Northamptonshire Titans suffered a 51-42 defeat to Bradford Dragons in the final of the Women’s National Trophy.
The National Trophy is a knockout affair for VCARS.co.uk Division Two Women teams, and both Northamptonshire Titans and Bradford Dragons had won three games to reach this stage.
Titans defeated Solent Suns, Mansfield Giants and Birmingham Mets to reach this stage whereas Dragons defeated Sunderland City Predators, Cardiff Archers 2 and London Westside to make the final.
Titans’ win over Mansfield suggested that the final could be a close affair; Titans won 70-50 in Mansfield on December 15 and the week before Giants lost in Bradford in a league game by a similar margin (63-41).
Angelina Browne won the tip off for Titans and as both teams settled into the game Sascha Thompson opened the scoring to create a 4–0 lead after two minutes.
Dragons’ Vilma Jurgaityte, Steph Jones and Isalie Bloemen quickly regained the lead at 4-7.
In trading baskets Titans took back the lead 10-9 until Izzy Johns fouled Dragons’ Aleksandra Mazjakina with five seconds left in the first quarter.
In calling a timeout Dragons Rosie Pearcy made the assist to Aleksandra hitting the baseline shot to take the 10-11 lead into the break.
Sascha Thompson once again kept Titans in the game as Dragons focused on shutting down Angelina Browne and Manal Cali until Dragons’ Aleksandra hit two of two free throws six minutes into the second quarter to change the lead for the eighth and ultimately the final time in the game.
Dragons’ Vilma blocked Manal’s shot and once again Dragons called a timeout with 23 seconds left in the half.
This time it was Dragons’ Isalie making the shot to take a 19-25 lead into the half.
At the half both teams were still evenly matched but Dragons gradually built their lead to 21-29 in the third quarter until Titans’ edged their way back into the game 27-29.
With two minutes remaining in the third quarter and the game could have gone either way with both teams fighting for every possession but it was Dragons’ captain Laura Moloney and Steph making their baskets helping regain a six-point lead to set up the final quarter at 27-33.
Both teams continued to fight for every rebound whilst creating open shots but once again it wasn’t until the second minute in the quarter until Dragons capitalised on Titans’ frustrations with Aleksandra quickly making a basket followed by a Laura three-pointer.
At 27-38 Titans called a timeout but to no avail as the lead was maintained with the game finishing 51-42 and Dragons’ Alexandra finishing on a double double (17 rebounds and 12 points) being honoured with the game’s Most Valuable Player award.
Top scorers were Esme Kinghorn (12), Sascha Thompson (10) and Angelina Browne (10).
EBL VCARS.co.uk Division Two Women SW Midlands:
Northamptonshire Titans 58 Birmingham Mets 47
After their defeat in the National Trophy the day before, NEBC Titans got off to a shaky start and didn’t find their form till the second quarter.
However this didn’t last long as poor finishing and defence let the Mets take the third quarter.
This galvanised the team to push harder in the final quarter to win the game.
Top scorers were Esme Kinghorn (16), Angelina Browne (12) and Williams (11)
EBL Under 14 Boys Midlands Conference
Leicester Blaze 56 Northamptonshire Titans 79
NEBC Titans Under 14 Boys started off their double header weekend with a visit to Leicester Blaze to continue their unbeaten run.
The boys were ready for their match having watched the first half of NEBC Titans Women’s National Trophy Final match.
They were certainly up for a good game.
The starting five came out strong putting points on the board before Blaze had woken up, Titans finished 16 points ahead in the exciting first quarter.
The second quarter proved Leicester’s best shot and they came out strong with a superb three-pointer from No12 but it wasn’t going to be enough with Jordan McGee producing a three-point basket to equal the standard.
Trei St Vie was warming up well with 10 points in the quarter and Titans headed into the locker room 32-49 ahead.
Keenan Salmon and Hayden Alcindor came out strong in the third quarter to make it more comfortable and allowed coach Clarke to rotate the bench.
This proved to be a good move with Tom Smithers getting on the score sheet with two baskets in quick succession.
In the final 10 minutes the boys on court scored a decent 13 points with baskets from Tom Weatherson, Scott Moore and Jordan McGee.
A solid all round performance was enough for another NEBC Titan win.
Top scorers were Hayden Alcindor (11), Keenan Salmon (19) and Trei St Vie Hutchinson (21).
EBL Under 14 Boys Midlands Conference
Northamptonshire Titans 62 Team Wolverhampton Slam 43
NEBC Titans took on Team Slam for the second time in two weeks and despite a full day of basketball on Saturday the team came out strong to take a convincing 24-5 point lead at the end of the first quarter with all starting five having a share of the points.
This allowed coach Clarke to give much needed game time to other team members producing a fairly even second quarter with Jordan McGee leading the scoring in this period for Titans.
The third quarter saw a further extension to the lead with baskets shared between the boys on court.
The fourth quarter stared with a three-pointer from Jordan McGee with captain Elliott Farrar ending the quarter with two decent baskets.
The whole team had good court time with top scorers being Keenan Salmon (16), Hayden Alcindor (14) and Elliott Farrar (9).
EBL Under 15 Boys Midlands Conference
City of Birmingham Bulls 58 Northamptonshire Titans 87
NEBC Titans Saturday the Northamptonshire Titans Under-15s travelled to the City of Birmingham without their regular coaches and key players through other commitments and illness.
However, this was not to deter the Titans as they dominated from the start, displaying some good defensive rebounds and numerous steals and assists to earn an early 19-34 point lead.
The second quarter continued as the first quarter restricting Birmingham to only nine points and Titans extending their lead to 28-56 at the halfway stage.
The coach of the Titans was able in the third and fourth quarter to embrace the energy of the Titans and continue as in the first half with the advantage of being able to run deep into the bench and take home a deserved Titans victory.
Top point scorers were Lewis Kain with 29 and James Andrews with 20.
EBL Under 16 Boys Northern Premiere
Northamptonshire Titans 76 Northants Thunder 63
NEBC Titans Under 16 Boys started off their double header weekend with a routine win against local rivals Northants Thunder that wasn’t as close as the score line suggests.
After a scrappy start the score was stuck on 2-2 for the first three minutes of the first quarter.
However, with the introduction of shooting guard Tom Martins to the game, the Titans raced out into a 13-8 lead on the back of his quick seven points and some good ball movement.
Titans went on to take the quarter 17-12 and that was as close as the margin between the two teams would be for the entirety of the game.
Titans dominated the second quarter with fast break scores and pressure defence.
The home side’s interior passing and unselfish team play found the Thunder zone defense unable to plug all of the gaps and led to the 12-0 run to extend their lead to 17 points.
A much needed Thunder timeout stemmed the tide and allowed the visitors to go on a mini run of their own and close out the half trailing by 12 points, 37-25, as Titans took the second quarter 20-13.
Titans had no intention of letting the lead slip and came out all guns blazing in the third period.
Some inspired play by ‘big man’ Reece Parillon, who scored eight straight points from some powerful inside moves and accurate free throw shooting, was a clear message that Titans had learnt from last week’s third quarter struggles.
A 15-2 scoring burst from the Titan boys effectively ended the game as a contest, securing the third quarter 28-16 and stretching the lead to as many as 24 points.
Titans took their foot off the gas as they rotated the bench with Sunday’s away game in Manchester in mind.
As the home team slowed down the ball and practiced their set plays, Thunder kept their starting players on court to try to add some respectability to the score line and won the quarter 22-11.
In an impressive team display, 10 of the 12 Titans players got on the score-sheet led by skipper Jordan Francis and Terrell Salmon on 16 points apiece.
Reece Parillon scored 11 to add to his man of the match performance, as Titans take the local derby bragging rights against a team they have beaten 3 times in the last three meetings.
EBL Under 16 Boys Northern Premiere
Trafford 53 Northamptonshire Titans 84
Just over 24 hours after winning their 10th game of the season, NEBC Titans U16s travelled to Manchester to take on an improving Trafford, the second team of Manchester Magic.
Despite fielding an under strength team, due to injury and player unavailability, Titans got off to a strong start racing out to a 19-5 lead, with all of the home team’s points coming from the free-throw line.
Titans’ defence continued to dictate the style and tempo of the game as they won the first quarter 24-16, with the home team only scoring three baskets with the remainder of their points made up of free throws.
The second quarter was much of the same, as the referees penalised both teams with a total of 34 fouls called in the first half between both teams.
Titans went on to secure the second period 18-12 as the coaches rotated players in and out of the game to avoid further foul trouble.
Despite not quite clicking on offence, Titans went into the half time break with a 42-28 half-time lead.
At the start of the seocnd half the game was still in the balance as Trafford started to feel like they could cause an upset in the league by winning their fifth game of the season.
However, Titans had other ideas as once again they came out for the second half more focused and determined to hold on to their hard-fought lead.
A change into a match-up zone and a bigger line up gave Titans the onus to dominate the rebounds at both ends of the floor.
A 9-2 run opened up a 20 point lead and Titans’ big men, bossed the game and imposed their physical advantage over their Northern counterparts.
For this period of the game and leading into the fourth quarter Trafford had no answer to Titans’ fast break and interior scoring.
Jordan Francis and Jamal Brownbill dished out numerous assists as the floor leaders enabled Titans to make it two wins in two days.
Titans moved up to third place in the Premier North Division after winning the fourth quarter 18-8.
It was Titan’s centres & forwards that stamped their authority all over this game, scoring a combined 63 of the teams 84 points.
Terrell Salmon having his best game of the season scoring an immense 28 points, with the help coming from the hardworking Reuben David 15 and Reece Parillon 10 and rookie James Andrews also getting into double figures with 10 points.
NEBC Titans U16s travel to Nottingham on Sunday 3rd March for a game against Nova who sit in second place.
Weekend fixtures
Saturday, March 2
12.30pm: Titans Under 15 Boys vs Bromsgrove Bears at Weavers Leisure Centre
Sunday, March 3
Midday: Titans Under 14 Boys away vs Notts Nova
2pm: Titans Under 16 Boys away vs Notts Nova
6pm: Titans Women vs Cardiff Archers II at Weavers Leisure Centre
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