Saturday 12th November

WARRIORS V TORBAY TIGERS

U16 Midlands South West Conference

The Warriors squad went into this encounter on the back of two confidence-boosting victories over &&& and Gloster Jets knowing that this was another game which they were well capable of winning if they played to their potential.

1st Quarter

Big men Luke Johnson, Mat Jones and Ryan Pettifer all got on the score sheet in the first four minutes with twos inside the paint. These were followed by a two and a three from forward Lewis Marston, and we were 11 – 0 up. The Tigers missed four from the line before they got on the score sheet.

Joey Harper, our three point hero in our last game, then drained a big three to prove that he hadn’t just got lucky against the Jets and then Mike Yapp added a two to open the gap to 16 -2. in the lead in the first 5 minutes. Both teams then traded baskets up to the buzzer with Jason Ashley getting on the sheet, Mat scoring another and Mike finishing our scoring with one from two from the line.

Score 21 – 8

2nd Quarter

The second period was a low scoring affair. We struggled to convert chances and managed to add just 12 to our first quarter total score. However our defence was such that the Tigers were unable to score for the first 7 minutes, and were restricted to just four in the whole 10 minutes. Our scorers in the quarter were Lewis with a two and another 3, and Ryan (a FT and a 2), Luke (a two) and Mat (another inside two).

Half Time Score 33 – 12

3rd Quarter

We again struggled to convert in a disappointing third period which opened with the visitors finally finding some form and going on a 10 – 1 run in the first 7 minutes. Our only score in that 7 minutes had been a FT from Luke. Joey then stopped the rot with two more big threes and Mat added another bucket in the paint, but by the time the buzzer sounded the Tigers had reduced the deficit to 14.

Score 42 – 28

4th Quarter

The final period opened with the Tigers going to the line for 10 free throws in the first 3 minutes. Fortunately they hit just three and with Matt, Luke and Ryan each picking up another inside basket we were back in an 18 point lead. On another day with greater accuracy from the line, that lead could have been just 11.

The Tigers then scored 12 whilst only Mat (2 more) and Lewis (a two and one from two from the line) replied and the gap was back to 10with three on the clock. Things could have got tense but fortunately Lewis saw us home with four good twos.

Final Score Warriors 60 Tigers 43

A few Stats:

Our scorers were Lewis (21), Mat (10), Joey (10), Ryan (7), Luke (7), Mike (3) and Jason (2)

Joey hit three x 3s to follow on from his four against the Jets, and Lewis got a further 2.

Lewis was our MVP.

Our 4 from 15 record from the line is worrying and Lewis’ 1 from 8 clearly shows that he needs to be working hard on this vital aspect of his game. On another day the old adage of “success from the line is the key to winning basketball matches” would have been preventing us from sleeping. As it was we got lucky – the Tigers hit just 7 of their 22 from the stripe.

National league U16 Boys Midlands South West Conference Table

 

 

Match Report: Tom Sunley

Photo: Carsten Dieterich