Picture special as basketball stars from across the globe wow Hastings crowd

This was the 8th annual event to be held in the town and was opened the Dela Idowu, Founder of the Gift of Living Donation (GOLD) one of the events dedicated charities, who welcomed the teams to the town and wished them well during the tournament.

The objective of the tournament was to raise the profile of UK basketball by introducing high calibre teams into a competitive tournament and to promote the sport to new fans. In addition to raising awareness for the charity partners GOLD and Kidney Research UK , after the organizer Eric Douglin received a kidney from his wife Mandi in 2010 after being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease.

The competing teams were New York Court Kings of the USA, LABAS BC & Viesulas (Lithuania), Eastbourne Neptunes, current holders Whitstable BC , Chargers Select & BC Green & White Boys (England). Unfortunately, Kitsap Admirals of the USA were forced to withdraw on the day of the event.

The 7 teams were split into two groups of with the top two teams in each group progressing to the ‘A’ Semi Finals and the remaining 3 teams going forward to compete in the ‘B’ Finals Playoffs.

Group Matches

After an exciting and tense round of group matches in front a hall with packed spectators New York Court Kings & Whitstable progressed to the ‘A’ Semi Finals as group winners, with the best records from their respective group matches. They were joined by Viesulas & LABAS BC in the ‘A’ Semi Finals as runners up in their group, setting New York Court Kings v LABAS BC then Whitstable v Viesulas semi-finals.

The ‘B’ Finals Playoffs would see the remaining 3 teams Eastbourne Neptunes, Chargers Select & BC Green & White Boys, compete to become WCBT2024 ‘B’ Champions. All of the playoffs and finals matches were to be played on Day 2 of the tournament.

Day 2 Play-offs & Finals

Before the Day 2 action was underway, the New York Court Kings hosted a youth coaching session which was attended by over 40 local youngsters, who received the unique experience of being coached by overseas stars. Each of the attendees received a signed certificate from the New York Court Kings players & coaching staff.

The first ‘A’ semi final would see the holders Whitstable come up against the impressive Lithuanian team Viesulas, to see which team would progress to the final. Both teams traded baskets in a close fought exciting match, until the final minutes when Whitstable scored 7 unanswered points to take a 37-30 victory.

The second ‘A’ semi-final saw the experienced Lithuanian team LABAS BC come up against the New York Court Kings who were competing at WCBT for the fifth time. Again, as with the first semi-final, the teams showed how evenly matched the were, as both teams could not be separated until the final second as New York scored a last second buzzer beater to take a 38-35 victory.

‘B’ Playoff Finals

Before the grand ‘A’ Final, to cap off a great weekend of basketball, the ‘B ‘Playoffs would see Eastbourne Neptunes, take the title once again after victories over BC Green & White Boys and Chargers Select. The Charges defeated BC Green & White Boys to finish second with 1 win from 2 matches, and the BC Green & White Boys remain bottom with 0 wins from two matches.

Final ‘A’ Match

The last match of the day, the ‘A’ Final saw a rematch of the 2023 Final with the New York Court Kings looking to avenge the defeat they experienced to the holders Whitstable BC. This was the third time in 2 years these two teams had faced each other, and the first quarter was a close and low scoring affair with the USA side taking a slender 10-7 lead. Both teams were aware of the high stakes and tough defence was key, as the low scoring continue, with New York holding onto an 18-16 halftime lead.

The third quarter would see the teams exchange baskets, with Whitstable taking a slender 27-25 lead going into the final quarter, with excellent three-point shooting from the inspirational Dominic Ives. With the large crowd of support cheering both teams on in an excellent display of international basketball, Ives continued his impressive shooting display to see the English team close out an impressive 43-37 victory and retain the World Club Basketball Tournament title.

Event organiser and Bexhill Giants Chairman Eric Douglin said “ Every year the standard of the teams improves, which is a testament of how the visibility and profile of WCBT has grown since its inception in 2015. We were able to welcome our first player from Australia to compete at WCBT, along with match officials from the Netherlands.

“It was also great to raise awareness on the need for organ donors through our dedicated charity Gift of Living Donation (GOLD) , and have the Black Living Donation Choir provide the entertainment.

“I was overwhelmed at how well the tournament went and the standard of play the teams brought to the event. All of the teams were of the highest standard and I was privileged to have them take part in the event in the town. Every year the WCBT grows from strength to strength, and we are inundated with teams looking to take part and visit Hastings, binging tourism and exposure to the town.

WCBT is now recognised as one of the premier international basketball tournaments in Europe, with teams from countries including Japan, USA, Canada, Germany, Denmark and Congo taking part in recent years. However, this would not be possible without our fantastic sponsors including Always Ballin, Lost Souls Apparel, Khalid’s Kitchen, Heatwave Print, Town Taxis, RAD basketball, Sergeworld Media TGFIT, and all of the volunteers and officials.”