THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
SPORT
S E N I O R
BASKETBALL
OLUWANIFEMI OLOWOLAGBA (YEAR 13)
U 18s were looking to turn things around after the previous disappointing season. Unfortunately, things did not start as we would have hoped, with the U18s having a 1–2 start in the LISBA League and 0–2 in Nationals, which sadly prevented us from progressing in Nationals. After a very good team win against Royal Russell, with great offensive showings from Marcus Loo and Francis Yang, as well as an amazing defensive game from Jack Wong, the team was in good shape to move forward to their Cup quarter-finals match against Forest School. In the meantime, they still had the LISBA League and playoffs to take care of, but unfortunately, after tough losses to Whitgift and City of London, the U18s were unable to snag a spot in this year’s playoff tournament. However, there was still some hope as the team ventured to Forest School for their Cup quarter-finals match. A strong team performance all round led to a victory, but unfortunately the rest of the tournament was called off due to school closures across the country. This was an underwhelming finale for most of the boys’ Dulwich College basketball careers, but the future is bright, as there is a lot of talent coming up from the U16 team, as well as the years below.
U 1 5
JAMES FAIERS
T he U15 team hoped to bounce back from a difficult first season last year, a season that did not bring wins but did give them experience and helped them develop as both individual basketball players and as a team. After a good team display at Whitgift, which unfortunately yielded the result that the team had become accustomed to, the U15s travelled to City of London, still in search of their elusive first win. What followed was a team performance when everything clicked into place; some great basketball was played with very few careless errors, and the result was a dominant 15-point win. This gave the U15 team the confidence they needed heading into their remaining LISBA fixtures. The Dulwich team then went into their final league match of the season against Whitgift, knowing that a win would see them clinch their first playoff berth, but unfortunately the team could not execute a win, finishing one place outside the playoff spots. Though this was not the ending that the team had hoped for, the season as a whole saw great improvement, and the team should be very proud of their efforts.
U 16
EMMANUEL DEL PRETE (YEAR 11)
A fter claiming the 3rd spot in the LISBA playoffs the preceding year, and having had the summer to gather themselves, the U16 basketball team were raring to go. They had only one thing on their mind. Winning. The talent-packed team trained almost every day in anticipation of their first matches, against Royal Russell, Alleyn’s, Whitgift and KCS respectively, and we achieved a strong 3–1 record. To finish the season came the game against City of London, the reigning champions and the team Dulwich failed to defeat last year. Despite some injuries, a hard-fought match took place, unfortunately resulting in a 48–56 loss. Going into the LISBA playoffs as the third seed and led by the well- respected Coach Clive, the U16 team were to face off with the second seed Whitgift for a finals spot. Led by the starters Arthur Ho, Emmanuel Del Prete, Osman Tevfik, François Denaro and Sito Udoaka, the U16 team gave it their all and overcame the Whitgift team and its very gifted star player. With much energy expended, the U16 team took a short huddle and gathered themselves for the finals matchup against the first seed, KCS. Due to the hard-fought semi- final victory, Dulwich sustained two injuries but had to fight on with an undermanned team. Despite the best efforts from the starting team of Arthur Ho, Emmanuel Del Prete, François Denaro, Ekow Amoah and Sito Udoaka, Dulwich failed to overcome KCS and its towering twins, suffering a marginal loss. After shaking hands with the opponents, claiming our silver medals and a congratulatory speech from Coach Clive and Mr Faiers, our minds turned to how to move up another place next year and emerge U18 champions.
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