The Essex Girls Under 15 Basketball Squad reached the English National Finals in dramatic fashion, after beating a strong Northamptonshire side 65-60 at Greensward College, Hockley.

Having defeated Suffolk and Hertfordshire easily in the preliminary round, Essex found Northants a much more difficult proposition.

The visitors went into an early lead but Essex responded and took the lead for the first time after 14 minutes.

The remainder of the first half was a close contest with Essex hanging on to a two point advantage at the interval.

In the second half Essex stepped up on defence, and with Northants having key players in foul trouble, Essex opened up an 11 point advantage.

Although the visitors rallied late in the game, Essex led by three points going into the final minute.

With Northants looking for the tieing basket, they were forced to foul, and Essex successfully shot two free throws to take the game out of their opponents reach.

Essex will now compete in the 'final four' tournament, which will take place on March 26, again at the Greensward College, Hockley.

Commenting on the performance, Essex Coach Tony Mescall said: "The squad is probably the strongest the County has assembled.

''Northants were regarded by many as favourites to win the competition, but our squad has trained hard and knew how to cope with a close end game''.

Assistant Coach Paul Jeater added: ''We now go into the finals with home advantage, and with thorough preparation and good support from local basketball fans on the day, hopefully Essex can become National Champions for the first time''.

The Essex squad was: Sam Mildenhall (Great Baddow), Katie Saverymuttu (Great Baddow), Katie Nicholson (Great Baddow), Nikki Braine (Great Baddow), Katherine Barkley (Moulsham), Sarah D'Silva (Brentwood Ursuline), Karen Boyling (Brentwood Ursuline) and Talia Smith (Anglo European).

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