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Durham Wildcats U15 94-52 Middlesbrough Lions U15

After a tough opening defeat at Newcastle Eagles, Lions were on their travels for the second consecutive week, this time at Durham Wildcats.

 

Wildcats began in vibrant fashion as they quickly produced a 10-0 run. Lions decided to pressure the home side with a full court press, a tactic which backfired as Alex Riley hit two And 1 plays in the first two minutes of play. Lions untidy defence would again be punished as Wildcats drew another 2 fouls in the first four minutes. A time out was called by the Lions coach who switched to the 2-3 zonal defence, which improved matters somewhat and the Lions marked the score sheet shortly after as Alan Slasor dropped in a shot off the backboard. Harvey Gallagher was quick to respond for Wildcats as he drove through the Lions defence to maintain a 10pt lead, 12-2 but Middlesbrough were beginning to build in confidence and in the sixth minute big man; Shane Beadle received a pass from Patrick O'Conner which led to an And 1 play. Dan Brown followed this with a nice mid range shot to reduce the Wildcats lead to 8pts, 14-6. Poor free throw shooting would be Lions ultimate downfall in the first quarter as O'Connor and Slasor missed 3 of 4 attempts in the last minute, O'Connor hitting the final attempt to finish the quarter 24-9 down.

 

In the second quarter, Middlesbrough enjoyed a better spell with Beadle scoring off a rebound and Brown firing down another shot. Wildcats were still in scoring form though as Tom Loveday and Alex Riley combined for 7pts in three minutes. O'Connor hit a big shot from long range in the sixth minute but Lions were still down 33-16. In the seventh minute Danny Chirnside galvanised the side as he connected another great pass from O'Connor with an And 1 play, converting the bonus free throw. Chirnside, already proving his value on the defence and now showing some offensive skill. Lions were on the up again as O'Connor drained a lovely 3 pointer followed by Brown stealing the ball for a lay up although Durham's Riley spoiled the away teams celebrations as he made the last shot of the half to spoil the Lions opportunity of taking the quarter, finishing as it did 17-16 in favour of the home side to give the Wildcats a 41-25 half time lead.

 

With this newfound confidence, Lions were quick to stamp an authority in the third quarter as Alan Slasor hit a jump shot and O'Connor completed an And 1 play after being fouled on the shot to bring the visitors within 11pts, 41-30. Lewis Fisher halted the Lions run with a powerful drive in the third minute and 7 unanswered points in the fifth minute, providing the young Lions with a crucial body blow and the turning point in the game. Slasor fired a response from 3 point range and Chirnside followed up shortly after, but the baskets were coming thick and fast from Durham and inconsistently from Middlesbrough. In the sixth minute O'Connor, who by his usual high standards, was struggling on the drive, knocked down another 3 pointer for Lions to reduce the deficit to 16, 56-40 but the Wildcats again plundered the Lions for another 13pts in the final three minutes, taking advantage of the missing Beadle, who collected his fourth foul and Chirnside who was being rested. Good work from Riley and Andrew Vincent ensuring a hard task was now near impossible for the visitors. At the end of the quarter Wildcats were 71-43 ahead.

 

In the final quarter Beadle re-entered the game and his impact was immediate as he provided O'Connor with yet another assist after a delicate shot close to the hoop. Within seconds, Beadle was again involved after being fouled on the shot, although he failed to convert his free throws. In the second minute Wildcats scored through a nice move by Ryan Farley, whose technical ability was to be admired in the remainder of the game as he scored all but 2 of his points in this period. Lewis Fisher continued to penetrate for Wildcats and Lions who offered very little in return decided to run the bench in the last three minutes, providing some valuable experience for James Williamson and Daniel Wright. At the final buzzer, Durham were celebrating a commanding win with a finals score of 94-52.

 

Lions can take many positives from this encounter as they improved their rebounding and scoring ability, two qualities which were missing against Newcastle. Work is still needed on court awareness and positioning but the signs of improvement will provide optimism for the following fixture. O'Connor who struggled with his inside play was yet again the most talented player on the court and youngest at only 12 in an U15 league. O'Connor made amends with some superb shooting and great passing. Beadle and Chirnside did excellent on defence, Beadle unlucky to be called for 2 fouls on what appeared to be clean blocks. Chirnside, on his debut was inspirational and provided a massive presence on defence as well as 7pts on offence. Dan Brown and Alan Slasor also played well and although Brown couldn't emulate the 9 steals he made against Eagles he did manage to find a better scoring rhythm.

 

The Game MVP was awarded to Alex Riley who topped off an impressive performance with a game high 32pts to add to his 12 boards, 4 assists and 3 steals.
 

Game Stats   Lions Wildcats Coach: James Thomson Asst Coach: Captain: Patrick O'Connor Vice Captain: Dan Brown Coach: Danny Morgans Asst Coach: Mark Elderkin Captain: David Beham   Referees A Lloyd & A Pfeiffer   Top Scorers 21 9 8 7 7 O'Connor Brown Beadle Chirnside Slasor 32 17 12 10 6 Riley Fisher Farley Loveday Benham Rebounds 14 10 8 Beadle Chirnside Slasor   12 9 6 6 Riley Benham Loveday Woodward Assists 6 3 O'Connor Chirnside 9 4 3 Fisher Riley Vincent Steals 4 3 3 2 2 Chirnside O'Connor Findlay Beadle Chapman 4 3 2 2 Benham Riley Fisher Gallagher

Game Stats continued   Blocks 4 Beadle 2 1 Woodward Fisher Turn Overs 20 26 4 3 3 3 Brown Findlay O'Connor Slasor 6 5 4 Riley Benham Woodward     Lions showed massive improvements in their second game but must reduce the points against

Game MVP: Alex Riley, Durham Wildcats

 

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