) and Becca Allison (formerly Edinburgh Kool Kats), who are also teammates at Old Dominion University in Virginia, played a huge part in the Euro B title triumph of Welsh coach Damian Jennings’s Great Britain women’s under-20 side in Kavadarci, Macedonia.

Having clinched promotion to Euro A by reaching the final with a superb 59-40 win over Portugal, they went on to capture the Euro B title for the first time, beating the undoubted favourites Slovakia 47-46 in a nervy finish after being 25-14 up at half-time.

Buchan top-scored against the Slovaks with 13 points, and finished the tournament averaging over 10 points a game to be GB’s top scorer as well as averaging 7.7 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists.

It was a mature performance which suggests the Denny High FP could soon be pushing for a place in a GB senior squad currently not overloaded with big players.

Allison, like GB senior team member Rose Anderson a Portobello High School FP, led the rebounds with nine in a long, crucial stint in the final.

A feature of the tournament was the increasing minutes and growing confidence in their Great Britain team role of the two Scots, with Allison still eligible for this age group next year as is another Kool Kat Kathryn Taylor, who made it all the way to the last 14 only to be cut before the tournament.

Allison, who red-shirted last season for Old Dominion, had 26 minutes on court in the 59-40 semi-final win over Portugal, scoring eight points, taking five rebounds, giving four assists and having three steals in arguably her finest ever game.

Follow Scottish players as they represent Great Britain this summer.

Senior Men – Kieron Achara

Kieron Achara

In game 1 away to Hungary Kieron played 3 minutes and will be hoping for more court-time in the next game versus Macedonia on Sunday 8 August in Newcastle.

Kieron Achara has been selected for the final 12 man team for the Eurobasket qualifiers.

Under 20 Women – Mairi Buchan #12

Mairi Buchan

In the final victory Mairi scored 13 points (5/15 shots), along with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

The semi-final win over Portugal saw Mairi play 30 minutes and score 10 points (4/11 shots) and grab 8 rebounds.

Mairi shot the ball well in the game versus Israel as she scored 10 points (4/6 shots, 2/3 free throws), to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 12 steal.

After four games, Mairi Buchan is leading the team in points (10.5), rebounds (8.3) and assists (1.75) per game.

In a tough loss to Czech Republic, had 12 points (4/10 shots, 4/4 free throws), 6 rebounds and an assist.

Played a time high 31 minutes in dramatic 70-69 win over F.Y.R. of Macedonia with 17 points (4/15 shots, 6/7 free throws), to go with 12 rebounds and 2 assists.

Strong effort on the boards versus Hungry with 8 rebounds, alongside a difficult shooting night with 5 points (1/7 shots) in 26 minutes.

Opened the tournament against Belgium with 8 points (3/9 shots), 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in 19 minutes.

See Mairi’s stats on the tournament website.

Under 20 Women – Rebecca Allison #9

Rebecca Allison

Rebecca stepped up in the final against Slovak Republic to play a tournament-high 28 minutes and provided 7 points (3/7 shots), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.

In the semi-final versus Portugal, Rebecca scored 8 shots (1/7 shots, 6/8 free throws) to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steals and 1 block.

Rebecca’s minutes continue to climb as she plays 26 minutes versus Israel and responds with 8 points (3/7 shots), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Best game of the tournament so far for Rebecca versus Czech Republic 9 points (3/6 shots), 6 steals, and 4 rebounds to go with a rebound and an assist.

Role expanded in game 3 versus F.Y.R. of Macedonia to 25 minutes and responded with 8 points (3/4 shots), 2 steals and a rebound.

Opened the tournament with 17 minutes against Belgium and 12 minutes against Hungry .

See Rebecca’s stats on the tournament website.

Under 20 Men – Alistair Mackay #9

In 15 minutes versus Portugal, Alistair contributed 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steals and 1 block then finished the tournament with 6 minutes in the classification game versus Israel.

Played 5 minutes in the impressive win over Poland, then 10 minutes versus Slovak Republic.

Contributed 8 points (3/3 shots, 2/2 free throws) in 12 minutes against Norway to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal.

Played 14 minutes in a tough loss to Austria and 3 minutes in the following game against Belgium.

Played 20 minutes in opening game v Denmark and contributed 6 points (3/4 shots), 5 rebounds, along with an assist, steal and block.

See Alistair’s stats on the tournament website.

A unique opportunity has been offered to 3 young Scots to take part in a global basketball camp to be held in conjunction with the upcoming Men’s World Championships in Turkey. The project is designed as a cultural exchange to bring together ambassadors from across the world’s basketball community.  

Players Sarah Hunter (Scotland U’15 Girl’s National Squad) and Nicky Sims (Scotland U’15 Boy’s National Squad) as well as Coach Darryl Wood (Scotland U’15 Girl’s National Squad) have been chosen to represent Scotland at this unique event that will include the opportunity to attend games at the World Championships!

Go to the COW website.     

For more on the World Championships visit  the home page here.