England's Under 18 men continued their build-up to the 2009 European Championship as they finished fifth in the six-team Future Stars Tournament at Kingston over the weekend.

 

Andre Alleyne's team were in a group alongside Poland and Spain, and sat out the opening morning of the competition as Spain hammered the Poles 93-58.

 

The defeat obviously woke Poland up as they won a narrow game against England 79-72 after lunch. Ryan Richards led the way for England with 18 points, with Josh Houghton adding 16 and Adam Thoseby 11.

 

Just over two hours later, England returned to the court to face Spain, and despite Richards pouring in 20 points the Spanish team ran out 99-71 winners. Houghton added 15 and Thoseby 12.

 

Those results meant England finished bottom of the group, and faced Richmond Select in a two-leg playoff for fifth place.

 

The first game, on Saturday, saw England record a comfortable 76-54 victory. Derby Trailblazers' Tom Periera led the way with 18 points, while Richards chipped in with 12 and Lee Goldsbrough 11.

 

Richmond gained revenge the following day with a 78-63 victory – though it wasn't enough to prevent England winning the series 139-132 on aggregate. William Hall led England with 12 points, while Connor Washington added ten.

 

England, who now add guard Levi Noel to their squad as they go into the final week of pre-tournament practice, were clearly in the tougher of the two groups with Poland and Spain progressing to the final with victories against Israel and Italy respectively. The final saw the Spanish repeat their group victory, running out 72-57 winners to lift the trophy.