 |
RAF Careers - Click here for Info |
RAF Careers - Click here for Info
NBL Britball.com Front
More.. Profiles Archive Search Features The News Wire
Interactive Hang-Time News by Email Hoopchat Frequently Asked Questions Teesside, Rhondda firmly in title poles
NBL Conference: Plymouth Raiders 80 Teesside Mohawks 99
TVL Teesside Mohawks are again sitting pretty at the top of the Conference League after a memorable 19 point victory over title contenders Plymouth Raiders. Teesside now have to win just three of their remaining five games to add the Conference crown to the old NBL Division One title which they won in 2000.
A capacity crowd of 1500 packed the Plymouth Pavilions in anticipation of a classic encounter between the two outstanding teams in the National Basketball League, with interest so high the ‘house full’ signs were erected a week before the fixture and, according to officials, could have been sold out twice.
But home fans’ hopes that the Teesside title challenge would be halted evaporated, and Raiders own season came crashing down, as Mohawks went on the rampage and delivered one of the finest basketball displays many are likely to see. The 99-80 win makes them look every inch champions-in-waiting.
A couple of ground rules were established by Mohawks starting five of Pete Knechtel, EJ Harrison, Jason Swaine, Lijah Perkins and Ralph Bucci immediately from the opening jump ball. The first: You will not get through our defence. And second: Even if you do get through and score, we will score twice in reply.
Rules established, there won’t have been a single person in the arena who would admit to not being stunned into disbelief as a wall of defence went up to restrict Raiders to just 12 points in the first quarter and 14 in the second, while Mohawks, with 26 and 30 respectively, found themselves 30 ahead (56-26) at half time.
Head coach Tony Hanson is not one to over-dramatise, but even he had to concede that he has yet to see a better display from this or any other side. He said: “Bar none, that first half performance was the best I have ever seen.” And that from someone who enjoyed a distinguished career as a player in the US and Europe before moving to Teesside.
Hanson added: “I’ve been involved in some great games throughout my career, but it was a real pleasure to watch that first half performance. The boys were a complete package – great team defence, great team offence and lots of desire and determination.”
After Lijah Perkins got Mohawks, and the game, underway, home star Todd Cetnar levelled the scores at 4-4 following a steal, but that was the only time Raiders were in touch. Jason Swaine began the rout in earnest by replying with the first of his five ‘threes’ as Mohawks added a further 22 first quarter points to Plymouth’s 8.
While most sides would have been happy with a 14 point lead after 10 minutes play, Mohawks’ only thoughts were on putting the game out of reach as quickly as possible.
Cetnar gave the Raiders fans something to cheer with the first play of period two seeing the 6 foot point guard launch the first of his two scores from three point range. But it was business as usual for the Mohawks, with no let up in either attack or defence.
Captain Neil Hopper, not for the only time in the game, came up with a tremendous defensive block that saw Steve Butler land a two at the other end. And although there was a short exchange of baskets, the decisive break was a 19-0 run between the fourth and ninth minutes. All Raiders could muster before Swaine, who was in tremendous form, ended the half with another ‘three’ was a token run of five consecutive points from top scorer Drew Samuels and Rod Wellington.
Ever conscious of the danger of easing up, at the interval Hanson told his players they would see a different Plymouth in the second half. With an ally-oop from Wellington, followed by a Dean Williams slam dunk and another score from Jamie Loveridge, against a solitary in-and-out shot from Pete Knechtel, the momentum looked to be shifting towards the home side – and Hanson’s warning spot on.
A five point response from the games’ top scorer Bucci (28 pts), Harrison and Perkins almost redressed the balance, but Mohawks’ play was starting to become sloppy, with a number of shots beginning to miss the target, and steals, turnovers and misplaced passes being picked up by Raiders’. Initially, the gains were negligible as a percentage of Mohawks’ shots still hit the target and kept the home side out of reach.
Bigger inroads were made in the last minute though when, inspired by Drew Samuels, Raiders finished the quarter with an 8-2 run, 6 of them from the free throw line after Paul Connery and Ralph Bucci each collected two fouls, reducing Mohawks’ lead to 22.
When added to a fourth quarter start of 14-5, Plymouth’s run was now 22-9 and the deficit down to 13 with just over five minutes to play. While offering home fans a glimmer of hope, Mohawks knew the points were in the bag and simply stepped up a gear again to protect their lead and halt the charge by carving out a 13-4 run of their own through Harrison, Bucci, Swaine and Perkins to restore the lead to 20. Moments later Perkins, followed quickly by Knechtel, fouled out of the game.
Plymouth big gun Cetnar, an acknowledged three point sharpshooter, ended the scoring with two successful free throws, but the way EJ Harrison kept him quiet throughout was just one of the game’s highlights said Tony Hanson: “Cetnar may have still been nursing an injury but he is always a danger. I thought EJ was phenomenal on him. Todd knew that someone was in his face right from the first jump ball. That’s the kind of player EJ is and the kind of dimension he brings to the club.
Manchester Magic 105 Sutton Pumas 79
This was a desperately important game for both teams. The Magic needed a win to keep them in contention for a home first round play-off draw and the Pumas are in the scrap for the last play-off place but it was the hosts who boosted their odds with a 105-79 victory.
With both teams missing key players, a classic game of basketball was unlikely and so it proved. Pumas’ Mark Quashie was consigned to the bench for a long period after two early fouls, leaving James Cook to look after both baskets as their only tall player. This he did well, but the Magic ended the quarter with a trademark Kevin St. Kitts dunk on the buzzer to make the Magic lead 22-15 Noone in the George Carnall Centre gave the Pumas much of a chance as the second quarter got underway and, even when Cook went off for a few minutes with a cut finger and the Magic failed to exploit the Pumas lack of height under the basket, it made little difference as the Magic went to the locker room with a comfortable 43-32 lead. At half-time, one free throw was made of two awarded to the Pumas on the buzzer, on a court empty apart from two referees, the shooter and about fifty youngsters enjoying the customary half-time shoot-out.
The Pumas had an excellent start to the second half, surging to reduce the deficit to nine points, with Cook again outstanding and Gareth Laws not quite the shooting machine seen before, but still a constant threat. The Magic showed their individual class with nice contributions from an energetic and determined Matt Hogarth in particular and all the bench players in general. At the start of the last quarter, the Magic held a firm lead of 72-55 and they held this to win comfortably by 105-79. Iain Goodwin was again back to his best with 22 points and the whole squad look capable of a major upset in the play-offs.
Kingston Wildcats (44) 75 Coventry Crusaders (24) 65
After almost squandering a 20 point half time lead Kingston held on to beat Coventry 75 - 65 at
Tolworth Recreation Centre. The Wildcats had came out firing on all cylinders, Chris Jeremiah
opened the scoring for Kingston with a massive dunk over big Derek Pope, and Andy Powlesland
followed it up with three pointer. Coventry's player coach Dip Donaldson looked to do In stark
contrast to their previous game against Manchester where they struggled to hit any outside shots,
the Wildcats connected on five three pointers in the first quarter. Having scored 13 points and
helping the Wildcats to a 25 - 15 first quarter lead, Wildcats player coach Solomon Ayinla sat out
the whole of the second quarter. In the second quarter the Crusaders fortunes were boosted somewhat by the late arrival of all-star guard Chris Harper.Harper hit a three soon after coming on court and Coventry's confidence improved immensely. However Kingston's defence was sparking fast break opportunities and they continued to pull away from their visitors. Andy Powlesland and Alan Hopper in particular were shooting well from inside and long range. At half time the score stood at 44 - 24 to Kingston and the Crusaders were facing a up hill battle to get back in the game.
In the second half Chris Harper scored Coventry's first six points, but Ayinla and Hopper were doing equal damage at the other end of the court. Early in the fourth Ade Orelaja hit back to back three pointers to keep Kingston well in front. Matt Collins and Derek Pope brought Coventry to within 9 points late in the fourth quarter, but this was as close as they would get.
Reading Rockets 82 InterBasket 52
Reading Rockets produced a solid and disciplined performance against the "street basketball" of London team InterBasket to register their first League win in six games. John Hodds turned in yet another fine performance top scoring with 22 points and he surely must be a firm favourite for
Rockets Player of the Season. "This was not a game for the purist perhaps but an important victory and I believe we need at least one more win from our remaining three games to secure a place in the Play-Offs, bearing in mind that we have to play Plymouth and Teesside the top two
teams in the League as well as Sutton" commented Head Coach Dave Titmuss.Fittingly it was Durrant who opened the Rockets scoring with a nice jump shot for two points. Ted Smith was also in the thick of the action as he scored two and made an excellent interception for Adam Kelly to make two. After Damon Cooper sunk a massive three, InterBasket caretaker coach Stephen Pearl called a time out with his team 9-0 down. Kelly and Cooper continued to cause problems for the InterBasket defense and after a steal by Captain Matt Johnson, Cooper made another three for a 18-4 Rockets lead. Rockets crisp passing, movement off the ball, strength and awareness and hard work whilst not in possession frustrated the InterBasket players. Nigel Hill making a rare Rockets appearance scored his first points after an excellent passing move and Hodds showed great determination in defense and then made a three point play on
offense scoring a lay up and getting the extra point for the foul. Rockets 25-10 lead at the end of the quarter was fully justified and resulted from tight defense and solid methodical offense.Rockets carried on where they had left off at the end of the first quarter, some great passing finished of with a controlled jump shot from Kelly. InterBasket had clearly decided that the only way they were going to get anything out of the game was by making it a more physical contest
and after Damon Cooper had been blatantly fouled which went unpunished by the referees, he was then called for an unsportsmanlike foul. The referees were offering little protection for the Rockets offense and the game inevitably become somewhat scrappy. Rockets were not intimidated
however and continued with determination with Durrant, Hill and particularly Hodds playing at their best. InterBasket took a late time out 41-21 down with a minute and a half to half time. They came off slightly better during the exchanges of the last minute but were still 45-27 behind.Neither team scored on their first possesions of the third quarter and Hodds was penalised twice in quick succession for a three second violation and Coach Titmuss took his first time out with the scores unchanged at 45-27 to Rockets and just over seven minutes remaining. Interbasket rallied, spurred on by scoring a three, Ted Smith going off with a dead leg and Hodds missing two from the line. A ten points to two spell for InterBasket could have spelled trouble given Rockets recent
results but they showed tremendous resilience with Pem Bristol scoring from his own rebound, Johnson driving to the basket for two and Hill making two from two at the line after being elbowed in the face. Despite InterBasket's disruptive tactics Rockets went into the final quarter 54-40 ahead.Interbasket scored four points before Rockets got off the mark with another Hodds two from under the basket. Hodds then made another two on the break as did Matt Eames after a great pass from Kelly and Cooper hit another three for a 63-44 Rockets lead and perhaps more importantly the
realisation from InterBasket that they had already lost the game. The superb John Hodds was unfortunate to be fouled out with six minutes remaining but his team mates more than made up for his absence with Cooper making another three and Kelly two. Both teams took time outs but
Rockets were in total control in the closing minutes. Eames, Durrant and Kelly finished off the job all scoring in the dying moments to secure the Rockets victory at 82-52.
After the Raiders defeat, there was, however, some consolation for Plymouth fans in NBL Division Two Women, where the Racers retained their unbeaten record, defeating challengers Swindon Sonics in back to back games in the Southern Division. Saturday’s game at Plymouth remained close, with Swindon leading by two at half time, and Plymouth reversing the margin by the end of the third quarter; in the final period, however, Racers turned the screw for a 32-13 blitz to secure the points.
It was even closer on Sunday, at Swindon’s Link Centre, where the Sonics extended a one point half time lead to seven at the end of the third, only for Plymouth to force the game into overtime, where they outscored their hosts 10-4.
Racers’ joy was completed by London Towers’ defeat of Brighton Magic (now their nearest challengers), leaving Plymouth just three wins away from the Southern title.In Division One Men, Torlane Arrows Derbyshire kept their destiny in their own hands, as they took a 23 point victory at bottom club Liverpool, but the Arrows cannot afford to slip, as Finsoft Ealing Tornados won back to back home games, defeating Westminster Warriors by 31 and North London Lords by 20.
Things are even tighter at the top of Division One Women, where defending champions Rhondda Rebels beat Cup holders Sheffield Hatters to take the initiative in the title race. The Hatters, who had won the reverse fixture by ten, looked in control as they led by seven at the end of the third
quarter, but a 30-16 spurt in the final period gave the game to the Welsh side.
Rebels now head the table with just one defeat, but Hatters, with two losses, have the head-to-head advantage on points difference, and Rhondda cannot afford to slip in the remaining five games. Nor are Nottingham Wildcats (2 defeats) and Thames Valley Tigers (3) out of contention.Sheffield have yet to visit Bracknell, while Nottingham await Rhondda, and the last weekend of the season could produce a fitting climax, as the Wildcats visit Sheffield and the Tigers go to Rhondda.
Copyright Britball. Download is subject to Britball's Terms and Conditions
