Press Release 6

Moulton go down again

Junior Men’s Midland Premier Division

Coventry “Crusaders99 – 98Northants “Moulton”

Two weeks after losing to City of Birmingham in double overtime the Northants “Moulton”

Junior Men lost another close match to a West Midlands team. Once again the county boys could look at their own errors for the main reason for the defeat but some appalling defence was also a major factor.

“Moulton” opened the game with a half court man-to-man defence but found it difficult to contain the “Crusader’s players in one versus one situations. The two teams exchanged baskets throughout the period but Coventry finished the stronger and took a 24-19 lead after the quarter.

In the second quarter once again Moulton’s offensive work looked impressive but despite switching to a changing defence they were unable to contain their opponents’ scoring. Again, a number of basic errors including handing the ball to their opponents gave Coventry easy scores and a 6-0 run gave the home side a 12 point lead at 47-35. Moulton were able to steady the ship but at half time they still trailed 51-41.

Moulton were still convinced they could take the game and played some of their best basketball at the start of the third period. After five minutes of the quarter they had reduced the gap to just 4 points at 63-59 then slipped back into their error ridden ways. Coventry went on an 11-4 charge so at the end of the period their lead had grown to 74-63.

Moulton continued to score freely throughout the final quarter but Coventry were able to match them point for point and with two minutes of the game remaining led 97-85. In a ‘do-or-die’ effort Moulton exerted full court pressure and were able to force a number of “Crusader’s” turn-overs. Excellent defensive work from Leon Henry and two three-pointers from Jonny Yates suddenly made the unlikely, likely. In the event Northants ran out of time as Coventry held on for the 99-98 win.

Coach John Collins’ annoyance was clear to see at the end of the game, “If you score 98 points and end up losing something is basically wrong with the defensive effort. Added to this we were guilty of committing some errors which wouldn’t be accepted from beginners. This team needs to take a long hard look at themselves if they are to achieve their full potential.”

Humphries stars in win in “Wolves” lair

Junior Men’s Midland Conference

Worcester “Wolves”69 -77Northants “Thunder”

The Northants “Thunder” Junior Men bounced back from their defeat against Mansfield “Giants” with a battling Midland Conference win over Worcester “Wolves”. The home side opened with an aggressive pressing defence but “Thunder” coped with the pressure well forcing the “Wolves” players to commit a number of fouls. The Northants boys however were unable to punish their opponents missing no less than 11 free throws in the first quarter and they trailed 19-16 at the end of the period.

“Thunder” went out for the second period in determined mood and despite losing the services of Chris Ketchell was successful in running through the Worcester press defence. One of the main reasons for this was the outstanding distribution play of Phil Humphires. “Thunder” took the period 28-17 to take a 44-36 half time lead.

Having played with composure during the second period “Thunder” suddenly began to panic in the third quarter and poor shot selection allowed Worcester to go on an 8-zero run to tie the scores up. A time out from the “Thunder” coaching staff calmed the situation down and by the end of the period they had edged back out into the lead at 57-51.

Worcester’s policy in the fourth period seemed to be one of shooting on sight and initially this brought them some success but the county boys were able to keep their noses in front and ran out 77-69 winners.

For “Thunder” Phil Humphries had an outstanding game scoring 30 points with good support coming from Matt Usher and Craig Hampston with 19 and 10 points apiece.

“Double loss for Cadets”

The Northants “Thunder” Cadet Men had a busy weekend with two Premier Division North games. They ended winless and now know the level of competition they can expect week in and week out

 Cadet Men’s Premier Division North

Cheshire “Jets”83 – 54 Northants “Thunder”

Against Cheshire “Jets” it appeared the county boys had left their game on the bus and found themselves trailing 29-12 after the first period. The team pulled itself together to a certain degree during the second period thanks to some aggressive defensive work from Daniel Obasa but by half time the home side had extended their lead to 20 points at 48-28.

With the game as good as won “Jets” experimented with a press defence and to their credit “Thunder” coped with this with ease but they were still struggling on defence. “Jets” took the third and fourth periods to run out comfortable winners by 83 points to 54.

Not too many “Thunder” players came out of the game with too much credit. Merson Paul top scored with 19 points while Dan Obasa had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Coach Rob Eddon felt with the exception of Harry Neale and Adam Thomas his team played, “without heart”.

Northants “Thunder”59 – 81City of Birmingham

Just 10 hours after arriving back from Cheshire, the team was back on court against an athletic City of Birmingham team. Birmingham opened with an aggressive man to man pressure defence and initially “Thunder” was effective in breaking this pressure and making easy scores. All this changed in the closing minutes of the period and the county boys were guilty of turning the ball over on a number of occasions giving their opponents easy scores. This resulted in Birmingham taking a 24-15 lead.

“Thunder” was able to steady the ship in the second quarter which was all tied up 14 all and the county boys were still in contention at 38-29 at half time.

Any hope of the home side getting back into the game quickly disappeared in the third period of play with a number of players unable to execute the simple instructions of Coach Rob Eddon. Defensively the team looked fragile, leaking 24 points in the period while their scoring mainly revolved around the perimeter shooting of Merson Paul. By the end of the period Birmingham had opened up a 62-40 lead and the game was as good as over.

“Thunder” was more competitive in the final quarter which they only lost 21-19 but in fairness by this time Birmingham had eased their pressure and they ran out comfortable winners by 81 points to 59.

In the 22 point defeat Paul had 21 points including five, three pointers while Callum Woodhouse scored 10.