Last weekend saw the Eastern Region Under 19 Basketball Tournament come to Chelmsford for the first time and also saw Essex win for the first time.

Top class junior men's and women's basketball ended with a superb victory for the home county when the Essex Junior men's team beat favourites Hertfordshire in a thrilling final at the Riverside Ice & Leisure Centre.

Teams from Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire also took part in the Men's competition and provided some entertaining basketball in the early league games.

Having beaten Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire quite comfortably, and with only the weakest team in the competition still to play, Essex coach Stephen Pearl decided not to reveal all his team's strengths to Herts in their league match and allowed them a comfortable 67-26 win.

Having beaten Suffolk comfortably, Essex met Herts again in the final, only this time Pearl played for real, using all his team's strengths combined with his own coaching acumen, to take the game to Herts.

Essex played with tremendous spirit and skill to knock Herts out of their usual comfortable style and exert some pressure.

Herts were taken by surprise and found themselves behind for most of the first half but a late rally saw them edge ahead 31-27 at half-time, not quite the scoreline they were expecting but still confident of victory.

The second half saw the lead change hands numerous times with Essex battling to stay in touch with their classy opponents.

Essex's Simon Taylor and Mark O'Shea in particular were outstanding at both ends of the court.

With five minutes to go, Herts had established a five point lead, but two consecutive three pointers from Essex's Andrew Barnard, followed by two wonderful offensive tip ins by Mark O'Shea, saw Essex establish a three point lead with just nine seconds left.

Herts had a chance to level the game when Luke Wallis had an open three point shot in the dying seconds, a shot which he had been sinking with ease throughout the tournament.

The spectators and players held their breath expecting to see the ball swish through net, but Wallis missed and a relieved Essex contingent erupted into rapturous applause in congratulations of a famous Essex 55-52 victory.

The Essex Junior Women's team came third after narrowly losing an exciting overtime semi-final to Hertfordshire.

Having beaten Herts in the earlier league game, Essex were disappointed not to make a first appearance in the final, although they would probably have struggled against the outstanding Suffolk team who eventually comfortably won the final 57-28 against Herts.

This was the fifth consecutive victory for the Suffolk women.

The Men's Tournament results were: (League games): Bedfordshire 64 Suffolk 39; Hertfordshire 58 Cambridgeshire 45; Essex 40 Bedforshire 36; Essex 59 Cambridgeshire 35; Hertfordshire 90 Suffolk 57; Hertfordshire 67 Essex 26; Bedfordshire 53 Cambridgeshire 30; Essex 66 Suffolk 35; Hertfordshire 61 Bedfordshire 41; Cambridgeshire 53 Suffolk 23: (Third/Fourth Place Play Off): Bedfordshire 26 Cambridgeshire 25: (Final): Essex 55 Hertfordshire 52.

The Women's Tournament results were: (League games): Essex 36 Hertfordshire 33; Suffolk 48 Norfolk 15; Essex 49 Norfolk 25; Suffolk 63 Hertfordshire 31; Herts 49 Norfolk 31; Suffolk 39 Essex 19: (Semi-Finals): Suffolk 58 Norfolk 12; Hertfordshire 46 Essex 41 (aet): (Third/Fourth Place Play-Off): Essex 63 Norfolk 32: (Final): Suffolk 57 Hertfordshire 28.

On the run . . the Essex ladies team set up an attack against Hertfordshire in last weekend's Eastern Region under 19s Basketball Tournament at the Riverrside Ice & Leisure Centre in Chelmsford.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.