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Teesside pushed to make it high five                 Men’s National Trophy Final TVL Teesside Mohawks  84  (23,40,61)  (Bucci 26, Harrison 18, Swaine 16) JTMcom Worthing Thunder  78  (25,48,65)  (Jerry 26, Moore 18, Malik 12) Teesside Mohawks won the Men’s National Trophy Final for the fifth successive year, defeating JTMcom Worthing Thunder 84-78, thanks in no small part to MVP Ralph Bucci’s 26 points and 11 rebounds. But unlike the relatively easy victories of 2001 and 2002, Mohawks were this time forced to fight back from a 12 point deficit to break Worthing Thunders’ hearts for the third time in four years as they ran out 84-76 winners. Pre-match favourites Thunder caught Mohawks completely off guard by coming out with all guns blazing and stamping their authority on the game before Tony Hanson’s side knew quite what hit them.   And the ploy certainly worked, leaving Hanson’s all-conquering outfit to play catch-up until the dying minutes, when they finally found the form that has become their trademark and turned what looked like certain defeat into an unlikely victory. The side found the unlikeliest of heroes in a late addition to the squad, the unknown Angolan Efuana Zambo, whose rebounding and shot-blocking seemed to inject some of the missing enthusiasm into the Mohawks’ play at just the right time. General manager Trevor Lowes and head coach Hanson agreed that calling up Zambo was a bold gamble but justified by the result.  Lowes said:  “A final is never a good time to introduce a newcomer, but the player proved himself when he got out there and started rebounding.  Everyone else seemed to respond to it and began blocking shots, stealing and rebounding, and we started to look as though we wanted to win.” Hanson added:  “Zambo stepped forward and showed us he has tremendous potential.  He has incredible leaping ability and goes after everything.  He was incredible.” But if Zambo provided the initial spark, it was four consecutive three pointers - two each from EJ Harrison and Jason Swaine - between the last minute of the third quarter and opening three minutes of the fourth that took Mohawks ahead for the only time in the game.  And they never looked back. Even the most optimistic of Mohawks’ followers amongst the biggest crowd ever to watch the event were squirming in their seats and sensing the end of the sides’ hold on the competition when handling errors, missed shots and only a 25% success rate from the free throw line, not to mention a tremendous defensive display from Thunder, saw the Eston outfit trail by 4 at the end of quarter one. The situation got worse rather than better in the second session, with Thunders’ outstanding rebounding continuing to draw down seemingly every loose ball while Mohawks looked shell-shocked and unable to string together any sustained momentum.   The only department Hanson’s side was able to dominate was in the fouls against category when, clearly frustrated with their own game, there were so many offences that Worthing visited the free throw line 11 times in addition to the five of period one.   Fortunately for Mohawks, Thunder were unable to capitalise fully on the gilt-edged opportunity and managed to sink just 33 per cent of them – in the final analysis a costly statistic. On the scoring front Mohawks could point largely to the quartet of Lijah Perkins, who was revelling in the big match atmosphere of his home city, James Nicholson, who scored all 10 of his points in the first half, a brace of threes from skipper Jason Swaine, and the hard-working Ralph Bucci as the reason they were still in the game at half time, when they were 8 behind. Hopes of a good start to quarter three evaporated when a 7-2 run for Worthing saw Mohawks slip 12 points behind before Bucci sank a welcome basket to stem the flow.   As with the first two quarters the foul line saw a lot of activity, with Thunder making another 15 visits.  Again, the bonus line was unproductive, with only six hitting the target. Mohawks weren’t slow to capitalise, and with the athletic Zambo inspirational on the boards Bucci and Harrison began to at last shake off their markers and make the impression on the game that everyone expected.  Twenty six points, 11 rebounds and five assists later New Yorker Bucci was picking up his fourth MVP (Most Valuable Player) award in five finals. Only two points separated the sides entering the final 60 seconds of the quarter.  But when Harrison cancelled out a three from the impressive Rani Malik with one of his own, the tide was undoubtedly beginning to turn in Mohawks’ favour, although Worthing skipper Gaylon Moore gave his side a four point advantage entering the final 10 minutes with the final basket of the session. Two threes from Swaine, and another from Harrison against a single basket from Worthing’s top scorer Jerry Lavoris (26 pts) pushed Mohawks into a three point lead, much to the delight of a huge Teesside following.  The joy turned to sadness moments later however, when Perkins collapsed in agony with an ankle injury and was forced to sit out the last four minutes of action. Never the greatest basketball game in terms of skill, players from both sides had everyone chewing their nails when wave after wave of attack failed to generate a score.  In a particularly barren spell no less than 17 potential points were squandered by Mohawks and 7 by Worthing before a Bucci basket put his side 6 ahead with just a minute on the clock. Lavoris Jerry, who was so inspirational in the first half but much more anonymous in the second, picked up his sides’ final two baskets, but the only course of action for Thunder was to pick up fouls and send Mohawks to the line in the hope that they would miss. But Mohawks were wise to the ploy and ensured the ball was in Swaine’s hands.  Four points from four free throws and the game was over – victory snatched from the jaws of defeat, the trophy back in its familiar home and yet another page in the history books. Hanson said the win was a statement to anyone thinking of relieving Mohawks of their treble.  “We always thought that if we could stay close to them and not let them get too far ahead, we could make a decisive move in the second half and we did it.   “We are the champions and we are hungry to defend our treble.  We don’t expect it to be a cakewalk because ether teams are equally hungry.  But anyone who wants to take any of our silverware is going to have to really fight for it.” Scorers.  TVL Mohawks (84):  Lijah Perkins 12, James Nicholson 10, Jason Swaine 16, Efuana Zambo 2, Ralph Bucci 26, EJ Harrison 18. Worthing Thunder (76):  Marvin Addy 7, Daniel Hildreth 7, Nick O’Hara-be 7, Rani Malik 12, Gaylon Moore 18, Lavoris Jerry 26, Damien Harris 1.     Click here to discuss this story

 

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