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Wednesday 18 May 2011

EAST LOTHIAN NEWS ARTICLE

Peregrines fly high after triumph

Published on Thursday 28 April 2005 12:55

The East Lothian U-12 boys basketball team has won the Peregrines primary inter area basketball tournament.
The East Lothian girls came second in the same event. This is the first time that an East Lothian team has won a national tournament at any age group.



The boys section was competed for by three groups of three teams in the nine team tournament.



Teams from Edinburgh, Tayside, Glasgow West, East Lothian, Glasgow City, North Ayrshire, Falkirk, Grampian and West Lothian competed in the boys section while the same teams, bar Glasgow West, competed in the eight team girls section.



In the girls section East Lothian opened with a 14-6 win over Tayside. They went on to beat North Ayrshire 25-2 and finished their group stage with a 26-5 win over West Lothian.



Edinburgh also made it through the group stages unscathed and the two east coast rivals met in the final. After a hard fought match, Edinburgh won through in the end 23-13.



Full report in the East Lothian News of April 29, 2005

EAST LOTHIAN NEWS ARTICLE

Top coaching post for Stevie

Published on Thursday 16 February 2006 14:32

Basketball in Scotland received a profile boost recently with the appointment of East Lothian's Stevie Duff to the prestigious post of associate coach for the Great Britain senior women's wheelchair squad.
Stevie has been appointed, along with head coach Garry Peel, for seven years through to the London Paralympic Games in 2012.



On the appointment Stevie said that : "Whilst success in London is a clear goal for the team, in the shorter term the focus is on the European Championships next year in Weltzer, Germany, and qualifying for the Beijing Summer Paralympic Games in 2008."



Kevin Pringle, chief executive of basketballscotland, added: "This appointment to the Great Britain post is certainly a fantastic achievement for Stevie personally and reflects the developing status of wheelchair basketball in Scotland.



"We hope that the growing strength of Scotland's wheelchair basketball league will support and nurture the next generation of young Scottish talent to follow in Stevie's footsteps and earn selection for Great Britain squads."



Scotland's Wheelchair National League is open to both able and disabled athletes alike and operates a central venue structure where the focus is participant satisfaction and enjoyment.

EAST LOTHIAN NEWS ARTICLE

Haddington, North Berwick win youth basketball finals

Published on Thursday 18 March 2004 09:26

LAST Friday saw the finals of the East Lothian Youth Basketball League played at Musselburgh Sports Centre.
Stuart Mackay, 6ft 10in centre for the East Lothian Peregrines and Scotland, was on hand to present the awards to the fledgling Peregrines players before stepping into action for the Green and Whites in the first round of the Scottish Cup against Edinburgh Buccaneers.



Building on the success of last year's programme, the Youth League was expanded this year to include U-12 and U-14 sections.



Very exciting



Teams from Musselburgh, Meadowmill, Haddington, North Berwick and Dunbar competed against each other prior to East Lothian Peregrines home matches.



Finals night saw a pair of very exciting matches. Teams from Meadowmill and Haddington competed for the U-14 Trophy.



With the Meadowmill team fielding three Scotland U-14 Development Squad members in their ranks, they were clearly the favourites going into the contest.



However, once the game got under way it became evident to the fans of both teams that this was going to be no one horse race.



Excellent play



Both teams were clearly intent on making sure they gave their all in their quest for glory and the game could best be described as a defensive tussle.



The Haddington underdogs, through their excellent team play and defensive intensity, were eventual winners in a match that can only bode well for the future of East Lothian basketball.



The final score in the U-14 final was Haddington 11, Meadowmill 5.



The U-12 final saw Haddington once again represented, this time against North Berwick.



Fired up



This game looked at first like it was going to be a whitewash, with the North Berwick team jumping to an impressive first quarter lead, extending this in the second period.



However, the Haddington players and coaching staff were not going to give up without a fight and came out fired up into the second half to mount a comeback.



The North Berwick team did well to weather the storm and were able to maintain their composure and win the match 17-8.

EAST LOTHIAN NEWS ARTICLE

Peregrines open basketball season

Published on Thursday 30 September 2004 11:53

It has been a long, if not hot, summer for basketball fans in East Lothian, who have been counting off the days until Peregrines basketball comes back to Musselburgh Sports Centre.
The waiting is over for tonight (Friday) sees the Peregrines open their season against city rivals Boroughmuir (tip-off 8pm).



Coach Toni Szifris is happy with the team's preparations for the season and is pleased to have the nucleus of last season's squad back for another campaign.



New faces for the Peregrines this season include former Rocks shooting guard Jirrell Bowman, Sean Mitchell formerly of the Edinburgh Kings, and Danny Reid from across the water in Dunfermline.



Pre-season preparations have included a road trip for the Peregrines to the Black Country where they played the Black Country Bears, winning 65-51.



On the way back up the M6, the team stopped off in Sheffield to play the Sheffield Arrows.



Down by as much as 16 points in the third quarter, the Peregrines stepped up their game in the final period to win the match 80-76.



The Peregrines will be hoping to build on their pre-season 100 per cent record at Musselburgh Sports Centre.



Also in action are the U-12 Youth League teams, who also open their season at 6pm.

EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS ARTICLE

Basketball: Gibson exits Peregrines to join Knights

Published Date: 19 April 2011
In a shock move, Scottish basketball international guard Grant Gibson is quitting East Lothian Peregrines and joining new club Stirling Knights, who, in their first season, finished fifth in the Scottish League with 11 wins and seven defeats, and reached the Scottish Cup semi-finals.
The Leith Academy FP, 28, who has been a regular in the Scottish National team for most of the last decade, is one of the best shooters in the league and his departure will be a blow for the Musselburgh-based club, who won only three games last season and finished ninth out of ten.

Gibson is anxious to stress that Knights made no approach to sign him, saying: "This has all come from me - I approached them to see what the possibilities were as I was impressed with the way they are set up."

"Hopefully, this will lead to trophies as I was fed up being on a losing team, but it all finished amicably at Peregrines.

"Brian (Ramsay] has done a tremendous job there and it was hard to leave him as he was the only thing that kept it together."

With hints in the air of more signings, Knights may well be the team to watch next season. By contrast, Peregrines may have to regroup if they are to survive.

EAST LOTHIAN NEWS ARTICLE

Basketball youngsters do well

Teams from across Scotland came to Meadowmill Sports Centre to play in the Primary Inter Area Basketball Tournament earlier this month.
East Lothian boys played in a six team tournament against teams from Grampian, Glasgow, Tayside, Central and West Lothian. The team did very well to finish in second place, just one basket away from taking eventual winners, Tayside to an overtime period of play.



The girls played in a four team tournament against teams from Tayside, Grampian and Glasgow. Once again the East Lothian team played well and finished third behind Tayside and Grampian.



Stephen Duff, East Lothian Council's principal sports development officer was on hand to present the trophies to double winners, Tayside.



He commented: “As usual, the tournament was played in a very sporting manner. I'd like to thank all the coaches and parents for their support of the event, but most importantly I'd like to thank the players for making the day such a great day of basketball and fun. Their conduct throughout the event was exemplary.”



East Lothian Primary Basketball Squads:



Girls



Law Primary — Julia McMillan, Ciara Purves, Shannon Purves, Julia Fletcher, Eva Coates-Walker, Chloe Kandirikirira, Martha Kemp, Briony Johnson.



King’s Meadow — Emily Baxter, Mary Beth McFern.



Loretto — Chloe Skorupa.



Pinkie — Sophie Cormack.



Boys



Law Primary — Gregor Gray, Liam Mackle, Andrew Laing, Finlay Hutchingson, Cameron Hutchingson, Finn Donaldson, Jack Hobbs, Fraser Thompson (Reserve), Naithan Evans.



King's Meadow — Ross McFarlane.



St Gabriel’s — David Singer.



Stoneyhill — Daniel Taylor.

EAST LOTHIAN NEWS ARTICLE

Basketball tournament success

MEADOWMILL Basketball Club hosted their inaugural March Madness Basketball Tournament at Meadowmill Sports Centre last Saturday.
Teams from North Berwick, Haddington, Musselburgh and the host club Meadowmill enjoyed an afternoon of fun and sporting excellence, competing in events for U-12 and U-14 teams.



North Berwick lifted the trophy in the U-12 section after some very competitive matches.



In the U-14 tournament things were so close that the eventual winners had to be decided on points difference.



Challenge match



Once the points had been tallied up, it was announced that North Berwick had completed a clean sweep, winning out in the U-14 section by the narrowest of margins.



Players and parents were treated to a wheelchair basketball challenge match between Scottish Disability Sport's National Wheelchair Basketball Squad and East Lothian Peregrines Wheelchair Basketball Team.



The Peregrines were bolstered by Bob Kinnear of the Big P's and a number of players from the U-12 and U-14 tournaments, however, the Perth-based national squad proved too strong for the Peregrines and led by Gary Smith, coach of the Musselburgh U-14s, ran out eventual winners 30-10.



Training tops



The Meadowmill March Madness Basketball Extravaganza was made possible with the help of funds from Awards for All and The Coalfields Regeneration Trust.



With the assistance of these grant awarding bodies the club have purchased a radio controlled electronic scoreboard, 24 second shot clocks, portable basketball stands, training tops, and a selection of basketballs for all age groups.



The Big P's are in action tonight (Friday) at Musselburgh Sports Centre (tip-off 8pm) when they face Edinburgh Buccaneers.



Pictures of competitors appear in East Lothian News of March 12, 2004