The Junior Lions entered this
game looking for their first win
of the season after a narrow
loss away to Bradford in the
first game of the current
campaign. Despite the fact that
York beat the Lions by a
combined total of over 100
points last season, confidence
was high and the team were keen
to demonstrate how much they had
improved over the closed season.
The game started with the Lions
pressing the Vikings and
unsettling the home team’s
composure. The early exchanges
saw the teams exchanging points
with Shane Beadle taking the
first points with a nice
turnaround Jump shot from the
low post. The Vikings Will
Freeman then went on to score
with a long range Jump shot and
set the tone for the rest of the
game in which he amassed 29
points. The next Vikings Offence
saw Jordan Nicholls Block a shot
down low, scoop up the resultant
loose ball and make the first of
his 10 assists to Chris Chapman
who made the lay up.
The Lions then went on an 8-2
streak with a further two
penetrating lay-ups from
Nicholls and the first of Dan
Browns 3 long range bombs. The
first quarter ended as it
started with a score from Beadle
to make the score 14-7 to the
lions with all the Vikings
points coming from Freeman.
The second quarter was a closer
affair with the home team
matching every score from the
Lions and eventually breaking
the junior’s tenacious press.
The quarter also saw the debut
of Hamza Askari at National
League level who despite being
two years younger than the
majority of the team showed no
nerves and immediately came on
and stole the ball from the
Vikings point guard. The
addition of Daniel Chirnside
midway through the quarter gave
added height and grit to the
lions that had up to this point
been playing with the solitary
big man. He scored four points
and was sent to the line for the
first of seven unsuccessful
attempts from the stripe. The
change in tactics also allowed
James Parkin to register his
first points before Chapman
completed the half with a 16
foot jump shot to end the half
with the Lions up 28-20.
The Third quarter saw the
expected charge from the Vikings
who now began to press
themselves looking to get back
on terms. Despite scoring the
first four points with a good
move to the basket from Alan
Slasor and another long range
two from Brown the Vikings
fought back to within two
points. The tide appeared to be
turning with the referees losing
control and allowing the Home
team to maul the valiant lions
without any calls being made.
During this period Beadle
sustained an ankle injury which
saw him sit out the rest of the
game and despite being in
obvious pain play was allowed to
continue until the lions
regained the ball. Parkin
received his Fourth foul for a
clean block and the Lions were
looking vulnerable. A time out,
Change of defensive tactics and
calming words from the coaching
staff saw a more settled team
end the quarter six points up
but aware that the Vikings were
not going to allow us the easy
win.
The fourth Quarter started as
the third finished with the York
tactics being to grab, foul and
push knowing they were unlikely
to be punished. Despite this the
Lions stood firm and restricted
the home team to two points in
the first six minutes of the
quarter whilst pouring in 8 of
their own. The zone defence
worked well and demonstrated the
best aspects of this small team
with each player communicating
and working for each other. With
the Vikings beginning to tire
the Lions switched back to their
press and finished of in style
to win 56-45.
The game finished with a
standing ovation from the
travelling fans and the
complement returned from the
players who had appreciated the
fantastic support throughout the
game.
The stats only tell part of the
story; the team performance was
excellent throughout. Dan Brown
hit 18 points including 3,
3pointers. Both Chirnside and
Slasor hit 8 points whilst
Nicholls amassed his first
recorded triple double with 12
points, 10 assists and 19
rebounds. All of these figures
are impressive but the last word
goes to Captain Jordan Nicholls
who said ‘The loss last week was
disappointing and each of us
wanted to prove something to
ourselves the supporters and the
coaches, we did this and showed
what team spirit is all about,
no one deserves any more credit
than anybody else as without
every persons contribution we
would not have held on when it
got tough’
