BRILLIANT BLAZERS: Front row, left to right: Nathaniel Hutchinson, Jon Pickering, Owen Smith, Jeannie Asher (coach) and Nathan Holland. Back: James Blandford, George Radford, Vince Van Nes, David Gardner, Jack Kendall and Richard Mann
DORCHESTER'S Vince Van Nes helped the Southampton Trailblazers to third place in the England National Championship Final Fours at RAF Cosford.
The Under-16 outfit, appearing in their third finals in four years, went down
90-69 in the semis to eventual champions Teamspirit Sheffield Junior Sharks.
But they dusted themselves off to record a nail-biting 76-73 success over Manchester Magic for third spot.
The Blazers defeated Milton Keynes Lions 114-96 and Preston Pride 111-63 to book their place at the national showpiece.
Against the Lions, the Blazers found themselves 16-12 ahead at the end of the opening quarter. Southampton extended their advantage as the game progressed with 6'10" Van Nes outstanding in his control of the boards.
England players Jack Kendall and James Blandford thrilled the crowd with a display of sublime shooting from all angles of the court while David Gardner's awesome defence led to more points for him and his Southampton team-mates.
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By the end of the game, Van Nes bagged 16 of the Blazers' 114 points.
The Blazers went on to overpower Preston by a bigger margin in the quarter-finals.
Preston, who won the North West Conference to reach the last eight, of the competition took an early lead but from there Southampton dominated.
Van Nes and Kendall dominated under the basket at both ends while Blandford produced another electrifying display - including two thrilling dunks followed by a stunning three-pointer from near the halfway line.
Van Nes, who netted 15 points against Pride, then matched his team-mate with a slam dunk of his own as the Blazers eased to victory.
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