A SALISBURY school's under 16s basketball team have been rewarded for four years of hard work by winning the England Schools National Champ-ionships title.

St Edmund's School and Sports College beat Bolton's Cannon Slade school 134-110 over two legs in the final to land the prestigious national title.

Their opponents who boasted two England players in their ranks, enjoyed home advantage in the first match.

It was the first time many of the St Edmund's girls had played in a final or travelled before a game.

They were not too disappointed with a 54-62 defeat against a Cannon Slade side which finished runners-up last year and had beaten the 2002 champions in the semi-finals this time around.

More than 100 people attended the return leg and coach Ken Walton prepared the team perfectly for some explosive play in a bid to quickly reduce the deficit. St Edmund's raced into a 12-0 lead and were 20-9 ahead by the end of the first quarter.

But Cannon Slade hit back and a 37-26 half-time lead meant the Salisbury school were just three points up on aggregate.

The home team took the game by the scruff of the neck after the break, going 16 points clear on aggregate with a score of 64-40 on the night.

At the final whistle, St Edmund's had progressed to 80-48.

The school's own England international Alice Walton top-scored with 40 points while Emily Brookfield, 17, Kirsty Moore, 13, Linzi Holton, six, and Alex Gibson, four were also on target.