Northants Thunder suffered overetime agony as they lost the VCARS Division Four play-ff semi-final 100-95, having tied the game 81-81 in normal time.
Just seven months ago a decision was made to establish a men’s team within the Northants Basketball Club.
Since then the team has reached the quarter final of the National Shield, where they lost to the eventual winners, won the Midland Conference and on Saturday got so, so close to beating the eventual Division Four play-off winners.
A great deal of credit is due to the commitment of the players and the coaching staff of Rob Eddon and Grahame Yates.
At last weekend’s play-offs staged at Leeds Carnegie University, Thunder made a good start against the South Conference winners Bracknell Cobras displaying a great deal of energy in their full court man-to-man press.
The lead changed hands throughout the first period of lay which Thunder edged 22-20.
This same pattern continued throughout the second quarter but during the last three minutes Thunder were guilty if turning the ball over on a number of occasions.
Cobras capitalised on these errors going on an 11-2 run to take a 50-41 half time lead.
The Thunder half time team talk was very simple: “Get back to playing in the style that brought success in the Conference, high energy, defensive hustle, fast break offence and aggressive rebounding”.
The Northants team responded superbly with Asher Kirby leading by example and the impetus of the game began to swing in Thunder’s favour.
When Bracknell’s influential Odulaja fouled out of the game the Northants team felt that victory was a very real possibility.
Thunder took the third quarter 18-8 to take a 59-58 lead into the last 10 minutes of play.
In the final quarter Bracknell showed their experience by slowing down the tempo of the game and getting the ball to their ‘big’ man John Macauley.
The two teams traded baskets but with Thunder leading 81-79 and two seconds left to play, McAuley was fouled whilst scoring leaving him with the bonus shot to win the game for his team.
To the relief of the Thunder players, coaching staff and fans big John missed the shot so the game went into overtime.
The five minute overtime period saw both sides in the penalty and a number of key players in foul trouble.
This meant that defence went out of the window as both teams went hell bent for the win.
Thunder continued with their high tempo play and possibly fatigue was responsible for some missed shots while Cobras adopted their slower more controlled approach.
In the overtime period an amazing 33 points were scored with Cobras edging it 19-14 to take the title by 100 points to 95.
In an incredibly exciting game the Thunder scoring was led by Jason Tucker and Leon Henry with 22 and 21 points respectively. Leome Francis scored 15 and pulled down 10 rebounds while the Yates brothers Matt and Jonny scored 11 and 10 points.
Junior Women’s play-off first round
Junior Women 60 Southend Swifts 51
The Northants junior women advanced to the second rounf of the play-offs thanks to a battling win over Southend Swifts.
The team is made up of four genuine junior players backed up by players from the under 16 team so this achievement is very much down to way Coach Stacey Shakespeare has juggled her paying combinations and produced a very competitive outfit.
The team will now travel to Bury Blue Devils, who won the North Conference, in the second round this coming weekend.
The game against Southend was a close run affair for the first three period of play at which stage Lightning held a four points lead at 42-38.
At one stage in the second quarter Lightning were hit by an 8-zero run and at that stage young guards Amy Boot and Steph Ogden were able to steady the ship to get their team back into the lead at 26-25 by half time.
Lightning increased their lead by a further three points in the third quarter with Rio Blassyn and Lois Bain beginning to dominate the defensive boards and launching Ogden on a number of fast break attacks.
Southend were becoming frustrated by some of the refereeing decisions and this seriously affected their play in the final period of play.
Three-point shots from Ogden and Lauren Brookes were hammer blows as Swifts strived to close the gap but the Northants girls were able to hold on for the victory.
In the nine points win Steph Ogden top scored with 21 points well supported by skipper Izzy Johns with 12 while the rebounding of Lois Bain and Rio Blessyn were major factors in the win.
Cadette Women’s play-off first round
Northants Lightning Too 78 Cheshire Panthers 57
With both teams finishing third in their respective Conferences a tight game was expected, and so it proved in the first period of play.
Both teams made a tentative start to the game with a plethora of missed shots and errors.
Jets were the first team to settle and by the end of the period had taken a 14-11 lead.
Jets had been sitting in a zone defence and in the first quarter Lightning Too had been guilty of taking too many early shots.
The message from coach Stacey Shakespeare to her players for the second period of play was to be more patient and if necessary make an extra pass in order to move the Cheshire defence in and create easier shooting opportunities.
The Northants girls responded well and took the lead early in the second quarter but their defence was rather porous and the teams exchanged baskets.
Shakespeare took a time out and demanded a better defensive effort and this is exactly what she got.
The increased defensive effort generated a number of Panthers turn-overs leading to easy scores and Lightning Too went on a devastating 19-4 charge to take a 38-24 half time lead.
It was important that Lightning Too maintained their defensive intensity for the remainder of the game and in the third quarter this was combined by important points scoring contributions from five players led by six from Tara Hings.
At 58-41 going into the final period of play the game was for Lightning Too to lose but with Steph Ogden on hand to close out the game that was never going to happen.
Ogden scored 12 points in the final stanza as her team cruised into the second round of the play-offs and a tough looking away game against Manchester Mystics.
Ogden led the scoring with 22 points with good support coming from Amy Boot with 16, while Lauren Brookes and Tara Hings scored 15 and 13 respectively while Rio Blessyn, Hings and Crysta Maphosa rebounded superbly for their team.
Under-15 play-offs first round
Northants Lightning 55 Trafford 45
When Trafford’s Freya Kelshaw connected with a long range jump shot early in the fourth quarter to take her side to within four points of the Northants Lightning under 15 girls team, the alarm bells began to ring on the Northants bench.
Up until that time Kelshaw and team mate Hannah Swindells had scored 30 of their team’s 40 points.
Lightning Coach Karen Goodrich reacted immediately by calling a time out and drew up a combination defence which involved the two Trafford scorers being marked man-to-man supported by a three player zone behind them.
Initially it looked as this ‘junk’ defence was doomed when Trafford’s Eadsworth swished a three pointer from a gap in the zone, but for the next three minutes the visitors went scoreless and Lightning were able to close out a 10-point victory that takes them into the second round of the play-offs where they will face Haringey Angels.
Early in the game Lightning had looked comfortable against a young Trafford team and using a combination of man-to-man and zone defences established a 29-16 lead midway through the second quarter.
Trafford responded well and backed by their vociferous supporters reduced the deficit to 10 points at 33-23 at half time.
Suddenly the confidence drained from the Lightning players as Trafford staged a 7-2 charge and at 35-30 midway through the third period of play it was ‘game on’.
The two teams exchanged baskets through the rest of the quarter with Lightning boosted by two breakaway scores from Charlotte Berridge in the final minute.
Then came that dramatic start to the final quarter, Goodrich’s decisive tactical switch combined with the Lightning supporters finding their voice and getting behind their favourites.
Berridge top scored with 14 points with good support coming from Sarah Round and Lauren Milne with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Caitlin Stewart and Ruchae Walton both made important scoring contributions while these two plus Milne hauled down an incredible 52 rebounds between them.
Coach Goodrich was also quick to recognise the energy given by players coming off the bench and the defensive work of Round and Stewart in that ‘junk’ defence.
Under 14 Girls Play-ff first round
Northants Lightning 58 Ipswich Bobcats 61
Having already met on two occasions this season in the Midlands South Conference, both teams knew what to expect in this play-off game which disappointingly saw teams from the same conference pitted against each other.
Both Conference games had gone the way of the Northants girls, but thanks to a productive third quarter this key game went the way of Bobcats.
The two teams were very evenly matched with Ipswich’s looking impressive close to basket while Lightning relied heavily on their transitional offence.
The score was tied at 14-14 after the first period of play, but at the start of the second quarter Lightning went on a 10-zero charge to take a 24-14 lead before Bobcats responded well with 9-zero run of their own to reduce the Lightning lead to 34-27 at half time.
The two teams exchanged baskets at the start of the third quarter, but leading 42-33 things went ‘pear shaped’ for the Northants girls.
Offensively they became too reliant on individual efforts rather than team work, while the Ipswich ‘Bigs’ Cooney and Musson had a field day close to basket.
Bobcats outscored Lightning 18-4 over the last five minutes to take a 51-46 lead into the final quarter.
This lead was extended to 57-46 early in the last period of play before Lightning finally came to life.
Their defence became more aggressive and with better ball movement their offence became more effective.
An unlikely comeback win looked to be a possibility, but Lightning were unable to take their chance missing no less than eight of the 10 free throws they were awarded in last five minutes of play as Ipswich held on for the three point win.
In the disappointing loss, Ruchae Walton scored 21 points and completed a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Sarah Round scored 16 points while Caitlin Stewart and Abbi Hobbs contributed nine and eight points respectively.
East of England Under 13 Girls League
Northants Lightning 39 Southend Swifts 77
Just a week ago the Northants under 13 girls lost heavily to a Southend Swifts team that benefits form utilising girls who attend basketball playing schools.
It was almost a repeat performance at the Basketball Centre last Saturday as a talented well drilled Swifts team dominated all four periods of play against a game but inexperienced Lightning team.
Team coach Darius Maldutis recognises that there is a lot of work to be done over the summer, but feels that several of the players have made considerable progress throughout the current season.
In last Saturday’s game Bahira Amrbarakat and Holly Winterburn top scored for Lightning with 14 points apiece while Ellie Solomon scored six.
Five Junior Ballers win awards
During the course of the season, 30 young players aged four to eight years of age have been taught the game of basketball by a team of young players from the club led by Ben Knight.
Last Saturday was the final session of the current season, and it concluded with all the players receiving a certificate.
The coaches then gave awards to five of the Ballers for their hard work, talent and good attitude.
The award winners were Riley Culverhouse, Max Elms, Harry Goodrich-Owen, Ethan Round and Ollie Sturman-Coombs
WEEKEND ACTION
Saturday, April 20
Under 15 Girls travel to Haringey Angels
Also during the weekend, the Cadette Women will travel to Manchester Mystics and the Junior Women will travel to Bury Blue Devils. Final dates to be arranged.