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WARRIORS

 

Tees United Lions 101-76 Wynyard Warriors

TU Lions played Warriors as a last minute arrangement due to Norton Bulls being unable to fulfil their league fixture. Warriors brought a strong team with additional guest players David Hanson, Laurence Smith and Jonny Osbourne to take on the unbeaten Lions A team. Lions boasted a full squad with Steve Butler making his Lions debut.

 

Warriors were quickest off the mark as Jason Royle found the basket with a powerful move inside the key. Luke Thompson replied shortly after with a shot just inside the 3 point line, but it was Warriors again finding the hoop with a 6-0 run, Richard Baister hitting a jump shot and Jonny Osbourne adding 4 points via the fast break. Lions soon got their act together with Thompson and Butler taking advantage of some sloppy passing by Warriors. In the sixth minute Butler stole the ball three consecutive times and converted the resulting lay ups to extend the Lions lead to 4 points after being down 6. Osbourne continued his strong start for Warriors with a 3 pointer to reduce Lions lead to one point but another run was produced by Lions as Michael Wassell drove to the basket, Thompson hit a 3 and Butler yet again scoring another fast break lay up. In the eigth minute Luke Thompson produced the highlight of the game with a two handed dunk off a fast break. As the quarter wound down James Burton and Thompson hit a 3 point each for Lions to extend their lead to 31-17.

 

In the second quarter, with Lions' Thompson, Butler and Wassell on the bench and Richard Keirl on 3 fouls, the introduction of David Hanson for the Warriors instigated a 16-0 run in the first four minutes. The trio of Butler, Thompson and Wassell re entered the game in the fifth minute with immediate impact as Thompson (5) and Wassell (3 point And 1 play) halted the Warrior run which had seen the visitors take the lead 31-33. In the seventh minute Royle finished an impressive drive to the basket and then converted 2 free throws after being fouled by Lions' 6'10" centre Andrew Marshall. Marshall was starting to look back to his best on defence as he collected rebound after rebound, although his offence is still in need of fine tuning. Marshall and Thompson added the final 4 points of the half for Lions although Royle, finishing off a superb quarter, and Tappenden (2 free throws) would close the half by reducing Lions lead to only 5 points, 46-41.

 

The third quarter would be the one to seal the win for Lions as they scored 30 to the Warriors 12. Lions introduced Carlos Alemanno, their 6'10" Argentinean who joined Marshall at the back with Burton, Butler and Thompson at the top. The defence seemed to work and on offence Burton unleashed two consecutive 3 pointers. Warriors were finding the strength and depth of Lions hard to contend with their light at the end of the tunnel was provided by Dave Curran, who provided half of their points during the third quarter. Alex Moore wrapped up the third with a 3 pointer to increase the lead to 23 points, 76-53.

 

The fourth was another close quarter with Burton playing well for Lions and Marshall finding his aim on offence. Hanson again started well for Warriors, hitting 6 points in two moves (3 pointer and And 1) Smith followed the trend with another 3 but the gap was still at 20 points. In the last three minutes Alex Moore and Richard Keirl combined well at both ends of the court adding nine points including a remarkable And 1 play by Keirl in the final seconds of the game.

 

Teams   Lions Warriors James Burton Richard Keirl* Steve Butler* Luke Thompson* Carlos Alemanno Alex Moore Michael Wassell* David Whitney Stu Davison Andrew Marshall* Hayden Patterson Curran* Osbourne* Royle* Baister* Tappenden* Hanson Smith Thomas Dickinson   Game MVP: Luke Thompson   Top Scorers Lions: Thompson 35,  Butler 21, Burton 16, Moore 8, Wassell 6, Marshall 6, Keirl 5, Whitney 2, Alemanno 2   Vikings: Hanson 19, Royle J 15, Curran 10, Osbourne 9, Baister 8, Smith 6, Thomas 5, Tappenden 2, Dickinson 2

 

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