The Medway Park Crusaders Under 14 team started their 2009-10 season with wins against two London sides.

The first game was against London United.

Medway Park Crusaders coach Matt Fenton had seen the previous game (London United vs London Spartans) and had decided that the first game against London United was an opportunity to see some of the new additions to the Medway Park team in a National League game. Everyone stepped up to the plate and contributed at both ends of the court.

London United was only able to get to the basket twice during the game showing the strength and discipline of the Medway Park side. Medway were able to use their speed and score many of their points in fast break situations.

Coach Matt Fenton said “With players from joining from Iroquios (Gravesend), Tenterten Tornados, Medway Mavericks and Folkestone Saints, I was delighted to see unity amongst the team during the 2 victories. While the first game was very comfortable, it gave me an excellent opportunity to see many CVL players step up to the next level of National league.”

Coach Matt Fenton’s MVP for this game was Tyler Russell.

Next game was against London Spartans.

This was going to be a different game as Spartans had also beaten London United by a large score and looked to have some size and athletic ability.

Medway Park started strong and built up a healthy lead before allowing Spartans to close the gap at the end of the first quarter to just 2 points. Medway Park started the second quarter even better than the first, stopping Spartans from scoring for 7 out of the 8 minutes of the quarter.

The third quarter wasn’t as good as the two before and Spartans managed to get the gap down to 7 points. However, Crusaders came out in the last quarter and resumed their great scoring rate and stopped Spartans from scoring for over 5 minutes in the last quarter.

A great defensive discipline from Crusaders frustrated London Spartans and also being able to convert their opportunities at the other end of the court was great to see so early in the season. Hopefully they will be able to build on this good start.

Coach Matt Fenton said “The second victory against a very talented Spartans team gave last years rookies a chance to highlight the improvements that they have made since last season. Strong performances at both ends of the court from Liam Carpenter, Tyler Russell and Tommy Dobson lead to an excellent opening day victory.”

Coach Fenton’s MVP for the second game was Tommy Dobson. 

Crusaders have made a great start to the season but experience tells them that tougher games lie ahead. They face London Spartans and another London side, London Pioneers at home in two weeks time.

Statistics – London United Game
EBL National League Under 14’s Boys South II Division
London United (2, 2, 4) 4
Medway Park Crusaders (19, 46, 58) 80
Scoring:

Medway: Tom Miller 14, Tyler Russell 14, George Fuller 12

Statistics – London Spartans Game
EBL National League Under 14’s Boys South II Division
Medway Park Crusaders (15, 30, 37) 55
London Spartans (13, 19, 30) 38
Scoring:

Medway: Liam Carpenter 13, Tyler Russell 12, Tommy Dobson 11