2021/22 Academy Finals: EABL, WEABL, ABL recap + gallery

The 2021/22 Academy Finals are now complete, with three great games taking place across the day.

After cutting the 2019/20 campaign short and then being forced to cancel the entirety of 2020/21, this season was the first chance to crown standalone champions since 2018/19.

In the ABL final, Dagenham Park denied Haringey a three-peat of championships with a 92-62 victory. CoLA sealed the WEABL crown as they downed Nottingham 71-49, and Charnwood ended the day by beating Northern conference rivals Myerscough 83-74 to take the EABL title.

There's recaps , live stats and live streams for all three games below, and there's also a gallery of images at the bottom of the page.

ABL Final - Haringey Sixth Form College 62-92 Dagenham Park

Dagenham Park claimed their first ABL title with a 92-62 victory against Haringey Sixth Form College.

The Eastern conference winners capped a perfect season with the win in Manchester behind an MVP performance from guard Brandon Tchouya. A 21-point, 14-rebound, 10-assist triple-double went with a trio of both steals and blocks, a truly impressive performance on the biggest stage.

In a game that flowed back and forth throughout, both teams took opportunities to seize the upper hand. Dagenham opened the game strongly to claim the first quarter 29-11, creating a deficit that would ultimately deny Haringey a third consecutive ABL title.

Coach Batimba's team would show their steel to pull the difference down to single digits in both the second and third, but Dagenham would answer both times to quell any thoughts of a further comeback.

That was best illustrated by Haringey's hot start to the second half that reduced the difference at 49-42. Dagenham would reply with a 28-4 run that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters, putting the result out of sight.

Dagenham's Josh Smith-White impressed throughout and was unfortunate to miss the MVP nod, he top-scored with 24 points to go with 15 rebounds and three steals. Dominykas Revinas hit five triples off the bench to close on 15 points.

Chudi Dioramma led the way for Haringey, he had a sizable 18-point, 17-rebound double-double as Omari Pond-Mckenzie added 12 points.

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WEABL Final - Nottingham Academy Wildcats 49-71 City of London Academy

City of London Academy sealed a record third WEABL title as they beat Nottingham 71-49.

The Southern conference winners finished the season without a loss to their name as they ran out to a comfortable victory behind some tough defence and an MVP performance from Emilie Black.

The CoLA guard went 3-4 from range and 9-11 shooting overall for 21 points to go with four rebounds and four assists.

CoLA put together a great team performance with Isi Ozzy-Momodu (15pts, 11reb) and Molly Lavin (6pts, 12reb, 7ast) both excelling as the hosts slowly pulled out of sight.

WEABL regular-season scoring leader Praise Egharevba came into the final with the potential to help the Wildcats claim their first title, but the German national picked up two fouls in the opening three-and-a-half minutes before spending large periods of the first half on the bench.

That foul trouble would persist throughout and without their star forward, CoLA's size and depth proved too much. Leading 44-27 at the half, 34 of the London programme's points had come in the paint as they also led the rebounding battle 31-15.

Egharevba re-emerged in the fourth quarter and finished the game with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double, and her eventual +/- of +6 in the 22-point loss gave a glimpse as to what could have been for the Midlands' programme.

Victory in Manchester was CoLA's third overall, adding this title to the ones they won in 2016/17 and 2019/20, moving them past Barking as the most decorated team in the league's history.

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EABL Final - Charnwood College Riders 83-74 Myerscough College

Charnwood sealed a thrilling final game of the day, securing their third EABL title as they edged Northern conference rivals Myerscough 83-74.

In a game where neither team led by more than five points for the majority of three quarters, the Riders came alive late to grab a famous victory, led by MVP Victor Ndoukou.

The Charnwood forward dropped a game-high 30 points alongside 11 boards, with Kanu Gudza (12pts, 8ast) and Ben Woog (15pts, 9reb, with 7 on offence) playing well in support.

In a game that contained plenty of quality from both teams, Myerscough refused to go quietly and for large periods were very much the equal of the Riders.

That led to a narrow 38-37 Charnwood advantage by half time, setting the stage perfectly for an explosive final 20 minutes.

Led by Zeki Cavli (22pts) and Bryan Akanmu (21pts, 9reb), the North West programme edged ahead after the break but started to come unstuck late in the quarter as they were on the receiving end of a 10-3 run that finally put some daylight between the two teams.

The see-saw battle continued into the final frame as Charnwood's advantage shrunk once again, but a three point deficit was as close as Myerscough would get before the Riders pulled away to their first title since 2018/19.

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