THE destinations of the final pieces of silverware were recently decided when the Ipswich & District Basketball League and knock out fixtures were completed.

THE destinations of the final pieces of silverware were recently decided when the Ipswich & District Basketball League and knock out fixtures were completed.

In the league, Colchester Veterans, in the bottom half of the table just after Christmas, came with a late run to just pip BT Lasers for runners-up spot.

The Veterans went into their final game against BT Jets knowing that a win would give them second place and were given a tough time in the first half.

Three long-range efforts from Nathan Syrett helped the Veterans establish a narrow lead in the first quarter while 13 personal from Gary Carson kept Jets in the game and they only trailed by one.

The Veterans' hit eight points without reply at the start of the second with Ben Lister and Alan Hicks coming off the bench to keep the score ticking over but at half time the deficit was still in single figures.

Two quick baskets from the Slammers at the start of the third narrowed the gap to five before Joe Matthews took over the leading offensive role for the Veterans. In a seven-minute spell he knocked down 17 personal to open up a lead of more than 20 and put the Vets in a game-winning position.

Having secured the runners-up spot in the league, the Vets turned their attention to the Cup Final where they came up against Brightlingsea Sledgehammers. With two minutes left the gap was still in single figures with Sledgehammers just having the advantage, but seven points without reply at that crucial stage left the Vets with no time to respond.

The Plate Final saw Holbrook Eagles II matched up against Stowmarket Slammers with both sides contesting a major final for the first time.

Eight points from Brad Potter extended the Eagles' lead in the second as Slammers found baskets hard to find. They only managed three field goals in the quarter by which time Eagles had widened the gap to 15.

Within four minutes of the re-start, Slammers had reduced this to ten as Duane Kostrzewski hit two long-range efforts although another five misses from the foul line did not help their cause. Eagles responded with their long-range game as Sam Calver came off the bench to hit three big shots and by the end of the third Eagles were more than 30 ahead and not going to be caught.

Aaron Moseley made sure the Holbrook score kept moving along with eight points in two minutes while Jacob Swift hit a perfect six from six from the line.

Results

League: Colchester Veterans 103 (Matthews 47, N Syrett 29, Hicks 12) BT Jets 75 (Carson 26, Nemukula 17, Turner 9).

Plate Final: Holbrook Eagles II 98 (Moseley 24, Swift/Greenan 20) Stowmarket Slammers 60 (MacDonald 11, Kostrzewski 10, Carter 9).

Cup Final: Brightlingsea Sledgehammers 104 (Matthews 29, Ward 26, Scott 23) Colchester Veterans 93 (N Syrett 29, Keeeling 22, A Syrett 18).