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Teesside claim the Conference
TVL Teesside Mohawks were crowned 2001/02 Conference League champions after sweeping past visitors Sutton Pumas on Saturday. And the side celebrated in style less than 24 hours later by taking another two points from Solent Stars.
Club boss Trevor Lowes said it was good to see the silverware return after a season in the Plymouth trophy cabinet: “It’s what we’ve worked for after loaning it out to the Raiders for a year. It is back in it’s rightful home.
“We’ve had an excellent season so far, winning four trophies already. Now we must set our sights on the Championship Play Offs.”
Head coach Tony Hanson, who has steered the club to all of its success of the past four seasons, added: “It is absolutely wonderful to win the league again. The boys deserve it for their efforts, and it says something for Teesside that we have developed into a very respected organisation.”
But there could hardly have been more of a contrast between two games.
Sutton, so often the whipping boys when up against Mohawks this season, again saw their hopes of victory dashed as early as the first quarter, while Solent provided possibly the sternest test the side has encountered.
So dominant was Tony Hanson’s side against second-bottom Pumas, the head coach chose to sit out his star performers for long periods to protect them from injury or overwork for the next day’s task.
36-11 in Mohawks favour from quarter one, another ten point advantage was accrued in the second to double Pumas’ 34 point half time tally.
The Surrey club managed to win the third quarter by seven points, but there was never any doubt who would win and Mohawks ran out comfortable 117-88 winners.
Six Mohawks notched double figures, while James Cook, who was brought up in Yarm before moving south as a youngster, and Brian Moore, really stood out for Pumas with 33 and 21 points respectively.
Despite victory claiming the championship, the game, on Mohawks’ off-night and against a struggling outfit, was always going to be overshadowed by the following day’s fixture, which was more eagerly anticipated by everyone.
And Solent proved precisely why as every last drop of sweat was needed by Mohawks, who were put through a gruelling 40 minute workout that, at one stage, had fans chewing their fingernails as the side sank into a double-figure deficit.
A crowd significantly up on the Saturday attendance, which suffered alarmingly as it went head-to-head with Boro’s televised game against Tottenham, made for an electric atmosphere as both sides got off to a shaky start.
Stars’ won the tip off, although it was Ralph Bucci who got the scoring underway following an interception. But the visitors hit back when Lijah Perkins became the first player duped into fouling ex-Mohawk Nick O’Hara-Be, who converted one from the free throw line, followed by a basket from Marlin Capers before a spell of handling and shooting errors by both sides.
EJ Harrison and Jason Swaine both began their scoring with ‘threes’ to ease Mohawks 7 ahead by the sixth minute of a first quarter that saw Bucci sink 12 points in Mohawks’ 26-17 lead.
And the side charged out of the blocks at the start of period two, with Steve Butler and James Nicholson injecting a much faster pace into the game, while a good defensive effort kept the visitors at arms length.
Within four minutes thirteen points from this duo and skipper Neil Hopper, against just five from the top visiting pair of Capers and Bynum, put Mohawks in the driving seat with a sixteen point cushion.
A change of fortune for Stars over the next four minutes saw them take a huge chunk out of the deficit and set the alarm bells ringing by scoring sixteen through Capers, Bynum and Chris St Omer against baskets only from Swaine and Bucci.
Hanson called a rare timeout to halt the charge, but the first play of the restart saw Capers rip the ball from Perkins and charge down court to sink an easy two, reducing the lead to just five before the second of Harrison’s threes steadied the ship and allowed the side to enjoy a four point lead at half time (50-46).
Within two minutes of the restart the dogged visitors had drawn level through a sparkling display from O’Hara-Be, Donaldson and the impressive Bynum, while only Perkins and Bucci could convert their shots.
There looked to be no stopping Solent over the next five minutes when seven points from Swaine, Bucci, Perkins and Harrison were met with a barrage of 13 at the defensive end, putting Mohawks 9 behind.
But eight consecutive points before Stars’ next basket brought the crowd back to life and the players responded immediately – none more than Steve Butler, who took Mohawks back into the lead again with four points in quick succession, and Lijah Perkins, who posted the final score of the quarter to set up a grand finale by levelling the scores at 76-76.
Harrison, with seven, and a Nicholson basket following an interception by Perkins, was met by a solitary three point score from Steve Davison over the opening three minutes of the session and Mohawks never looked back.
Ralph Bucci, ended the game as he began it, with three baskets for his side on his way to a top-scoring 33 points. But even he had to give second best to Stars’ John Bynum, whose 36 point contribution and overall performance made him arguably the most impressive visitor to Eston so far this season.
But it was the backup that made the difference. Mohawks top three scorers picked up 74 points between them, leaving the rest to score 32, including 27 from the bench.
Stars’ top trio combined for 73, the others contributing 22, 16 of them from their bench players.
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