Louth Storm 63
Grantham Falcons 70
Grantham’s under-18 team triumphed over Louth in the semi-final of their league play-off and will now meet Newark in the final on Sunday.
Both teams made a steady start but Louth took an early lead following a couple of three-pointers. Grantham responded by playing better defence and forcing their opponents into taking difficult shots. As a result, the Falcons closed the gap and then took the lead as the half wore on.
Falcons switched off defensively and Louth took advantage and, with Grantham commiting a number of fouls, they executed their shots from the foul line to take a 36-29 lead at the break.
After the interval, Grantham began positively and found their big men, Joe Pashley and Toby Mills, under the basket for easy scores. They upped their defence again and the scores were tied again and remained close.
The game remained close as it entered the final quarter but with guard Alex Gelthorpe-Lewis controlling the game well, their offence continued to score regularly.
Grantham playing their best basketball in the final minutes as they went on an impressive 10-2 run that took the game beyond Louth and sent Falcons into the final.
Falcons: Mills, Gelthorpe-Lewis, Pashley, Cunningham, Penford, Armalis.
l Anyone interested in joining the Falcons junior basketball team should come along to training sessions at KGGS 6.30-8.30pm on Thursday’s or contact Glenn Bradbury at glenn_bradbury@msn.com.