18.10.2008 Warriors U14 Boys Win 1 and Lose 1 on First National League Weekend

Result Game 1: Leicester Warriors 94 Shropshire 59

Game 2 Shropshire 43 Notts Nova 38

Our new U14 Boys squad had their first taste of National League Basketball on Saturday when they travelled to Leicester to take on the Warriors and Notts Nova at the St Matthews Centre. Sadly the day left a bitter taste in the mouths of all the players and the coaching staff and supporters.

It is hard to have envisaged a less enjoyable afternoon. Our guys had to put up with two games controlled by unqualified referees and table officials with no visible game clock

In their first game they took on the hosting Leicester Club. This game proved to be a real baptism of fire for our young squad. The Leicester boys were very fast and aggressive, and our guys struggled to cope with the pressure exerted upon them. Peter Ashton led our scoring with an impressive 21 points. Our other scorers were Tom Scriven(8), Frankie Edwards (6), Alex Wilcox (6),

Ryan McLean (3), Stephen Pillow (2), Tom Cockayne (2), Nick Lloyd (2) and Colin Dickson (2).

After a brief rest the boys were back on court immediately to take on Notts Nova, a perennial force in junior basketball. A close fought first quarter saw us up by one at 10 – 9. We took control in the second quarter and went into the break 8 up at 26 – 18.

In the second half Nova came back strongly. They cut the deficit to just three at the end of the third, but our guys dug in to maintain their slim advantage through to the final whistle.

Peter Ashton and Tom Scriven dominated our scoring with 18 and 16 points respectively. Our other scorers were Ryan McLean (4), Calvin Webb (3) and Colin Dickson (2).

The team is back in action on Saturday 1st November when they travel to Ilkeston to take on the Outlaws and Worcester Wolves at the Cavendish Centre.