Basketball: Buchan and Allison share in Euro joy

Scots Marie Buchan (Falkirk Fury) and Becca Allison (Edinburgh Kool Kats), who are also team-mates 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 basketball side in 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 ten 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 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 Edinburgh Kool Kat Kathryn Taylor, who made it all the way to the last 14 only to be cut just before the tournament.

Allison, who red-shirted last season for Old Dominion, meaning she could only train, had 26 minutes on court in the 59-40 semi-final win over Portugal, scoring eight points.