Oaklands Wolves provided the bulk of the Herts U-13 team who won the East Region Championship at Bedford, on Sunday.
Wolves' U-13 Prem sideswept all before them in a series of CVL and friendly games this season, and defeated four NBL teams on their way to the runners-up spot in the Brentwood Fire tournament last week. And they provided seven members of the 12-man roster, with Zac Butterworth, Liam Schertel, Dylan Maisey, Alex Ryan , Eriko Brakollari, Tituoan Vimeux and Albert Dye all in action. Jcob Edrupt and Uros Piscetelli joined their club-mates having played for the U-14s this season, while Finn and Byron Scott will join the Wolves next season to give the club 11 of the 12-man title winning squad.
After watching tournament favourites Essex beat Cambridgeshire in the opening group game, Cambs stayed on to face the Green Machine in the second game, and after a 12-4 first period (eight-minute running clock) Herts never looked back as they ran out 59-30 winners. Brakollari led the scoring with 11 points, with Schertal adding ten and five rebounds. Vimeux and Finn Carey each finished with six points, adding ten and nine rebounds respectively.
With only the group winner going through, the second game against Essex was effectively a semi-final, and Herts didn't disappoint as they ran out 50-27 winners. An 8-0 start put them in charge, and they went into the half-time break 26-9 ahead. The teams shared 20 third period points before Herts wrapped things up in the final frame. Butterworth led the way with 12 points and four rebounds, which Vimeux had ten points, four boards and five steals.
Hosts Bedfordshire were the opponents in the final and Herts never looked in trouble, forcing a timeout after just 70 seconds with a 6-2 lead and going into the first break 26-12 ahead, The teams shared ten second period points before an 18-4 third period ended it as a contest as they ran out 57-33 winners..
Butterworth led Herts with 14 points, along with rebounds, steals and assists in a performance that really should have earned him MVP honours. Schertel added nine points and five boards, with Dye and West Herts Warriors' Xavier Konate adding eight points apiece.
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