Three of Medway Park Crusaders talented youngsters have been named in the initial England U16 squad. Liam Carpenter, Dave Couchman and Tyler Russell have all been selected for a training camp in Bristol over October half-term.

The training camp is the first step in the process of preparing for the 2012 European Championships. It is a special opportunity as it will be the first time the England U16s will be competing in the A division of the European Championships having gained promotion this past summer.

All 3 of the players are also members of the Medway Park Crusaders academy based at The Canterbury High School. They were part of the Crusaders U16 team who made the national quarterfinals last season as well as the U15 team at The Canterbury High School that won a national silver medal in the England Premier Schools competition.

Carpenter is a 6’1 guard who has played for Crusaders for the last 4 seasons. He has had a taste of the Under 16s last season as part of the training squad, as well as being a key player for the England U15 Development squad. Carpenter lives in Rochester.

Couchman is a 6’7 centre from Folkestone who has also been at Crusaders for 4 seasons. He travelled with Carpenter to Copenhagen last season as he was also part of the U15 Development Squad.

Russell, a 5’10 point guard, also comes from Folkestone. He has been at Crusaders for 4 seasons. Russell has represented the South East regional team for the last 3 seasons, including a stint as captain. He is really excited about the opportunity to prove himself as a national team player, “After missing out on my chance last year I have worked on the things I needed and I now feel ready.”

Crusaders Chairman and Academy head coach Jesse Sazant is obviously proud of the three promising players, “To be one of only 2 clubs to place 3 or more players in the U16 squad is something we are very proud of as a club. All 3 of them have had their own obstacles along the way but have fought through them to work hard to keep pushing themselves. They all have shown a huge commitment to travel large distances to school to give themselves the best opportunity to succeed. It is great to see such dedication and drive from these young men.”

The Medway Park Crusaders broke a 5 game losing streak in style with a convincing win over the PAWS London Capitals 77-40. The win achieved two significant milestones for Crusaders. Not only was it their first ever National Trophy win, but it also equalled the club’s record for the fewest points allowed in a game, equalling a record set in a Cup game against Sevenoaks in 2007.

Fittingly, the match was also a milestone for Crusaders head coach James Vear as he became the third coach to coach 50 senior games for the club.

Medway Park opened the game by scoring the first 4 points before Capitals scored 4 in a more of their own to level the scores. This would be the only time the scores were level for the rest of the match as Luke Baker then led the way scoring 9 points in a 17-2 run for the Crusaders. By the end of the first quarter the lead had reached 26-10.

The second quarter saw more of the same as it was James Harris’ turn to contribute 9 points to a 15-4 run that stretched the lead beyond 20. By halftime Medway Park was up 46-19.

The third quarter saw Capitals play their best stretch of basketball as the teams traded baskets most of the way. It proved to be the only quarter Capitals managed more than 10 points in as they edged the quarter 14-13.

The Crusaders domination returned in the fourth quarter, a driving basket by Disareli Lufadeju stretched the lead beyond 30. Late in the game Canterbury High School academy member Fred Whitehouse and Ibrahim Omer were both given playing opportunities and both made it onto the scoresheet.

It was a real team effort with 5 players in double figures for Medway Park. 6’9 Canadian Joe Schow led the way with a 13 point, 13 rebound and 5 assist effort. Academy product Kalil Irving returned from injury with a 13 point, 12 rebound double-double. Captain James Harris scored 13 with Luke Baker adding 11. Academy product Lufadeju had his best game as a senior point guard posting 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and no turnovers.

Not only did the Crusaders hold London to just 40 points but they also dominated the boards out rebounding the Capitals 46-23.

Schow summed up the difference between the night’s performance and the last few games saying, “I felt that we really came together as a team on Saturday. Coach Vear put a strong emphasis on defence in our training sessions leading up to our match with the Capitals. I feel like we executed our game plan well. I think that this is a step in the right direction for us after a few rocky weeks.”

Next week Capitals will return to Medway Park for a rematch in both team’s opening league game. The Crusaders are hoping to be at full strength with American Adrian Fenyn returning to the lineup. Fenyn hasn’t featured for the last two weeks for Crusaders as he recovered from a foot injury.

Irving is looking forward to the rematch, “It’s great being back from injury, and with Adrian coming back next week our team will be at full strength. Playing against Capitals will not be an easy task. We have to continue to work harder than them and play smart if we are to be victorious.”

Canterbury High School moved to 2-0 in the England Schools U19 Elite Competition after beating fellow Crusaders Academy Northfleet 66-51.

Canterbury are now top of the league heading into a showdown with Barking Abbey who are also undefeated. Northfleet fall to 0-2 and will face Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College next, who are also winless in the competition.

The game started quite slowly with both teams struggling to score. Late in the first quarter Tyler Russell took control to push Canterbury out to a 17-12 lead.

Early in the 2nd quarter, Nicholas Draper hit his 2nd 3 of the game for Northfleet, followed a couple of key baskets by Tom Pettiford to give Northfleet a 21-20 lead early in the second quarter. However Canterbury responded in style as their defensive intensity led to 17 unanswered points behind strong play from Josh Gill and Dean Chapman allowing Canterbury to take a 37-21 lead into the halftime break.

The third quarter was more of the same with Northfleet able to cut Canterbury’s lead behind Pettiford’s scoring before Dave Couchman and Ricky Williamson sparked a run for Canterbury to push the lead to 55-34 after 3 quarters. The lead stayed at around 20 points for most of the 4th quarter until a late run by Northfleet cut the lead to 15 at the end of the game.

Canterbury were led by 12 points from Gill and 11 from Russell. Couchman added 9, Chapman 8, Williamson 8 and Harrison Sanders 7. Pettiford led all scorers with 23, followed by Alex Bell with 8 for Northfleet.

Medway Park Crusaders Chairman Jesse Sazant has been appointed as the head coach of the England U15 National Development Squad.

Sazant has been Chairman of Crusaders for the last 4 years, having previously coached both the men’s and junior teams. He is also the head coach of the Crusaders academy at The Canterbury High School, where he works with elite players from the club on a daily basis.

Sazant is obviously pleased to be given the opportunity, “I’ve been involved with the U16 national team on a few occasions as an assistant, so to get an opportunity to be head coach of a national team is a proud moment for me. I’m really looking forward to the challenge of helping to develop some of our young stars.”

The role will involve a series of training camps over the year, culminating in a couple of international tournaments. The main aim is to prepare and develop players to move into the U16 squad which will compete at the European Championships.

Sazant has previously been an assistant coach with the England U16s, including Crusaders’ former star Ryan Richards, who has since gone on to be drafted in the NBA. Prior to moving to England, he coached at Canada’s top basketball university, Carleton University, and various elite club and regional teams in Canada. Since moving here 11 years ago, he has played a key role in developing Crusaders into a nationally recognised club for developing players.

Sazant, who is now a dual citizen, lives in the Canterbury area with wife and 2 young children.

The Medway Park Crusaders suffered a significant loss losing to the undefeated Derby Trailblazers 89-40. Crusaders travelled without starters Adrian Fenyn and Joe Schow who were among 4 Crusaders missing due to injury. However, this is not meant to take away from a well earned Derby victory.

Crusaders’ Head Coach James Vear was very impressed with the Trailblazers, “Derby are an excellent team who I think could be an early favourite for the league. They are extremely well coached and have a great team balance where they can hurt you in so many ways.”

Crusaders actually opened the scoring with a basket from Canadian Joe Schow. However, this would be the only lead they would hold all game. Derby quickly went on a 9-0 run to establish their lead. Back to back 3 pointers from Gareth Laws cut the deficit to 11-8 before Derby reeled off another 7 straight points on their way to a 20-10 lead at the end of the first.

Derby continued to pour in on in the second quarter as the lead kept growing. By halftime they were up 41-19 with both Rashi Kakad and Troy Whittignton already in double figures for the Trailblazers.

The second half was more of the same as Derby went on to score at least 20 points in all 4 quarters. Comparatively Crusaders scored no more than 12 in any quarter.

The lone high spot for Crusaders was Gareth Laws who connected on 5 3 point shots for 15 points. Overall Crusaders were 6 of 30 (of which Laws was 5 for 9) from 3 point land for the game. With Derby sitting in a zone for the entire game, Crusaders poor outside shooting cost them significantly.

Unsurprisingly, Vear was very disappointed with the team’s effort, saying, “It was a low for the team tonight, not only was the result extremely disappointing but the fight the team showed was non existent at times. Like I have said to the guys there were no positives tonight except the play of the two academy players Fred (Whitehouse) and Ib (Ibrahim Omer) who did themselves proud with their play and attitude, a lot of our guys could learn a lot from the way they approached the game.”

With the loss Crusaders fall to 0-4 in their National Trophy group.

Long serving Crusader JP Dimandja did achieve a significant milestone in the game. His appearance allowed to move past former captain Pete Ayling into 5th on the career games list.

Next week Crusaders host London Capitals, who have also lost all 4 of their National Trophy games. This match will be a prelude to both team’s opening EBL1 game, which also takes place at Medway Park the following Saturday.

Capitals were in the BBL two seasons ago before dropping back down to EBL1. They continue to feature some of the players who represented them in the BBL and will be a test for Crusaders.

Medway Park do not expect either Fenyn or Irving to return from injury in time, but are hopeful that Sam Salter may be ready on time.

Vear is not really focusing on Capitals at this point. “The team have a lot of soul searching to do, we need to come together as a team and tackle the challenges head on. Over the next few weeks we will see if the team are willing to fight or if they are going to let this season be a long difficult one.”