Busy day at the Northants Basketball Centre
Last Saturday 175 boys and girls aged 6 to 18 enjoyed competitive basketball at the Northants Basketball Centre. During the day the Northants Basketball Club staged a tournament for players in the Junior Ballers section, two friendly games and three national league games.
“Rob’s men brought down to earth with a bump”
Cadet Men’s Premier Division North
Northants “Thunder”38 – 93Manchester “Magic”
After their convincing win over Derby “Trailblazers the previous week the Northants Cadet Men went into this game against Manchester “Magic” in optimistic mood. To say they were rudely brought down to earth would be a massive understatement. Manchester are likely to be one of the strongest team in the country and included in their ranks one player seven feet tall. Even so the “Thunder” players will be disappointed at the way they capitulated to the “Magic” pressure defence.
The game was as good as over after the first quarter with Manchester storming into a 23-4 lead. “Thunder” were a little more productive in the second period scoring 11 points but they leaked 29 to trail 52-15 at the half time break. This deficit increased to 70-22 by the end of the third but to their credit the county boys refused to give in and only lost the final period 23-16 bringing the final score to 93-28
For “Thunder” only Merson Paul with 15 points was able get into double figures although Callum Woodhouse battled hard in defending the Manchester ‘giant.’
This weekend Rob Eddon’s team face another tough challenge when they travel north to take on Sheffield “Sharks”.
Junior Women cruise to victory over “Lady Hoops”
Junior Women’s North Conference
Northants “Lightning”96 – 28Hinckley & Bosworth “Lady Hoops”
The Northants “Lightning Junior Women opened their campaign with a comfortable win over local rivals Hinckley & Bosworth “Lady Hoops”. With five players now attending the Moulton College Basketball Academy the Northants girls were able to play with a speed and intensity which “Lady Hoops” were unable to cope with.
“Lightning” won all four quarters although they rather went off the boil in the second period which they only won 11-8. Stern words from Coach Andy Cox at half time did the trick and the county girls outscored their opponents 53-17 in the second half.
In the 60 plus points win Esme Knghorn top scored with 21 points. She was well supported by Imogen Cox who scored 16 while Natalie Arnold, Whitney Bain, Laura Henderson and Klare Pinney all scored in double figures.
“Sharks” too big for Under 13 Boys
Under 13 North Midlands Conference
Northants “Thunder”30 – 62Sheffield “Sharks”
During the closed season the Northants boys lost very heavily to “Sharks” so in many ways this represented a massive improvement although Coach Mike Round was disappointed that his team had finally succumbed to the physicality of the Sheffield team. It was particularly disappointing because for three quarters of the game the county boys were in touch with the Yorkshire team. It all fell apart midway through the final period when “Sharks” went on a 15-0 run to put the final result beyond doubt.
“Thunder” does have a problem in the scoring department relying heavily on Sam Round who contributed almost half of his side’s 30 points.
Friendly game
Northants “Lightning” 43 – 56Sheffield “Hatters”
Under 16 Girls
The Northants “Lightning” Cadette Women lost by 13 points to Sheffield “Hatters” in this friendly game but Coach Brian Johnson would have learnt a great deal about his team. The Northants girls were in contention throughout the game losing each period by just a few points.
Lana Doran led the “Lightning” scoring with 12 points, seven other players also scored but not one of them could get into double figures.
Under achieving Moulton go down to Birmingham in double overtime thriller
Junior Men’s Midland’s Premier Division
City of Birmingham115 – 105Northants “Moulton”
93 - 93 / 100 - 100
The Northants “Moulton” Junior Men came second best came out second best in their first league game of the season in a game they will look back on as one they lost rather than their opponents had won. “Moulton” opened they game superbly leaping out to a 16-5 lead midway through the first quarter and a comfortable win looked to be on the cards. At this stage Birmingham increased their intensity and three, three-pointers from Macdonald got Birmingham back into the game.
At the end of the first period Moulton’s lead had been reduced to 29-24 and then they completely lost their way in the second period during which time they were outscored 30-12 to trail 54-41 at the half time break. Coach John Collins switched to a zone defence for the third period and this was successful in stemming the flood of Birmingham scoring but “Moulton” were still giving the ball away too frequently allowing their opponents easy scores and at 74-65 to Birmingham it looked as if the home side had done enough to clinch the win. Then the Birmingham players completely lost their cool following a foul call on one of their players. Their behaviour resulted in three technical fouls and six free throws for “Moulton”. Skipper Jonny Yates coolly netted five of them and at 74-73 “Moulton” was back in the game.
Given this massive lifeline “Moulton” returned to their bad habits in the fourth period continually giving the ball away against the Birmingham pressure. Trailing 93-85 with less than three minutes to play “Moulton” were rescued by centres Dan Shaw and Jake Wyatt with a flurry of scores that brought the scores level at 93 all. Wyatt then blocked a Birmingham shot and the two teams went into a period of overtime.
“Moulton” started the overtime superbly leaping out to a 98-93 advantage midway through the period. Logic would suggest that all they needed to do was to use the 24 second shot clock to their advantage. In the event they contrived to miss a lay up and then take three rushed shots. This allowed Birmingham to regain the initiative and draw level at 100 each from the free throw line. They even had a chance to win the game from the free throw line but missed both shots and a second period of overtime resulted.
The two teams exchanged baskets during the second period of overtime but then the mercurial Dan Shaw picked up his fifth foul and immediately the Birmingham took control of the game outscoring “Moulton” 11-2 in the final three minutes to take the game 115-105.
Coach John Collins was left to reflect on the ugly statistic of his team turning the ball over a massive 47 times, “At this level this is just not acceptable but even so if we’d shown more patience in the first period of overtime we could have won this game.” Withdrawals from the league mean the team now have a weekend off when what they most really need to do is get back on court and restore some confidence.
In the 10 point defeat Jonny Yates led the “Moulton” scorers with 28 points although he would have been unhappy with the number of times he lost the ball. Dan Shaw had a superb game scoring 23 points and pulling down 12rebounds while Jake Wyatt had the same number of boards to add to his 19 points
Ten county players get East Midlands call ups
No less than ten boys and girls from the Northants basketball Club have been selected for the East Midland’s teams to compete in the Annual Under 14 Inter Regional Tournaments.
Six girls have gained selection, five of them from Northampton School for Girls who last season reached the Under 13 Girls Final Eight Play Offs. The five are Shanique Alexander, Lois Bain, Amy Grosvenor, Isobel Johns, and Liberty Windmill while the sixth is Georgia Elliott-King from Moulton School.
Two boys from Northampton School for Boys have been selected for the boy’s team. They are Jason Moore and Sam Round while the other two are Otis Adams-Grannum from Wollaston School and Andrew Usher from Ferrers School.
THIS WEEKEND’S ACTION
Saturday 18th October
12.30pmUnder 14 Girls versus Nottingham and Doncaster”
2.30pmUnder 15 Boys versus Derby “Trailblazers” and Derbys “Arrows”
4.30pmJunior Men versus Mansfield “Giants”
These three games will be played at the Northants Basketball Centre at Northampton School for Girls in Spinney Hill Road, Northampton
Spectators are welcome and admission is FREE
Cadet Men travel to Sheffield “Sharks”
Under 13 Boys travel to Leicester to play Leicester “Warriors” and Leicester Dynamite”
Sunday 19th October
Cadet Women travel to Exeter “Eagles”
Under 14 Girls II travel to St Albans to Play West Herts “Warriors” and Sevenoaks “Suns”
