12:00pm Friday 5th February 2010
FAIRFIELD High School have shown their dominance in schools basketball by taking home three out four boys' Herefordshire titles in the county schools leagues.
Having played league games before Christmas, the school closures in early January threatened the knockout stages but great commitment from the schools involved meant all finals were played on the original dates.
Fairfield made all four finals from U13 to U16 and met Bishop o Hereford's Bluecoat School in all four age groups.
At U14, Weobley High School hosted a superb final where Fairfield were too strong on the night running out 74-30 winners in a dominant performance.
At the U13 county tournament at St Mary's, in a different format where all schools contest a one-off tournament, Fairfield continued their dominance in the shorter format, winning by a much tighter margin in the deciding game.
But Bishop's and Fairfield did not have things all their own way as they came up against stiff opposition from The Academy, Weobley and Whitecross.
Bishop's and Fairfield won very close semi-finals at U15 level, Bishop's beating Weobley by just six points and Whitecross pushing Fairfield all the way, losing out by just three points.
Fairfield also beat Wigmore at U16 level and Bishop's overcame a strong Weobley side to complete the fourth county final match-up between the two schools.
On the finals night at Whitecross, the U15 & U16 finals were played back to back with two thrilling games.
Bishop's broke the Fairfield clean sweep at U15 level with a hard-fought victory, 36-23.
Jamie Combe of Bishop's was the standout performer.
The U16 final was a superb spectacle, with the sides separated at half-time by just a single point.
Fairfield got back to winning ways and claimed their third county title as they took charge of the game in the final quarter with comanding performances from Danny Barber and Hayden Murphy.
In the Bishop's team, Aaron Godfrey, Aramis Graville and Tom Knowles all had significant performances.
The Hereford Mavericks basketball team were on hand to support the schools finals and must be thanked for giving up their time.
The Mavericks meet at Whitecross School every Sunday between 12-1.30pm and all Year 9-11 boys are welcome.
For information, contact Steve Farmer on 07968 434137 or visit www.herefordmavs.co.uk
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