Warriors

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Wynyard Warriors 75-145 Tees United Lions

Lions A team produced the best possible response to their last game's defeat in this awesome display of offensive talent. Lions were the visitors at Billingham Campus but it felt more like a home game as Lions had 28 supporters cheering them on and they would go home happy after witnessing one of the most exciting games of the season as well as being the highest score of the season. Lions and Warriors both sported new kits designed, by Game Time.

 

The tempo of the game was decided in the team meeting - run and gun, even with only seven players, the talent and fitness levels of the Lions are high and in the first play of the game Lions' Luke Thompson burst onto the scene to slam home the first basket and immediately deliver the message that Lions are back in business. Alex Moore followed up with a nice drive to increase the lead before Dave Curran chipped in for Warriors with a nice shot off the backboard. Moore and Curran then traded another two baskets and in the second minute Warriors tied the game with Jason Malcolm making a powerful shot near the hoop. In the third minute Hayden Patterson stepped up for Lions to hit two in a row and James Burton got in on the action with a determined drive but the lead was still only two points, 8-10 and Lions were struggling to extend a decent lead. In the sixth minute Lions coach, James Thomson called a Time Out to reorganise the defence from three at the back (2-3 zone) to three at the top (3-2 zone) and this reaped immediate rewards as Lions went on an 11-6 run to finish the quarter 18-25, with big Argentinean; Carlos Alemanno finding the net after a few earlier misses.

 

The second quarter was a good display of defence for the Lions, restricting the home side to only 15 points whilst adding a healthy 32 in the process. Luke Thompson, who had dipped slightly in the latter of the first quarter bounced back with a 3 pointer, the first basket of 14 points in this quarter alone. Inside the key Alemanno and Moore combined well to 10 points in three minutes mid way through the quarter and in the seventh minute, Alemanno was proving the catalyst of Lions offence as he connected this time with Thompson for another 10 points between them. The huge presence of Alemanno was a telling factor for Tees United and his superb vision was finding his cutting team mates to produce some sparkling basketball from the visitors. Warriors were struggling to string the baskets together and managed to hit two consecutive shots only once in this quarter from Imran Rashid and player/coach; Chris Tappenden. Tyrone Thomas gathered some points for the Warriors late in the ninth minute but it was Lions again who would come back via the Alemanno-Thompson partnership to hit the final shots of the game to earn a 26 point half time lead, 37-63.

 

On the restart Warriors struggled to gain any composure as Lions came out firing a 10-0 run. Warriors eventually scored in the third minute with the ever reliable Tappenden inspiring his team with two powerful moves but at this point Lions were leading by 37. Credit to the Warriors players, they never gave in and in the next minute Curran stepped up with 5 points, including a nice 3 pointer. This was quickly countered by Luke Thompson's 3 from five feet behind the line. James Burton then had a good two minutes hitting 7 points of his 13 for the quarter. Alex Moore continued to play well at the back with Alemanno and proved his ability as one of the most versatile players on the team. His rebounding and quick vision led to a number of assists to further increase the heartache for Warriors and by the end of the third quarter Tees United had leaped 43 points ahead, 52-95 with a whole quarter left to play.

 

With all seven players putting in a good display for Lions it was difficult to see how Warriors could possibly turn the game, 6/7 Lions players scored with four hitting double figures while Warriors only had two players in doubles. Alemanno, who had sat out the majority of the third due to collecting his third foul was back with a vengeance as he dominated almost every defensive rebound and led the charge on attack. With 1:36 on the clock, Lions produced a remarkable run five consecutive 3 pointers including two from Stu Davison and one from 6'10" Alemanno himself. The 3 point trend would continue as the quarter went on and Lions would finish with an incredible eleven 3 pointers in one quarter, with five different players in on the action and Thompson hitting three. For Warriors, who were really tiring now, Tappenden and Tyrone Thomas kept battling and would even produce their best scoring quarter with 23 and on any other day would have been enough, only in the fourth quarter, assisted by the superior outside shooting, Lions hit a massive 50 points in the last quarter to round off a fantastic display from the Lions. Hayden Patterson made the final shot off the game with a good follow rebound and put back to award the Lions a huge 70 point victory, 75-145.

 

Lions had to produce a good game after the disappointing loss to Ormesby Tigers and they did more than that. The only negative is that their defence allowed a team to score 75 points but aside of this and with only seven players Tees United sent a powerful message to the rest of the league that they are back in business!

 

With three players in Thompson, Alemanno and Burton, scoring more than 20 points the MVP could have gone to any number of Lions players but the award was given to Alex Moore who netted 17 points but was most impressive with his defensive contribution as he played out of his best position as a guard to play at the back. His attitude was excellent throughout, after a difficult last game and his vision on offence set up numerous baskets for his team mates in an a very good all round performance. Luke Thompson could do very little wrong as he hit a cool 56 points, the most scored by any one player this season. Chris Tappenden and Tyrone Thomas gave gallant displays for the Warriors adding 27 and 20 respectively.

 

Teams   Warriors Lions Tyrone Thomas Jason Malcolm* Ian Campbell* Imran Rashid Dave Dickinson* Chris Tappenden* Dave Curran* David Whitney Stu Davison Hayden Patterson* James Burton* Alex Moore* Luke Thompson* Carlos Alemanno* Richie Keirl (injured)   Coach: Chris Tappenden Asst Coach: Captain: Chris Tappenden Coach: James Thomson Asst Coach: Captain: Carlos Alemanno   Game MVP: Alex Moore Top Scorers Warriors: Tappenden 27, Thomas 20, Malcolm 8, Dickinson 8   Lions: Thompson 56, Alemanno 29, Burton 24, Moore 17, Patterson 11, Davison 8

Alex Moore produced a sparkling performance, especially on defence to earn game MVP, even ahead of Thompson's performance and 56 point haul

 

 

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