A SCHOOL basketball team from a rural North-East community overcame city slicker opponents to claim national glory.

The triumph has given Wolsingham School and Community College, in Weardale, County Durham, what is believed to be its first national sporting champions in its 390-year history.

The team scraped into the final of the England Schools Basketball Association's under-19 championships with a basket four seconds from time in the semi-final against Whycliffe College, Bristol.

The school gym in Wolsingham is so basic that every match in the competition had to be played away from home.

And although the competition is for under-19s, the Wolsingham squad is much younger, with many members aged 15 or 16.

As a result, Wolsingham started as underdogs for the final, played in Nottingham, against Barking Abbey, a specialist sports college from Essex, with some of the country's best training facilities.

The game started badly for Wolsingham with a flurry of points from a strong and physical Barking team and after the first three minutes, Wolsingham trailed 8-0.

But in the second quarter, Barking had no answer to the relentless pressure of the Wolsingham attack, who ended the first half leading 43-32.

Wolsingham sat back in the third quarter and saw their lead trimmed. With five minutes to go in the final quarter they led by only two points.

But a long-range effort from Jonathan Hirst gave Wolsingham the breathing space they needed and they went on to a 77-68 victory.

Coach Ian Hirst said: "It's a fantastic achievement for the school.

"They're a group of kids from rural Weardale who can now say they're national champions."

The winning squad members were Jonathan Hirst, Ross Edwards, Alan Scott, Chris Stappard, Michael Hall, Ben White, Martyn Hirst, Iain Bell, Alex Sung, Lee Tinkler, Jack Maughan and Michael Scown.