Schools basketball:

BASKETBALL: Scotland’s Under-16 team stepped up their preparations for the Fiba European Championship in Gibraltar in July by taking the silver medals at the Celtic Nations Cup in Ireland.

The team opened with a fine 49-19 win over Wales. The top Scottish scorers were Trinity High School’s Katie Fergus, with ten points, and Keri Jackson, of Craigmount High School, with six points.

In the gold medal decider, Scotland faced a strong and talented Irish team and the hosts ran out 79-57 winners to claim the Jim Lay International Memorial title. In front of a packed and vocal home crowd at Ireland’s National Basketball Stadium, a strong and well-structured Irish team were relentless throughout the first half but Scotland worked hard and remained within ten points of the lead.

Having lost the third quarter, the Scotland team never gave up and managed to get a grip on the contest, winning the fourth quarter of the game.

In a game which saw Scotland’s injury-prone point guard Sarah Hunter (Johnstone High School) return to competitive action with an impressive ten points, it was point guard Cara Black (Grove Academy) who was the team’s top scorer with 13 points, while Mirren Summers (Boroughmuir High School) contributed seven points.

After the Celtic Nations Cup matches, the Scots completed the weekend with two friendly matches against Irish teams. They lost both fixtures, but it was still a great get- together and a chance to build up match skills before the trip to Gibraltar.

The coaching staff were delighted with the overall performances and used the weekend as a welcome addition to the intensive training sessions. “I’m happy that everything is on track,” said an encouraged Scotland head coach, Luis Romero. “The team is well on track with their main focus looking towards the FIBA European Championships in Gibraltar in July.”

Scotland squad: Julie O’Donnell (Grove Academy), Lauren Forde (Boroughmuir HS), Katie Fergus (Trinity HS), Shannon Purves (North Berwick HS), Keri Jackson (Craigmount HS), Sam Butler (Larkhall Academy), Michelle Bradley (St Maurices) Mirren Summers (Boroughmuir HS), Taylor McKE (St Maurices), Shannon Flippard (St Agustines), Sarah Hunter (Johnstone HS), Cara Black (Grove Academy), Abbie Wheeler (Mary Erskine’s).