Don’t mention the words Westminster Warriors around Haringey this week.
The Kensal Rise outfit beat the third side from the north London neck of the woods to lift the U25 Community Basketball League Playoff Final.
Having beaten two previous Haringey sides to make the showdown, it was the turn of the Hawks to get downed, 57-48.
Warriors' Pius Gikunoo and Denzel Ubiaro upped the ante but you couldn’t squeeze a fag paper between the two teams at halfway with the scores level at 25-25.
An explosive dunk from Ubiaro in the second half still couldn’t separate the sides on the hooter to signal an overtime duel to the death.
Hawks blinked first and Westminster notched four unanswered points to take the game out of sight.
Most Valauable Player Ubiaro summed up the win.
"Hawks were great competition for us, but we came out as the better team. We've worked hard all season so it feels good to win."
Another Westminster team also savoured success as they made the finals of the London Youth Games.
Westminster, who won bronze in 2011 and 2012, came through their group unbeaten with tough wins over Brent and 2014 bronze medallists Ealing.
In the quarter-final they were up against last year’s silver medallists Lambeth who had secured their place after an overtime win over Barnet.
Westminster played a tactically impressive game and were able to hold off a late Lambeth rally to win 19-16.
Manager James Markham said: “Getting through feels very, very good. I played in the London Youth Games, I have been an assistant coach with a team that got to the Finals but I have never done it myself as a head coach so I’m very excited.”
The finals take place at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on July 4.
