FURY CADET MEN LOSE OUT IN PLAY - OFF SEMI-FINALS

A 2pt loss in yet another crucial Fury - Blaze game saw the Falkirk club's U16 Cadet Men just fail to reach the Final 4 Play-Off Final. In a low scoring match that saw the capital side take the win by 52 - 50, Fury had the chances but just missed out in an age group that saw the Final 4 semi-finalists all tie in their Scottish Div 1 regular season, all four on 6 losses each. That shows the highly competitive season it has been at U16 Men and the semi-finals proved no different with Blaze advancing to the Final with the 2pt win over Fury and St Mirren in the other semi-final with also a 2pt win in overtime.

Fury held Blaze scoreless for the opening 6 minutes, but failed to capitalise on this great defence by only scoring 8pts themselves in this period. The end of the first saw neither team in double figures, Fury leading 9 -4. The scoring picked up in the second but with nothing between the sides in a 17-16 stanza for Blaze, giving Fury a 4pt lead at the half.

Blaze produced a great 3rd period with a 19-8 score line, taking them 7 pts clear going into the final quarter. It was not until 2 minutes into the 4th that Fury started cutting into the Blaze lead with Oliver Coffey making a 3pt play to bring the score to 42-37. Gavin Black forced Blaze into a timeout as the game went to 42-39 on the back of a Black 2pt shot.

Andrew Henderson tied the game for Fury with a long range 3 and 6 minutes to play. Blaze then edged back in front, before Black tied the game at 50 apiece and 8 seconds on the clock. But it was not to be for Fury as they failed to stop Blaze getting the winner in the final second of the game.

For Coach Ewan Carlow's side Andrew Henderson had 15pts personal with Adama Hainey on 13 and Gavin Black on 10. Oliver Coffey chipped in with 7 and Jack Robertson on 5pts personal. Off the bench - Taylan Ertekin , Arron Robertson and Joel Ramsey saw court time and completed the team were MacKenzie Ferguson and U14 players Jay Bunyan and Will Claydon.

Despite the loss it has been a great but heart breaking season for the Fury U16 Men - reaching the Scottish Cup Final and losing by 7pts, then losing out in the League title by a basket in their final game of the season and a 2pt loss in the Play-Off semi-finals.