BARROW wheelchair basketball starlet Tyler Baines has played a starring role at national level again.

The Lord’s Taverners Junior League finals day saw the best eight under-15s wheelchair basketball teams in the country converge at Worcester Arena to battle it out for glory.

Baines was representing CWSC Phoenix Dragons – a team combining players from Carlisle Wheelchair Sports Club and Scottish side Lothian Phoenix – and they went into tournament in confident mood, having won all 10 league games to qualify for the finals day.

This momentum was carried into their quarter-final tie against Hampshire Hornets, who were easily dispatched 31-9, with Tyler playing a starring role by netting 10 points.

This set up a semi-final clash with London Allstars, and Baines was on fire in front of the basket once again, grabbing 13 points as Phoenix won the battle of North versus South convincingly by a 30-5 margin.

The final saw Phoenix up against familiar foes in Northern Ireland – a team they have played and defeated in national finals before.

But unfortunately this time it was not to be as Baines found himself shackled by a well-drilled Northern Ireland defence and unable to produce his usual free-scoring game.

The Dragons found themselves trailing 10-2 at half-time and, although they rallied in the second half with Baines scoring seven points, it was not enough for them to salvage the game as they lost 25-21.

Baines’s dad Mark said: “Tyler was very disappointed at the end but it is still a great achievement to win the silver medal and be part of the second best under-15s team in the country.

“He scored 30 points in three games and he was man of the match in the semi-final so he did really well.

“It’s just a shame they didn’t win, but you have to give credit to the Northern Ireland coaching staff.

“They have played and been beaten by Tyler’s team a few times and they knew what to expect. They did a man-marking job on our two main players and it worked a treat.”

Tyler will be keeping busy over the summer months as he looks to continue building his promising court career.

Now he has turned 14, he is eligible to play in the national senior league. He has been training with the first team squad at Carlisle and is going to play a few games for the second team with the aim of progressing into the first team.

Tyler will be training with the North West squad during June and July, and then in August comes another trip to Worcester to represent the North West in the regional GB championships, where he will be targeting an unprecedented fourth winners’ medal.

It has been an incredible journey for a lad who suffered serious injuries in a car crash while on a family holiday in Spain in 2006. The accident left him disabled and largely requiring the use of a wheelchair.

Tyler’s first experience of wheelchair basketball came when he participated in a Furness Wildcats’ wheelchair sports activities programme at Hoops Basketball Centre, in Barrow.

His talent was soon spotted and he was selected to represent the North West team and has excelled ever since.

He was presented with the Brendan Jameson Be Inspired Award – handed to people who demonstrate the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect, and the Paralympic values of courage, determination, inspiration and equality – at the 2014 Cumbria Sports Awards.