A SCHOOL basketball team from rural County Durham overcame city opponents to claim national glory.
The unlikely triumph has given Wolsingham School and Community College what is believed to be its first national sporting champions in its 390 year history.
The team had 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 has members aged just 15 and 16-years-old. As a result, Wolsingham started as underdogs for the final in Nottingham, against Barking Abbey, a specialist sports college in Essex.
The game started with a flurry of points by the Barking team and after 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.
Within five minutes Wolsingham led by just two points. But a long-range effort from Jonathan Hirst gave the team breathing space 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 say they're national champions."
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