Middlesbrough Lions basketball match report

Controversial Finish Denies Lions!

at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, 24/10/09

photos byWayne Beadle

Durham Wildcats U16 82-87 Middlesbrough Lions U16

The Junior Lions entered this game looking to restore some pride after being dumped out of the Sure Shot Cup the previous week by the same Durham outfit. In that game the Wildcats had dominated and behind a game winning 40 points from there big man Riley had inflicted a 30 point defeat on the lions.

The game seemed to be following the same trend when the Wildcats stormed into an early 13-2 lead behind 9 points from the Wildcats 2 man Fisher. But the young Lions were not going to lie down and accept this, Jordan Nicholls broke the run with a long range 3 followed by a steal and another 2 points, from that point the Lions grew in confidence. Going on there own 16-4 run lead by some tough defence from Danny Chirnside and excellent ball distribution from Nicholls. With 30 seconds to go in the quarter the lions were 1 point down but with another 3 from Nicholls followed by the first of David Budd four 3’s, the lions ended the quarter 5 up at 26-21.

The good work continued in the second quarter with the Lions going up by as much as 40-28 on the back of 10 points from Budd and some excellent team defence. But the pace was telling and with two minutes to go and the team up by 12, coach Nicholls made the decision to sub Jordan Nicholls to allow the Lions talisman a longer half time recovery, the Wildcats seized on the opportunity and embarked on a 14-0 run before Nicholls re-entered to restore the balance and dish to Chris Chapman for a long range two points to end the half all square at 42-42.

The third quarter saw some excellent basketball being played by both teams. Neither team managed to put an unanswered run in with the lead changing hands six times. The lions struggled to combat the two man game of Riley and Fisher who combined for 16 points were as the Lions spread the scoring with 6pts from Chirnside who also continued with his tenacious defence, a further 5 from Budd and contributions from Slasor and Chapman before Nicholls held the ball to secure the last shot and finished the quarter with a buzzer beater.

The last quarter continued in the same manner with the Wildcats initially going up by 4pts before Shane Beadle tipped in at one end followed with a block on the defensive end and a further close range effort to re-establish the lead for the young Lions. This was to be the story for the last quarter with both teams trading baskets and the lead changing hands eight times. No matter how hard the Wildcats tried they could not discourage the awesome Lions who were playing some of the best team basketball of the season. With the Lions up by 1 and two minutes to go it looked as though it was going to the wire but the Wildcats 'hit man' Fisher stepped up to put in 7 unanswered points. Nicholls broke the run when he was sent to the line but with the lions now 5 down and under a minute to go, the Lions had to stop the Wildcats holding the ball by fouling. Unfortunately the table had neglected to put up the lions team foul marker or inform the coaching staff we were in the penalty so this led to a free throw opportunity for Durham who the received a bonus two when the ref inexplicably awarded a Technical against the lions captain for ‘muttering’.

The final score was 87-82 to Durham but the Durham team knew they had been in a match. The Junior Lions had fought valiantly and restored their Pride demonstrating exceptional team Basketball and desire even earning an accolade from the opposition Coach, Danny Morgans, who stated ‘They looked like a different team today that was a massive turnaround from last week we had no answer for you at some points, well done’

The Lions shared the scoring with excellent shooting from Lions top scoring David Budd on 22pts, Chirnside performing well at both ends and Nicholls earning MVP with another triple Double. The games top scorer was Lewis Fisher on a career high 50pts.