Basketball Titles Retained At Inter Services Championships

The Royal Navy men's side have been crowned Inter Services basketball champions for the third consecutive year.

All three teams were in action during a two-day tournament at HMS Nelson as well as their service’s women's and u23 teams.

The Army women and RAF U23s also retained their titles in Portsmouth.

After beating the RAF 63-51 in their first match, the Navy men battled against the Army in game two.

A comfortable 104-62 win meant the Navy were champions again and kept hold of the trophy.

For key player Aaron Nielsen, it was one of the best Navy performances he has ever seen.

"It was the best performance we have had in terms of the score," said player Aaron Nielsen.

"Against the RAF, it didn’t go as well as we wanted so I think that gave us extra motivation to really bring it home.

"It’s quite hard because you don’t know whether to take your foot off the gas. You don’t want to kill their morale.

"At the same time, the Army have dominated for years so they have a little taste of their own medicine."

There was success for the Army women though. They have won for the past two years and made it a third year of victory.

They defeated the Navy by a 51-30 score-line and fully deserved their victory according to their MVP Holly Kirkham.

She said: "That was the goal we had from the start to come out here and take the win again.

"I think we have really good depth on the bench. The five that come on after are just as good as the starting five."

For the u23s category, the RAF were dominant winners again. They soundly beat the Army 80-48 on day one and a 61-56 win over the Navy confirmed the title retention.

Marcus Shields is the captain of the Air Force u23s and is pleased with the performances.

He said: "This time round it was a really tough team that we played in the Navy and they brought a lot of offensive power.

“It’s a massive achievement for the team and I am really proud."