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Norton Bulls 67-162 Tees United Lions

Tees United Lions pulled off an incredible victory over the unbeaten leaders of Division Two, Norton Bulls, to go through to the next round of the TBL Handicap Cup. In this cup competition the higher placed teams are awarded a handicap which results in lower placed teams being given a head start or more points per points scored.

For this game for every point Norton scored they received 2 points and every point Lions scored was only worth 1. On top of this Norton were awarded a head start of 20 points which seemed very harsh considering Lions are only in third place in D1 with 2 wins and 2 losses while Norton are unbeaten leaders of D2. The fact Lions had to double Norton's final score AND score 21 more points to win was almost too unrealistic but last night the seemingly impossible was made possible as Lions produced some stunning basketball to claim an incredible victory with a score line of 162-67. Lions superb performance was also produced by only seven players making the feat even more sweeter for the club. Even with a margin of almost 100 points, had Norton scored two more baskets they would have tied the game, taking into account the handicap!

 

Lions burst onto the scoreboard immediately as Luke Thompson converted a baseline drive over Norton big man Craig Hopwood. Richy Keirl added a long range shot and Thompson again scored, this time with a 3 pointer to take a 7-0 lead. Graham Bennett stopped the run with a well executed drive and was fouled by Lions Carlos Alemanno which led to a bonus free throw. Unfortunately Bennett failed to convert the bonus and Lions picked up their scoring with James Burton driving inside and hitting a big 3 pointer from outside. By the sixth minute Lions were 10 points ahead and looked to be cruising until a big play from Hopwood took Norton to 10 points and then another And 1 play, this time by Mark Finmore brought the home team within 5 points, 13-18.

 

In the final three minutes of the first quarter Lions scored an incredible 20 points, while Norton were restricted to just one basket by Rob Ivey. The combination of Carlos Alemanno, Luke Thompson and Alex Moore both on offence and defence was a daunting task for Norton to cope with. Bulls Coach, Graham Jackson called a Time Out to resurrect some belief from his wounded players but the Lions display was simply overwhelming leading to a well deserved 23 point lead after just the first quarter with the score at 15-38.

 

Norton now faced problems on two fronts; one, they had to somehow stop the Lions scoring and two, they were already in serious foul trouble. At the start of the second, Bulls drew first blood with the powerful Hopwood making use of his strength under the basket. Lions' Alemanno went to the line twice in the next minute and failed to convert any of his 4 free throw attempts, although he made amends with a nice drive and reverse lay up. Alemanno at 6'10" was the focus of Norton's defence which allowed the big centre to find his cutting team mates to further increase the scores. Lions began to play a half court press with pressure on the ball resulting in the Norton players struggling to move the ball without turning it over. In the following three minute Lions went on a staggering 23-0 run to take the score to 21-67. The majority of Lions were involved and the movement of the ball was very good. Sam Butterworth broke the run and his efforts led to Norton's best stage of the game as they produced an 8-0 run with Darren Butler and Finmore combining well. Lions though picked themselves back up and finished the second quarter with another impressive run of 15 unanswered points to enter half time in optimistic mood with a 55 point lead, 33-88. The massive 88 points scored by the Lions in just two quarters is nothing short of incredible. Luke Thompson had already hit 32 points for the visitors.

 

Carlos Alemanno took the Lions to 90 points although credit to Norton, although they had crumbled in the first half, they never gave in and by the third minute of the third quarter they were actually trading baskets with the visitors. This was a big concern for Lions as each basket scored by Norton was the equivalent of two baskets for Lions, as Lions guard; Luke Thompson remarked during the game "We cant afford these 4 point lay ups!" Sam Butterwoth and Graham Bennett made good use of their opportunities and the usually dominant Finmore still managed to weave his wizardry on occasion. In the seventh minute Lions the good run of fortune Norton were enjoying began to slow and Lions through Alemanno and Moore capitalised for an 11-2 run. Another 4 points from Thompson allowed Lions a sigh of relief in what had been a good quarter for Norton while Lions had their lowest quarter tally of 34.

 

 

The final quarter was a horrible start for Norton as Richy Keirl popped a 3 pointer to instigate a 20-2 run. Finmore made a smooth lay up for Norton while Alemanno and Thompson delivered the goods for Lions. Butterworth (right), as before halted another run, using his speed to his advantage but the home team had no real answer to the offensive arsenal provided by Lions and when 6'5" Craig Hopwood and 6'6" Darren Butler fouled out they had lost there big men and in the final minute the game was over as the heart of Norton in the hard working Graham Bennett was also fouled out allowing Lions to run out winners by a phenomenal 95 points.

All seven players produced the goods for Lions with the starting five playing particularly well. Carlos Alemanno and Alex Moore were commanding with rebounds and James Burton was a constant thorn in the side of Norton. The Game MVP was awarded to Luke Thompson (left) who came back to his best after a poor outing in his previous game against Tigers in which he was ill and only scored 8 points. In this game Thompson hit a massive 61 points as well as claiming some major blocks!

 

Teams   Lions Lions 0 4 10 14 21 22 23 24 25 31 32 35 Raymond Jackson Sam Butterworth* Darren Butler John Young Ben Shaw Rob Talbot* Mark Finmore* Liam Earl Graham Bennett* Rob Ivey Graham Jackson Craig Hopwood* 7 9 15 22 45 50 65 David Whitney Stuart Davison Alex Moore* Luke Thompson* James Burton* Carlos Alemanno* Richard Keirl* Coach: Graham Jackson Asst Coach: Darren Butler Captain: Sam Butterworth Coach: James Thomson Asst Coach: Captain: Carlos Alemanno * starting players   Game MVP: Luke Thompson   Top Scorers   Norton: Finmore 24, Butterworth 18, Bennett 11, Hopwood 6, Ivey 4, Butler 2, Talbot 2   Lions: Thompson 61, Alemanno 48, Moore 27, Burton 17, Keirl 9

MVP Luke Thompson of Lions makes another basket on his way to 61 points.

 

 

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