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26 March 2026  4 min read

Academy Playoff Finals 2026: Recaps, reaction gallery & highlights

The day began with the CBL's showpiece between Xavierian College and MK5D Shenley Brook End School, with MK5D securing their second title following a 65-59 victory.

The WEABL Final went the way of City of London Academy - Southwark, beating familiar foes Copleston High School 66-56.

Myerscough College and Manchester Magic rounded off the day, going toe-to-toe for the EABL crown as 'Sco shed their bridesmaid tag to claim the title, coming through 83-72.

A recap of each game is below, and live stats can be viewed by clicking the title of each final. There's also a gallery of images at the bottom of the page.

EABL Playoff Final

Manchester Magic 72-83 Myerscough College

Myerscough secured their third EABL win, beating North West rivals Manchester Magic 83-72.

Five-time beaten finalists, 'Sco looked to visibly relived to have got over the line in a big game, and for large sections it looked like they wouldn't as Manchester made them work hard throughout.

Myerscough certainly didn't help themselves, looking disjoined for periods of a scrappy showpiece, committing 25 turnovers across a less than stellar offensive outing.

That allowed the North Conference winners to hang in the contest, with Magic leading in both the second and third quarters as they pushed for a first title since 2010/11.

When Myerscough did click, they profited. A third quarter 18-2 run put 'Sco in the ascendency, but they still needed a fourth-quarter 10-2 streak to create the cushion needed to see the game home.

In a hard-fought contest, the MVP award went to a player with a workmanlike stat line. Salomi Latidan's eight points came on 80% shooting, adding 10 rebounds, seven steals and four assists, also going turnover-free across his 23:07 of action.

Harry Sheehan (20pts) top scored, and Zach Trezvant (9pts, 13reb) neared a double-double, with Jack Walton (22pts, 5reb, 11ast, 2stl) providing the main resistance for Manchester.

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WEABL Playoff Final

City of London Academy - Southwark 66-56 Copleston High School

City of London Academy - Southwark completed a perfect season, adding three playoff wins to a 9-0 regular season as they ended their year in style, beating rivals Copleston High School 66-56.

Further increasing their dominance in this competition with a sixth title, CoLA were made to work by their long-time rivals as Copleston hung with the eventual champs for three quarters of a tight contest.

A 21-14 fourth, which included a 15-3 CoLA run, was enough to get the South Conference champs over the line, returning the WEABL crown to its most successful programme after Copleston's win a year ago.

The MVP call was an easy selection, with dominant forward Adaora Dioramma (20pts, 21reb) reeling off a huge double-double alongside strong outings from Ayla Habbal (12pts, 5reb, 8ast, 4stl) and Chloe Vella (12pts, 10reb).

Short-handed Ipswich, who used just 4:05 from their bench across the contest, were led by Anna Koscielny-Lemaire (14pts, 6reb) and Holly Ensoll (11pts, 16reb).

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CBL Playoff Final

Xaverian College 59-65 MK5D Shenley Brook End School

A thrilling CBL Final went the way of MK5D Shenley Brook End, claiming a back-and-forth encounter 65-59.

The 2022/23 winners added a second title to their programme's CV, starting the game and ending it the stronger after their opponents had the better of the play in between.

As 20-7 leaders after the opening seven minutes, MK5D looked like they might run away with the contest but Xaverian regained their composure, battling back and briefly grabbing a lead of their own just before half-time.

The difference between the sides would hover around the five-point mark for the majority of the second half, making it all the more difficult for Xaverian to accept an afternoon where they shot 2/29 from three-point range and 13/25 from the free-throw line.

An MVP performance from MK5D's Kalvin Oates was punctuated by a late three pointer with 1:33 remaining, stretching his side's lead to six and killing Xaverian's momentum.

Oates closed with a team-high 18 points that included four triples, adding five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Ben Morris (11pts, 8reb, 5ast) and Gabriel Formeloza (10pts, 4ast) were the other two MK5D players to reach double-digits.

GB U16 star Kelvin Clement led the way for Xaverian, dropping a game-high 27 points to go with seven rounds and three steals, as Dominic Goodwin (12pts) and Erminas Pelenis (11pts, 10reb) rounded out the top three scorers.

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