This tournament was held on the school campus from March seven to eleven.
The change in CEESA divisional alignment had allowed schools with strong basketball programs to align with each other and provide the students another level of competition. The perennial powerhouse 'red division' schools would have the opportunity to play against schools from the blue and green divisions, if their teams were particularly strong in that competition.
Day one of the competition saw students from ISB join the visiting school teams in a celebration of communities coming together. Upper School Principal Angelo Coskinas and Athletic Director Dave Horner gave speeches about community, sportsmanship, competition and team work. The opening game followed immediately afterward, where the visiting schools would get their first look at the Belgrade Dragons. The opening fixture was a fantastic back and forth game, with the Warsaw Warriors displaying their never give up team play, against a Belgrade Dragons team that featured a number of younger players. The Dragons would eventually come out on top by four points, displaying the tight nature of the game.
In the third day of competition, players and teams prepared for what would be a tense affair, as teams were still in the hunt for a shot at the championship game. The Moscow Penguins were 2-2 heading into their final game against the Budapest Blazers, who were sitting at 1-3. The Penguins would win the game by 7 and move to 3-2. The Bucharest Vampires were 3-1 heading into their game against the Warsaw Warriors who were 2-2. A Warsaw win would see a three way tie for second behind the Belgrade Dragons at 4-0. The Vampires would go on and win the game setting up our final placement games.
The fifth place game was contested between the Prague Falcons and the Budapest Blazers. The Blazers had won the round robin contest with a buzzer beater, but this was a chance for revenge. The Falcons had been close in all of their games throughout the weekend, pushing every team to the final quarter and keeping it tight, They were finally rewarded with their only win of the weekend. The third place game pitted the Moscow Penguins against the Warsaw Warriors. The game would finish 50-48 in favor of the Penguins after an excellent match. The championship game saw the undefeated Belgrade Dragons take on last year’s champions the Bucharest Vampires. The game would remain close for two and half quarters, before the Dragons opened up a 16 point lead that the Vampires could not catch; the final score was 49-36.
The tournament was played in the best of environments with all coaches commenting on the level of play, professional atmosphere and sportsmanship that was shown throughout. Thank you to all for visiting our community, hope to see you again soon.
Written by Dave Horner, AC/AD, The International School of Belgrade
