York Vikings Junior Basketball Club

[yvjbc]

York College Vikings @ Tees Valley Mohawks
24th March 2007


Captain Joe Fitzpatrick opened the scoring and the Tees Valley zone could not handle the strong moves to the basket by James Steel. Back to back drives sent Steel to the foul line, unfortunately he could only convert on 1 from 4. This combined with early foul trouble saw James sit for part of the 2nd and most of the 3rd.

York controlled the half court game at both ends of the floor, scoring out of the set offence and in transition when a couple of pick pocket steals by Jermayne Laing resulted in 2 easy lay ups for Jay.

Tees Valley were able to find the basket in transition and connected on some questionable outside shots to take an early lead. Poor Zone Press defence allowed the Mohawks to hold onto a six point advantage with 1 minute left, until George Molesworth followed up consistent defence with a buzzer beating 17 footer in transition to finish the quarter 27- 23 in favour of the hosts.

2 quick scores by Tees Valley opened up the lead to 8 and despite a strong rebounding presence, Chris Mcnamara, failed to keep up with the Mohawk’s perimeter orientated offence. Fellow big man Tom Parvin suffered the officiating of the North East’s most experienced official and was forced to the bench but contributed some solid performances throughout the game.

2nd year players Adam Wright and Ali Lyons chipped in some good work on the defensive glass. Adam provided great defensive rebounds resulting in 2 strong inside scores. Ali caught a 2 hand dunk and put on an outside shooting display, scoring 8 points in 90 seconds but the Mohawks powered on to extend their lead to 8.

Another York attacking phase saw Fitzpatrick score 4 pts quickly followed by 2 from Wright and a lay up by Steel chopped the deficit to 1 point in the 8th minute of the second quarter. A 60 second lapse allowed Tees Valley to add 6 points and Billy Eldridge was unable to claim his reward for an athletic move to the basket by missing 2 foul shots. Fitzpatrick made amends by hitting a pair, quickly replicated by Joe’s opposing number. Eldridge found the bottom of the basket to close the first half scoring at 54- 49.

Some strong but focused words from Coach Hartley put the York boys back on track as they prepared to begin a second half fight. Toby Hutton had contributed some consistent minutes of the bench in the first half, but a foot injury forced Toby to act as assistant coach by keeping score to make up the absence of a visible score board.

The Vikings opened the second half with minute of a more familiar defence paired with textbook York transition that lead to a 6-point run and a glimpse of victory. Hanson attempted to take control and was rewarded with a bank shot 3 with a hand in his face, York continued to miss shots in the key and Tees Valley took control.

York failed repeatedly to stop Hanson as tough, but inconsistent man-to-man defence combined with frustrating calls from our friendly official continued to keep the game interesting. Tees Valley leading by 9 with 5 minutes to play in the 3rd.

York switched to a 3-2 zone which confused the hosts, pressuring their out side shooting and controlling the dribble penetration that had been key in first 25 minutes of play. York cut it back to 3 but a final Tees Valley push saw the 3rd finish 76-69.
A 7- point deficit placed our unbeaten record in jeopardy and the Vikings prepared for a final push.

A slow opening to the final period saw Eldridge and Laing score in the second and third minute respectively. Both teams traded baskets and York could not get any closer than 3 points.

York gave away a lay up and one, which put Tees Valley up 4 with 3 minutes to go. Coach Hartley took time out and sent out 5 players to finish the game. York continued to play focused and controlled man-to-man defence, James Steel playing extremely well with 4 personal fouls. Strong moves to the basket by Fitzpatrick, and then Laing finally tied the game with 1 minute 30 to go. Ali Lyons refused to settle for a jump shot and took the ball to the basket putting York up by 2.

Tees Valley responded by driving hard and found the basket to even the score at 85-85. Adam Wright grabbed another offensive board and scored putting the Vikings ahead by 2 with 60 seconds on the clock.

David Hanson responded by driving hard and found the basket to even the score at 87-87. A missed York jump shot gave Tees Valley the ball with less than 30 seconds to go.

Jermayne Laing made another great defensive play and drove the ball down the sideline, He drew a blocking foul just outside the key giving York a baseline inbound with 5 seconds left to play.

Coach Hedge of Tees Valley was first to request time out. Coach Hartley drew up the baseline out of bounds play as the boys contemplated their unbeaten record.

The ball was in bounded to the hands of a calm but focused Adam Wright who squared up for the long 2 out of the corner and pulled the trigger. The York bench exploded as the ball dropped through the net and Tees Valley missed a half court shot as playing time expired.

Tees Valley Mohawks- 87 v York College Vikings- 89

England Basketball U18 Men North East Conference 2006-07 Champions
14 wins 0 Losses

Congratulations to all York College Vikings for all your hard work!

Huge thanks to The McNamara, Hutton, Molesworth & Fitzpatrick Families for their continued support.


Paul Hartley (Coach)