Christ's School Year 8 & 9 Basketball Team have triumphed at the Dynamik National Schools Basketball Championships to become National Champions. This result means Christ's School has the best Under 14 School Basketball Team in England.

Of over 3,500 schools from across the country who entered the competition, Christ's came out on top. This represents an amazing achievement for the School, for Richmond Borough and for London as a whole.

Christ's School qualified for the National Schools Basketball Finals, which took place in Manchester on Sunday 7th May, after winning the London School Games Basketball Tournament in March.

Competing in the event were the winning teams from the England north, south and east schools basketball tournaments.

In the semi-final Christ's overcame Angmering School (England south winners) 100-70, in a tense game, before facing Philips High School (England north winners) in the final. At the half way point both sides were evenly matched with the score locked at 37-37.

Christ’s adopted a more offensive playing style in the second half, led by team captain Ridley Shema, to win the game 88-69.

Commenting on the win, Head of PE at Christ's School, Tom Smith said "This is an incredible achievement for Christ’s School and one the boys can be proud of for the rest of their lives. Coach Djamal Sedour has worked tirelessly, with the utmost dedication, to equip the squad with the skills necessary to compete at the top level. This achievement is testament to the ethos of sport at Christ's School, the boys’ hard work in training and our excellent relationship with Richmond Knights Basketball."

The squad for the final were Ridley Shema (captain), Michael Belle, Mike Owusu Mantey, Stephen Asante, Peter Asante, Tom McKiernan, Leon Byrne-Adim, Aleksa Verusevic, Edward Sykes, Sean Hogan, Ryan Suqi, Deivi Uruci. The team are coached by Djamal Sedour and Andrew Wallace.

Article supplied by Karen Hindle