Northants Thunder claimed the county bragging rights as they eased to an 82-53 Under 15 Boys Midlands Conference win against Northamptonshire Titans.
It was the first time the teams have met this season, and Thunder opened the game in devastating style, blasting out with a 10-0 run.
Titans were able to respond with a 5-0 run of their own, but despite facing a bigger team Thunder refused to be intimidated as they extended their lead to 18-5.
The Northants boys were able to capitalise on Titans turnovers, forced by their aggressive full court man to man defence.
This was, backed up with strong defensive rebounding sparking quick scores in transition.
The first quarter concluded with Thunder leading 24-7 with 10 points coming from Ed Hall.
Thunder had played some of their best basketball of the season in the first period and this continued in the second period of play which they took by 20-9 to extend their lead to 44-16 by half time.
The period ended with a Kaan Uyduran jump shot but the highlights of the quarter were a number of well executed Thunder fast breaks and a spectacular blocked shot from Ollie Thomas the smallest player on the court.
During the half time interval, coach Rob Crump was reminded his players that the game wasn’t over and they needed to display the same effort and intensity levels to maintain their lead.
Thunder’s flood of points was stemmed by some determined Titans defence but the home side were still able to break efficiently with Will Grosvenor making a number of strong drives to basket while Josh Arimoro and Jacob Killeya helped their team to extend their lead to 68-31 going into the final quarter.
After three periods of superb play Thunder were guilty of becoming rather sloppy during the final quarter, and to their credit Titans responded strongly taking the final stanza 22-14 to reduce the final deficit to 29 points but bragging rights belonged to the Thunder boys thanks to 17 points apiece from Grosvenor and Killeya while Arimoro, Hall and Carlo Nieva all recorded double figure totals.
Coach Crump was quick to acknowledge the hard work of all 10 of his players
Junior Men’s Premier Division North
Manchester Magic 79 Northants Thunder 51
The Northants junior men duly lost to unbeaten Manchester Magic but were well in contention at half time when they trailed 39-31.
All this after they had made a very tentative start allowing Magic to go on a 15-4 run which was only stemmed with the introduction of the under-aged Pauli Laurinolli and Josh Round.
Thunder lost the first period of play 21-12 but rallied strongly in the second which Magic, playing some efficient offence edged 19-18.
Thunder were relying on individual efforts with Linas Bajorunas, Lewis Mooney and Jack Thomas all responded with successful shots from beyond the arc.
Thunder made the best possible start to the third quarter with Luke Lewis scoring from a steal and reducing the deficit to just six points.
That seemed to stir Magic into action and they hit Thunder with a 28-8 blitz to establish a 67-41 lead by the end of the period.
The final period of play was punctuated by frequent trips by the Manchester players to the free throw line as Thunder’s defensive efforts weren’t to the liking of the match referees. Fortunately Magic contrived to miss 11 of these free throws just edging the quarter 12-10 to take the game by 79 points to 51.
For Thunder, coach Rob Eddon was pleased to see eight players contributing to his team’s scoring which was led by Mooney with 15 points on 50 per cent shooting, but the only other Northants player to score in double figures was Matt Yates with 10 points who also picked up a painful hip injury.
Eddon was also full of praise for the defensive efforts of Jack Thomas who competed superbly against the much taller Magic players and despite being ill throughout the week.
Cadet Men’s Premier Division North
Trafford 93 Northants Thunder 68
A much-depleted Northants cadet men’s team travelled to Manchester to take on Trafford in a Premier Division North game and were well beaten by a team that is the Manchester under 15 team.
The Northants boys realised what a difficult afternoon they were in for from the very first minute as they struggled to contain the Trafford offence and when their opponents scored they were forced into a number of errors by Trafford’s full court pressing defence.
Trailing 35-48 at half time coach John Collins tried his best to instil some confidence into his shell-shocked team during the half time interval.
The game plan was to get the deficit down to single figures in the third quarter before mounting a charge in the final period of play.
A sound plan but Thunder couldn’t have made a worse start to the quarter.
In less than a minute they contrived to throw the ball to Trafford from the end line, step into court and then throw the ball out of bounds.
Trafford went on a 21-2 charge to lead 74-49 and the game was as good as over as a contest.
Thunder showed a little pride in the final quarter which was tied at 19 all but they never looked like getting back into the game and to be beaten by such a young team was difficult to take.
Pauli Laurinolli top scored with 22 points with George Paul contributing 20 points and Josh Round 15.
Round also pulled down 15 rebounds and willingly filled in a as point guard in order to give Carlo Nieva a rest.
There were few positives to be drawn from the game but coach Collins expressed pleasure in the performance of David Radford who chipped in with six points
Under 16 Girls Midlands South-West Conference
Nottingham Wildcats 43 Northants Lightning Too 79
The Lightning Too took on local rivals Nottingham Wildcats in a Midlands South-West Conference game last Saturday, and after a close first half came off second best.
Both teams made a slow start to the game with Wildcats edging the first quarter by 16-10.
Lightning Too enjoyed and excellent second period of play which they took 12-8 to trail by just two points at half time.
Lightning Too took to the court full of optimism for the third quarter but were blitzed by Nottingham’s full court trapping zone defence.
Time after time the Northants girls were guilty of turning the ball over leading to easy Wildcats scores which saw them go on a devastating 28-2 run.
They took the quarter 33-7 to establish a 57-29 lead and leaving the Lightning Too players with only pride to play for.
Wildcats won the final period of play 24-14 to record a well deserved 79-43 win which keeps them on top of the Conference table with an unbeaten record.
FSteph Ogden scored a creditable 27 points while Hannah Nolan and Lauren Brookes battled hard for their eight points
Wiltshire Demons 20 Northants Lightning 87
Even without the services of their influential guard Sarah Round, the Northants under 15 girls recorded an impressive win over a game but inexperienced Wiltshire Demons team.
The win elevates Lightning to the dizzying height of third place in the table despite playing a year young in the Conference.
From the outset Demons were put under pressure from Lightning’s pressure defence while Caitlin Stewart was able to efficiently control their offence.
The Northants girls had taken a 20 points to one lead after the first quarter and this was extended to 39-11 by half time.
With the game as good as over as a contest, coach Karen Goodrich was able to experiment with a zone press defence and even asked her team to alternate two different defences.
All this was useful practice against a game Demons team who kept trying to the end despite failing to be really competitive.
No less than 10 Lightning players got onto the score sheet led by Lauren Milne who had 29 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.
She got excellent support from Ruchae Walton who recorded her usual double, double scoring 14 points and pulling down the same number of rebounds while other notable contributions came from Charlotte Berridge and Hari Owens who both scored 12 points.
Under 14 Boys Midlands Conference
Leicester Blaze 65 Northants Thunder 64
When 12 13-year old boys sit in silence then you know something is wrong but that is exactly what happened when the Northants under 14 boys travelled back from Leicester last Saturday.
With less than three minutes left of the game Thunder held a slender eight points lead but seemed to have the game under control.
It was then that nerves took over and Blaze scored seven unanswered points to put the game back in the mix.
At this stage David Nieva was fouled and went to the free throw line but the young guard who had enjoyed a tremendous game scoring 30 personal points missed both free throws.
Blaze launched a long pass which resulted in a lay up score to take a one point lead and Thunder were unable to respond and so lost a game they had led for most of its duration.
Earlier in the game Thunder had established a 34-29 half time lead thanks to some excellent rebounding from Ayo Aluyede which allowed Nieva and Jacob Round countless scoring opportunities.
Blaze edged the third period of play 19-18 to set up the grandstand finish but Thunder seemed to have done enough to secure victory when they eased into that eight point lead, but it wasn’t to be and the silent bus was testament to how disappointed the Northants boys were.
Under 14 Girls Midlands South Conference
Northants Lightning 109 Brentwood Fire 37 The Northants Under 14 girls moved up the Midlands South Conference table with a routine win over a game Brentwood Fire team.
In the overwhelming win no less than six Lightning players scored in double figures.
Three of those players, Caitlin Stewart, Sarah Round and Ruchae Walton figure regularly in the high scoring stats so it was pleasing to see three others, Abbie Hobbs, Charlotte Price and Abi Turner scoring 15, 12 and 16 points respectively while Taylor also hauled down 13 rebounds.
Lightning dominated all four periods of play but to their credit the Brentwood girls showed massive improvement in the second half during which they managed to score 25 points.
Under 13 Boys Midlands South Conference
Northants Thunder 92 Herts Warriors 72
A superlative performance from Jacob Round guided Thunder to a comfortable win over a hard working Herts Warriors team.
When he wasn’t scoring points Round was rebounding superbly and proving scoring passes to his team mates.
Inspired by Round’s efforts, the rest of the Thunder team responded magnificently causing the Warriors ball carriers a lot of problems with aggressive up-court defence and executing their new half-court offence efficiently.
The only slight concern for coach Mike Round was his team’s inability to protect their defensive boards with their opponents too often able to secure second and third put back attempts.
He was also unhappy with a five minute period at the start of the third quarter when Warriors illegal defence went unpunished allowing them to go on a 12-zero scoring blitz.
When the referees stepped in Thunder regained control of the game and cruised to a 20-point win over a team that started the day one place above them in the Conference table.
THIS WEEKEND’S ACTION
Saturday, December 8
11.30am: Under 13 Boys versus Bracknell Cobras
Under 15: Boys versus Bromsgrove Bears
1.30pm: Under 14 Boys versus Leicester Blaze; Cadet Men versus Cheshire Panthers
3.30pm: Junior Men versus Leicester Warriors
5.30pm: Junior Women versus Herts Warriors
All these 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
Senior Men travel to College of West Anglia
Cadette Women travel to Bucks Hornets
Under 15 Girls travel to Reading Rockets
Sunday, December 9
10.00am: Junior Men versus Surrey Rams (National Cup)
12 noon: Under 14 Girls versus Norfolk Iceni
Junior Women versus Stockport Lapwings (National Cup)
2.00pm: Under 15 Girls versus Haringey Angels (National Cup)
All these 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
Senior Men travel to Huddersfield Heat (National Shield Quarter Final)
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Moulton Men well beaten by Birmingham Met
British Colleges Men’s Midlands Men’s Elite League
Birmingham Metropolitan College 107 – 49 Moulton College
An understrength Moulton College Men’s team travelled to the West Midlands last Wednesday for a fixture against Birmingham Metropolitan College and returned home having finished on the wrong end of a 107-49 scoreline. Moulton were missing several key players because of illness, injury and travel problems and it certainly told.
At the start of the game Mets employed a full court trapping defence and after an early time out Moulton coped with this efficient although they did struggle with their opponent’s height advantage. This meant that when first shots missed rebounds were taken and Mets were able to score form the put backs as they built up 23-12 lead after the first period of play.
At the start of the second quarter Mets switched to a half court trapping zone defence and concentrated on keeping the out of the hands of Moulton’s primary ball carrier Matt Yates. With other players forced into ball-handling duties time and time again Moulton players were guilty of dribbling to the sidelines where they were double teamed and forced to throw speculative cross-court passes most of which were intercepted leading to easy scores for Mets. The Birmingham team took the period 33-14 and with a 56-26 half time lead the game was as good as over as a contest. The carnage continued in the third quarter which Mets took 30-15 to extend their lead to 86-41.
Moulton coach John Collins set his team the target of scoring 50 points while restricting Mets to a hundred and for five minutes they looked to be on course to achieve their goal as they reached 49 points. What happened next might have been caused by fatigue but Moulton totally lost their discipline and failed to score again as Mets went on a scoring rampage taking their score to 107.
Coach Collins expressed his disappointment that his players hadn’t been able to keep their discipline and concentrate on the process of doing simple things well and taking sensible shots. He also recognised that for many of his players this was a level well above what they are used to and hoped they would be able to learn from the experience.
In the 58 point defeat Linas Bajorunas battled hard throughout the game and completed a double-double with 20 points and an outstanding 17 rebounds. He got good support from Matt Yates with 18 points but no other Moulton player was able to score in double figures.
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