For the second time in succession the Kent Crusaders Under 14 National League team suffered two heavy defeats at home on Saturday 31^st January.
The first game was against Guildford Heat. Crusaders needed a positive start and got it with early baskets from Liam Carpenter and Callum Thomas. This was however to be the only baskets for Crusaders in the first quarter. Guildford quickly got on top of the game and finished the quarter stronger at 7-10Guildford again started the second quarter strongly and Crusaders also tried to keep up the scoring pace but finished the half 5 points behind at 17-22

Once again the third quarter was Crusaders weak point and Guildford put up 17 points to Crusaders 11 which meant the Crusaders were trailing by 11 going into the last quarter.

Crusaders managed to match Guildford’s scoring but the damage had already been done and they couldn’t turn over Guildford’s advantage. The game finished 42-54

Coach Matt Fenton said “It was another mixed performance for the U14 this weekend. In the first game we missing Joe Denton (away swimming in Kent championships) and Ayo Salawu and Ciaran Kelleher through injury. The team struggled to contain Guildford’s big men and apart from the occasional spell of good basketball from the Kent side, Guildford dominated for long periods. The most telling statistic of the afternoon was shot conversation. Crusaders made 17 of 55 shots which Guildford made 25 of 39 shots. On a positive note, Reigan loader played his first minutes of national league Basketball and Lee Memmott’s strong performance off the bench earned him his first ever starting position in the second game. The game finish with the Crusaders losing the game by 10 points.”

Coach Matt Fenton’s MVP for this game was Lee Memmott.

Next game was against Ipswich Tomcats. Crusaders had beaten Ipswich away before Christmas so there was optimism that they could put the Guildford result behind them and take the game to Ipswich.

However, in an almost identical game to the Guildford one, Crusaders managed to match Ipswich’s scoring and finished the first quarter 12-11 up.

Crusaders put up 10 points to Ipswich’s 12 in the second quarter and they were 1 point down at half time.

The third quarter was a similar story with Crusaders scoring 7 to Ipswich’s 11 and 8 to Ipswich’s 14 in the last quarter sealed it. The game finished 35-52

Coach Matt Fenton said “The second game started much better and Crusaders big Men, Jono Appiah, Callum Thomas and Joe Denton did well to contain Ipswich ’s U14 England International. Crusaders went in 1 up at the end of the first but 1 down at Half time. In the second half Ipswich came out firing and despite strong moves to the baskets from Tyler Russell and Liam Robinson, Crusaders failed to make an impression on the game, eventually losing the game by 19 points.”

Coach Fenton’s MVP for the second game was Tyler Russell.Crusaders seemed to be shooting as much as they have been in previous games but their conversion rate dropped to about 30% which would explain their low scoring in both games.

Coach Matt Fenton’s final comments were: “Crusaders now need to pick themselves up for the final 3 games of the season and hope they can recapture the form that brought them success at previously unbeaten Newham and Ipswich away earlier this season.”

The Crusaders Under 14 team have now won 4 and lost 5. They have three games left in the season and need to finish strong to have a chance of finishing in a playoff position. The next two games are on March 7^th against the undefeated Bucks Hornets and a team who have yet to win a game, Reading Rockets.

Statistics – Guildford Heat Game
EBL National League Under 14’s Boys South II Division
Kent Crusaders (7, 17, 28) 42
Guildford Heat  (10, 22, 39) 54

Scoring:

Kent:  Liam Carpenter 14, Callum Thomas 12, Jonathon Appiah 6

Statistics – Ipswich Tomcats Game
EBL National League Under 14’s Boys South II Division
Kent Crusaders (10, 20, 27) 35
Ipswich Tomcats  (13, 25, 36) 52
Scoring:

Kent: Callum Thomas 10, Liam Carpenter 6, Liam Robinson 6, Joe Denton 6

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 at 12:39 am and is filed under Under 14s. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.