St Mirren West College Scotland 49 Falkirk Fury 47

ST Mirren Basketball’s under-14 boys secured a dramatic two-point victory at the Renfrew Sports Centre last weekend – in what was many of the players’ first match at this level.

The tie was the first in the team for the players making the step up from Under 12. A lively start to the game saw the bigger and more experienced Fury taking an early advantage but Saints pegged them back from the free-throw line with early points from Reece Rutherford and Matthew Beaton.

The young Saints were struggling against the aggressive Fury defence with too many turnovers allowing Fury to extend their lead.

This also got Fury into early foul trouble and they were on four team fouls after five minutes.

This allowed Saints to stay in touch as Fury were forced to make changes and a good drive to the basket by Euan Birch followed up by a Ewan McGivern fast break kept them in touch.

As the quarter drew to an end, key free throws by Ewan Richardson, Ross Murray and Ewan McGivern kept the score at 17-12 to Fury.

As the second quarter started the teams competed well and The introduction of Stuart Berry for Saints brought some much-needed strength and experience to the team.

The teams traded blow for blow with Fury again hitting early foul trouble, allowing Saints to keep the scoreboard ticking over with some easy free throws. The second quarter finished with Fury further ahead and Saints trailing 29-20.

Fury continued to pile the pressure on the young Saints in the third quarter, stretching out to a 36-21 advantage.

Again, though Fury ran into early foul trouble and St Mirren got easy points from the free-throw line. Saints were slowly getting to grips with the Fury pressure defence and a smart full-court pass from Birch allowed Stuart Berry to make an easy two points on the fast break.

As the quarter drew to a close, Saints ran their bench to give the youngsters some experience and they finished the quarter trailing by 14 points at 40-26.

With nothing to lose at the start of the fourth quarter, Saints introduced a full court press and this unsettled Fury who had lost some key players due to the earlier foul trouble in the first three quarters, and Saints started to claw their way back into the game.

Saints were now controlling the tempo led by Ewan McGivern and supported by Stuart Berry and Euan Birch who were starting to get easier baskets, and the score soon started to close.

With less than one minute to play, Ross Murray hit two free throws and Stuart Berry nailed a huge three-pointer to put Saints up by three points.

Despite a late surge from Fury and a late free throw, Saints held on for a dramatic two-point victory.

Saints’ scoring was led by Stuart Berry with 14 and Euan Birch with 11, and an even spread across the other players.