Mikey Manghum - Final Fours
Our U18’s made the Final Fours this year at RAF Cosford on 19th April. RAF Cosford hosts the Final Fours every year for teams that have progressed through the play-offs, beating teams from all over the country and earned a place in the semi-finals for their particular year group. On the way I was both excited and a little bit nervous. However, when the warm-ups started for the semi-final against Manchester the nerves became adrenaline, I was pumped and felt ready to play. The same can’t be said for the rest of the team and our bad start put us in an uphill battle for the whole game.
We got embarrassed and I felt mad and disappointed. On the other hand I did feel as though I had done what was required of me – I was the leading scorer for my team and tried to get others involved during the game. My dad told me I played with heart and did what I was supposed to do, so I must have done something right because I rarely hear that!
We had to play in the 3rd place play-off against another strong team from Hackney in London. Without the pressure of the first game, everyone seemed a lot more relaxed and it showed when the game began. We took a 10 point lead in the second quarter and Hackney never got any closer than 7 as the game went on. I didn’t play much of the last quarter due to cramps, which are absolute agony but everyone else finds funny. I was still angry however that people had not played to their potential in the first game but were stepping up in this game. But I guess 3rd is better than 4th and even though bronze wasn’t the colour we wanted on our medals, the team finished the season with a win.