PRESS RELEASES 2025/26
Mixed fortunes for players and coaches at European Masters
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The five players and two coaches with county connections have returned home after participating in the
13th FIMBA European Maxi Basketball Championships held in Athens. The seven enjoyed varying fortunes with pride of place going to Coach Anita Curtis who guided her Great Britan 40+ team to the bronze medal position with a win over Poland in the 3rd and 4th place game. Download the Full Press Release |
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Jamelia helps England to Four Nations title
Kettering’s Jamelia Gordon helped the England Under 14 Girls team win the Four Nations Tournament which was staged in Cardiff last weekend. Gordon who started her basketball journey with the Kettering “Phoenix” club has played for Northants “Lightning” in National League competition for the past three years and earned her England call-up after an extensive Aspire Programme. Download the Full Press Release |
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County well represented in European Masters Tournament
No fewer than five players and two coaches will represent Great Britain in the European Masters Basketball Tournament which gets underway in Athens this coming weekend. Gary Burton who is Director of Sport at Northampton School for Boys will be joined by Daventry’s Max Curle and they will compete in the Over 40’s competition team while Jason Tucker who like Burton comes from Wellingborough will play in the Over 35’s team together with Leome Francis from Northampton and Jermaine Laing. Laing hails from Bradford but spent two years at the Moulton College Basketball Academy. Download the Full Press Release |
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YBL Under 19’s 3 x 3 Final
“Storm” opened their programme with a narrow loss against C.O.B. “Rockets” who had one outstanding player. The team went on to beat Birmingham “Mets” in their second pool game and Shrewsbury “Storm” in the semi-final to set up another game against “Rockets” in the Final. “Storm” turned in a tremendous performance taking “Rockets” to overtime before slipping to a four to six loss. Coaches Douglas and Standish were delighted with the efforts of all their players and both commented, “We were so proud of the way the team played throughout the event,” Download the Full Press Release |
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Under 13 Girls are YBL Champions
The 2025 / ’26 season came to a close last Saturday with the YBL Grand Finals held at Bromsgrove School with success for the Northants “Lightning” Under 13 Girls. They beat Kettering “Phoenix” by 72 points to 50 to complete a YBL / Rose of the Shire ‘double’. Both teams made a nervous start to the Final with “Lightning” missing a number of lay ups. With Iona Samples scoring freely for “Phoenix” the Kettering team were able to stay in touch with “Lightning” and the teams were all tied at 14 points apiece at the end of the first quarter. Download the Full Press Release |
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Northants Basketball Club ready for next season
With the 2025 / ’26 drawing to a close the Northants Basketball Club has been busy preparing for next season with an extensive programme of Try Outs which attracted almost 300 Boys and girls. From these Try Outs squads were selected for the Summer Development Programmes which will start next week; from these squads teams will be selected for next season’s teams. The Club is pleased to announce that they will operate sixteen teams and six Casual Sessions next season playing in National League and YBL competitions and in four age groups there will be two teams. To facilitate running this number of teams needs a large number of coaches and at a time when many clubs in a variety of sports are struggling to find volunteer coaches the Club is delighted to announce that they will have no less than eighteen fully qualified coaches working with the teams. Download the Full Press Release |
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Under 16 Girls well beaten by “Mystics II”
The Northants Under 16 Girls failed to secure the club’s place in the Premier Division next season after suffering a defeat at the hands of Conference side Manchester Mystics II. Mystics came into this game with an undefeated record in the Conference so the “Lightning” players knew they were in for a tough game and so it proved as the Manchester team took the first quarter by 20 points to 13. In the second quarter “Lightning” again found scoring difficult and despite putting in a good defensive ‘shift’ they lost the quarter 14-19 to trail by 27 points to 39 at half time. “Lightning” needed a huge third quarter if they were to get back into the contest, but the young “Mystics” team led by Lena Carnes and Zoe Odeyinde won the quarter 17 – 8 to take the lead beyond twenty points. During this quarter the “Lightning” had become almost totally based on individual effort rather than teamwork. Download the Full Press Release |
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Under 16 Boys return from Spain and Under 17 Boys exit the YBL Play Offs
End of the road for the Under 17 Boys YBL Under 17 Boys Play Off Semi – Final Coventry “Tornadoes” 74 – 41 Northants “Thunder” The Northants “Thunder” Under 17 Boys travelled to the Woodlands Sports Centre in Coventry last Saturday to take on Coventry “Tornadoes” in the semi-final of the YBL Play Offs. The “Thunder” players and coaching staff knew it was going to be a tough ‘ask’, because “Tornadoes” had originally entered the NBL: and tough it proved. Download the Full Press Release |
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The Northants Club goes all Spanish for Easter
“Thunder” Under 16 Boys fly out to a Camp in Getafe Twelve players from the Northants “Thunder” Under 16 team together with coaches Brad Hughes and George Adeseko flew out to Spain last Sunday to participate in a four day Camp at The Colegio Europeo Aristos in Getafe a suburb of Madrid. During the Camp the players will participate in on-court practices, strength and conditioning activities as well as games and social activities. The trip opened with a trip to the Movistar Arena in Madrid to watch Real Madrid play Morobanc Andorra in a Liga Endesa game. Download the Full Press Release |
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“Thunder” Under 16 Boys find the going tough in London
Under 16 Boys Promotional Play Off London “Stars” III 81 – 45 Northants “Thunder” After winning the Midlands II Conference the Northants “Thunder” Under 16 Boys were slightly unfortunate to be drawn against a team from the London “Stars” club. Forget the III after their name this “Stars” team which went into Sunday’s game undefeated after forty Under 14 and Under 16 Premier and Conference games. “Thunder” needed to be at their very best for Sunday’s game but from the first minute they found the going tough and things they had found it easy to execute in regular season play were suddenly very difficult. They were able to advance the ball through the “Stars” ‘press’ defence but then found scoring a major problem as they lost the first quarter 14-21 Download the Full Press Release |
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Under 16 Girls National League Premier Division North
Northants “Lightning” 20 - 0 Bristol “Flyers” With the Bristol coaching staff unavailable to travel to Northampton they conceded the game to “Lightning” meaning that the two teams haven’t actually met on court this season. “Thunder” teams win one out of three games in YBL Play Offs YBL Play Off Games Under 17 Boys Northants “Thunder” 66 – 41 Oxford “Hoops” Download the Full Press Release |
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Without a game for several weeks the Northants Junior men travelled to Nottingham last Saturday to take on high-flying “Wildcats” in their last game of the season.
“Wildcats” hit “Thunder” with an aggressive press defence which “Thunder” were able to penetrate only to miss a number of easy scoring opportunities. They were also guilty of failing to protect their backcourt allowing their opponents a number of fast break scores which saw them establish a 26-seven lead after the first quarter. The “Thunder” players” stuck to their task despite the game becoming overly physical eventually losing by forty plus points but Coach Hughes was proud of the way his players took to their task. His team’s scoring was led by Logan Ormshaw with 13 points, nine other players contributing to the team’s final total Download the Full Press Release |
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Four wins for Lightning” on International Women’s Day
Rose of the Shires Under 13 Girls Central Venue Tournament
The Northants Under 13 Girls proved to be physically and technical superior to both their opponents in their latest Rose of the Shires Tournament comfortably winning both of their games to stay in contention for the league title. In both games Coach Atkinson’s team combined excellent defence with some attractive offensive basketball. Download the Full Press Release |
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A battling win over an athletic City of Birmingham “Rockets” team last Sunday means that the Northants Under 16 Boys are Midlands II Conference champions with one game remaining. The team have lost just one game and even if they lose their remaining game against Ballers Heaven II, they have a points difference advantage over the Ballers Heaven first string who have already lost two games.
The start of the game against “Rockets” was delayed because it was being played at a facility the Birmingham club had never previously used. Equipment problems and the failure of a referee to turn up delayed the start by almost 30 minutes and not surprisingly both teams made a tentative start. “Rockets” gained the early ascendency thanks to some superb offensive rebounding and took the first quarter by 17 points to 14. Download the Full Press Release |
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On the back of 22 points from Ollie Casey and significant points contributions from three other players the Northants “Thunder” Under 16 Boys completed what looks to be a routine win over Coventry Tornadoes but it certainly wasn’t that at the beginning of the game. After three minutes of the first quarter “Tornadoes” had established a 7-zero lead with “Thunder” guilty of turning down open ‘looks’ and choosing to drive to basket where “Tornadoes”, Leacy was waiting to ‘block’ shots.
An adjustment of tactics saw “Thunder” effectively use a ‘press’ defence which forced numerous turn-overs and easy scores for “Thunder” who went on a 14-four run to take a 25-15 lead after the first ten minutes of play. Download the Full Press Release |
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Illnesses and Half Term commitments meant that a short-handed Northants Under 16 Girls teams travelled to Leeds, but this didn’t prevent them picking up their second Premier Division win of the season thanks to an outstanding team effort and the sharp shooting of Freya Tauber-Anderson and Macie Latimer.
Not known as good starters on this occasion “Lightning” got off to a ‘flyer’ establishing a 23 points to 13 lead by the end of the first quarter. Both coaches made the necessary defensive adjustments and both teams struggled to score in the second and third quarters both teams managing just nineteen point Download the Full Press Release |
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When these teams met earlier in the season “Hawks” won the game by just three points so another close game was expected in the return fixture played at the Basketball Centre last Saturday, and so it proved Hawks finally triumphing by a single point.
“Thunder” will look back to a poor start which saw them trailing by seven points to 12 after the first quarter and their inability to contain “Hawks” combi-guard Ben Powell. The home team won the second quarter 20-17 to close the deficit to just two points at half time. The gap was closed by another point in the third quarter which “Thunder” won 15-14 to set up a grandstand finish with the initiative well in favour of “Thunder”. Download the Full Press Release |
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Leading by 53 points to 46 going into the last ten minutes of play the Northants Under 18 boys looked well set to complete the ‘double’ over Nottingham “Hoods”. In the event they managed just 11 points in the final quarter, while their defence fell apart and conceded 23 points “Hoods” claiming an unlikely five-point victory.
After winning the first quarter 17-14 “Thunder” lost their way in the second which went “Hoods” way by 16 points to 13 to tie the scores at 30 points all at half time. An excellent third quarter on the back of eighteen points from Luca Garratt and Logan Ormshaw seemed to have clinched victory for the home team but “Hoods” had other ideas. |
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They restricted Garratt and Ormshaw to just five points in the final ten minutes and a flurry of three-pointers was good enough to earn them the win.
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After their disappointing loss against Ballers Heaven “Warriors” the previous weekend the Northants Under 16 Boys got back to winning ways with a convincing win over Coventry “Tornadoes.
“Thunder” won all four quarters thanks to some excellent team offence combined with gritty defence which kept “Tornadoes scoreless for long periods of the game as they struggled against “Thunder’s” ‘change-up defences. “Thunder’s” offensive game profited from a number of fast break and early transition scores and in the half court they connected with seven three-point shots. The “Thunder” scoring was led by Luca Garratt with 24 points with Ollie Casey, Sam Eakins, Jowellle Skiete-French , and Al Yinusa all making double figure points contributions, but this was truly a ‘team win’. “Thunder” stay in top spot in the Midlands II Conference and face another tough game this coming weekend when they take on “Titans” Purple a team they only beat by seven points earlier in the season Download the Full Press Release |
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It was lucky thirteen for the Northants Under 16 Girls last Saturday as they recorded their first win in the Premier Division following a nail-biting overtime win over Trafford “Mystics”, the Manchester second team.
The win came thanks to an excellent fourth quarter after a sluggish first half which saw “Mystics” take a 29-19 half time lead. “Lightning” played with more confidence in the third quarter winning it 14-12 to reduce the deficit to 33-41 and some excellent defence allied to important points contributions from Macie Latimer and Urte Maldutyte reduced the deficit even further. When Alicja Przybusz drained a three-pointer to give them the lead at 40-39 “Lightning” thought victory was theirs but on “Mystics” last offence a shooter was fouled sending her to the free throw line. To the relief of the “Lightning” bench and a large crowd Emmy the young Trafford guard make only one of the resulting free throws sending the game into overtime. During the extra five minutes of play “Lightning” were able to outscore “Mystics” 12 to seven thanks to another three-pointer from Przybusz, and an important score from Anabella Hill, and despite some poor clock management and shot selection to hold on for a five point win. Download the Full Press Release |
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In a game that had absolutely everything including disputes over the score, the possession arrow, and a table signal that couldn’t be heard; basketball triumphed with “Neptunes” completing the ‘double’ over “Thunder” thanks to a last second score.
Earlier in the season “Neptunes” had beaten “Thunder” by five points so a close encounter was expected and so it proved with “Thunder” seizing the early initiative by 20 points to 14 after the first quarter, this despite not having played for three weeks. The power of “Neptunes” close to the basket was an important factor in the second quarter with Deev Patel and the Thompson brothers causing the “Thunder” defence massive problems and pulling a lot of fouls which was to be decisive later in the game. “Neptunes” took the quarter 18-11 to establish a 32 to 31 half time lead. The start of the third quarter was very strange with “Thunder” benefitting from a brace of three-pointers from Jacob Baross while all of “Neptunes” first six points of the quarter coming from the free throw line with “Thunder” players guilty of reaching in and trying to block shots. “Thunder” were able to capitalise on some poor back court coverage by “Neptunes scoring from a number of fast breaks to win the quarter 23-17 and take a 54 points to 49 lead into the final ten minutes of play. Download the Full Press Release |
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With all schools closed over the Christmas period and no public facilities available, the Northants Under 16 Girls travelled to Birmingham last Saturday to take on “Rockets” with zero preparation. Not surprisingly they made a lethargic start to the game and were well ‘off the pace’ both offensively and defensively in the first quarter. They were also guilty of turning the ball over on numerous occasions affording “Rockets” several easy scores.
Trailing by 10 points to 26 after the first ten minutes of play “Lightning” made a better fist of things in the second quarter but their defence still left a lot to be desired, and “Rockets” were able to extend their lead by two points by winning the quarter 21-19. Download the Full Press Release |
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When these two teams met in Northampton earlier in the season “Warriors” triumphed by a single point. Since then, “Thunder” have bonded as a team, so they made the journey to Leicester optimistic of picking up a win, that they didn’t was largely down to an appalling third quarter which saw them outscored by 33 points to 15; this after trailing by a single point at half time.
Going into the last ten minutes of play “Thunder” trailed 46-65 but inspired by thirteen points from Logan Ormshaw they mounted a spirited effort and benefitting from some excellent offensive rebounding from Kamil Bambara they outscored “Warriors” 23-eight but fell just short of achieving a remarkable ‘comeback’ win. Download the Full Press Release |
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Thirty-five points from Logan Ormshaw and eleven converted free throws in overtime proved to be decisive for the Northants Under 18 Boys as they gained revenge for an early season loss against Leicester “Dynamite”.
The win came after an eventful contest not least at the closing of regular time with “Thunder” leading 74-71 after Logan Ormshaw had converted two free throws. With Coach Brad Hughes screaming at his players not to foul, Dynamite’s Cowlon launched a speculative three point shot. Not only did the shot go in but a “Thunder” player had not listened to his coach’s instructions and in attempting to block the shot committed a foul. With prospect of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory the “Thunder” players had to put trust in their vociferous crowd. To everyone’s relief on the maroon side of the sports hall Cowlon missed the free throw and the game went into overtime. Download the Full Press Release |
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An underaged Northants team travelled to Telford to play “Rawzone” in this YBL Cup Pool Game but they proved to be far too strong for the Shropshire outfit.
“Rawzone” were reasonably competitive in the first quarter which was won 25-15 by “Thunder” but fell apart in the remainder of the game, failing in get to double figures in the next three quarters. Meanwhile “Thunder” piled in the points with Ollie Casey for the second week running scoring at will. In the sixty points plus victory Olly Wilson scored 19 points and Al Yinusa contributed 13 while Casey had a stunning 39 point haul. Download the Full Press Release |
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Trailing 12-27 after the first quarter, against the Academy based Nottingham “Wildcats” team the Northants Junior Men missing a couple of key players, looked to be heading for a very heavy defeat. “Thunder” were intimidated by “Wildcats” aggressive full court press, and they were guilty of turning the ball over on a number of occasions. They also failed to attack the basket when they did advance the ball through the pressure and this allowed the Nottingham team to re-group defensively.
For the remainder of the game “Thunder” were far more competitive losing the second quarter by two points and the third by just one and when “Wildcats” sat down their main players in the fourth quarter “Thunder” outscored them by 13 points to three. Download the Full Press Release |
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Coach Brad Hughes labelled this game as a game his team should have won and a number of issues contributed to the team picking up back-to-back losses. Those reasons centred on poor game management at the end of the contest, missed free throws at critical moments added to conceding four three pointers at the end of the fourth quarter.
Despite being guilty of committing too many turn-overs in the first quarter, “Thunder” were able to stay in touch with “Hawks” and at the end of the quarter the teams were all tied at 15 points. “Thunder” enjoyed their best ten minutes of the game during the second quarter of the game as they outscored their opponents by 25 points to 15 to take a ten-point lead into the second half. Download the Full Press Release |
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With time running out and the scores close, seven points from Ephraim Ntumba including an under pressure three-pointer proved to be critical as “Titans” claimed a four-point win in this exciting ‘local derby’.
“Thunder” trailed throughout most of the game as they struggled to contain the all-court game of Ntumba and the sharp shooting of Aleksa - Turney but at 39-42 they were still in touch going into the last ten minutes of the game. Despite the best efforts of Logan Ormshaw and Fran Guei they lost the final quarter 20-21 missing a number of easy scoring opportunities as “Titans” took the game by 63 points to 59 to claim local bragging rights. Download the Full Press Release |
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Three missed lay ups at the start of the fourth quarter were a major factor for the Northants Under 16 Girls failing to clinch their first win of the season. “Lightning” were forced to foul “Eagles” players at the end of the game but as they weren’t ‘in the penalty’ this only resulted in possession for the home side rather than sending them to the free throw line.
“Lightning” made a slow start to the game and were affected by the fact that Macie Latimer and Beau McLean were both less than 100%. The team’s sluggish start saw them fall behind but they rallied over the closing minutes of the quarter, and this improvement continued into the second quarter. A combination of good defence and good ball movement saw “Lightning” stay in contention during the third quarter and hopes of that elusive first Premier Division win looked to be a real possibility but a number of costly errors and those missed lay ups meant it wasn’t to be. Download the Full Press Release |
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Concentration on three-point shooting in practices certainly paid dividends for the Northants “Thunder” Under 16 Boys last Saturday. Trailing “Titans” Purple deep into the fourth quarter successful shots from beyond the arc from Al Mustapha Yinusa and Jowel Stiete - French saw “Thunder” home..
“Thunder” had made an excellent start to the game jumping out to a 16-one lead but that advantage was reduced to 24-12 by half time with the “Thunder” players guilty of some ill-discipline in their play. Both teams were heavily penalised for over physical play in the second quarter which was edged by “Titans” who started the third quarter in a zone defence which caused “Thunder” some problems. They were also handicapped by the fact that their influential playmaker Jerome Maroodza had picked up his fourth foul. Download the Full Press Release |
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Not for the first time so far, this season the Northants Under 16 Girls found the intensity of the Premier League a little bit too much for them. With three and a half minutes of the game against Trafford “Mystics” ostensibly the Manchester second team remaining, “Lightning” were trailing by just two points and were awarded two free throws. Both shots from the ‘charity stripe’ were missed but “Lightning secured the rebound but missed the ‘put back’ and the chance to tie the scores had gone. “Mystics went on an 11 to zero scoring run, and it was game over.
After the long journey to Manchester, “Lightning” won the first quarter of the game 19-15 with the second quarter tied at 20 points apiece, giving the Northants girls 39 points to 35 half time lead. The second half saw “Mystics” take control of the game showing more commitment and a higher work rate and “Lightning” were out rebounded despite having a height advantage. Download the Full Press Release |
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Missing some key players the Northants Under 16 Boys held a narrow 32-27 advantage at half time. Rather worryingly “Hawks” had coped with “Thunder’s” press with ease despite some excellent ‘on ball’ defence from Freddie Hemsley-Schryver.
At half time Coach Brad Hughes switched to a zone defence and that decision proved to be decisive. “Eagles” were guilty of forcing up perimeter shots and despite being ‘light-handed’ close to basket “Thunder” were able to secure rebounds and launch numerous fast breaks. These break and five third quarter three-pointers saw them outscore their opponents 41-21 in the second half to secure a comfortable 73 points to 48 win. Download the Full Press Release |
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The Northants Junior Men recorded their first win of the season defeating the Milton Keynes “Breakers” second team by five points thanks to an excellent team performance.
“Thunder “opened the game in confident mood and thanks to eight points from Fran Guei edged the first quarter 16-9 but despite another eight points from Guei they lost the second quarter 16-22 which gave “Breakers” a 32-31 half time lead. Both teams struggled to score in the third quarter but M.K. were able to extend their lead to 56-44 going into the last ten minutes of play and another defeat looked to be on the cards. In the event the “Thunder” players seemed to relax and led by Guei they took the game by the scruff of the neck to take the final quarter 32-25 to record an impressive 76 points to 71 victory Download the Full Press Release |
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In a game of significant runs by both teams the Northants Junior Men finally had to accept for second best against Leicester “Warriors”. Trailing 50–65 just over five minutes of the game remaining “Thunder” mounted a spirited charge in an attempt to rescue the game; they scored fourteen unanswered points including three, three-pointers but “Warriors” held on for the single point win.
“Thunder” had made an appealing start to the game but despite a 10 – zero opening by the Leicester team “Thunder” were able to take a 16-12 lead after the first quarter. Download the Full Press Release |
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Despite their best efforts and 20 points from Fran Guei the Northants “Thunder” under 18 boys slipped to a heavy defeat against Leicester “Dynamite”.
Always a difficult place to play “Thunder” made a decent start to the game but towards the end of the first quarter they rather lost their way and “Dynamite” were able to open up a 21-12 lead. “Thunder” continued to struggle in the second quarter which the Leicester side won 27-13 and with a half time scoreline of 48 to 25 in favour of “Dynamite” the Northants boys had the proverbial mountain to climb. Download the Full Press Release |
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The Northants “thunder” Under 14 Boys made an excellent start to their National League season with a convincing win over Nottingham “Hoods”.
“Thunder” made an excellent start to the game and on the back of ten points from Jacob Baross outscored their opponents by 24 points to five in the first quarter. The Northants boys could manage only 12 points in the second quarter, but excellent defence restricted “Hoods” to just two and with a half time score of 36 to seven the game was as good as over as a contest. Download the Full Press Release |
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A below par Northants “Thunder” team lost this low scoring game to Shropshire “Warriors” thanks to some poor perimeter shooting and a number of individual lapses. The defeat was doubly disappointing because “Thunder” won this competition last season.
Fielding a young team “Thunder” could manage only five points in the first quarter but good defence restricted “Warriors” to 13 which kept the Northants boys in the contest. Even so that eight point margin proved too much for “Thunder” to overcome over the next three quarters Download the Full Press Release |
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This first game of the 2025-26 season was a friendly for the U12 Storm team who faced local rivals Northamptonshire Titans at NSB.
For many players this was the first full game that they have experienced, however that did not stop them from putting on a dominating performance. Storm outscored Titans in all 4 quarters of the game to win 83-29. Download the Full Press Release |
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Practices get underway for the Northants Basketball Club This week all sixteen competitive teams of the Northants Basketball Club will commence their pre-season practice schedule at either the Basketball Centre at Northampton School for Girls or Northampton School in Moulton. Download the Full Press Release |
