Posted on January 9th, 2013

West Craven Turbines finished 2012 on a high having five wins to the record and four losses. The first game back was to be the hardest and toughest challenge to face with them being up against LT United who last lost a game in January 2010 and went the whole of last season unbeaten. Here Turbines were the underdogs; however, it did not mean that the Turbines would not go for the sixth win of the season. The team was without top scoring forward Marshall for this game but the addition for a second consecutive game of Oliver Hylands was a major coo.

West Craven started out with the tip and opened the scoring with a huge long range by Hylands that took everyone by surprise. LT then came down on Turbines with an array of inside plays and a set of competent three point shooters that made the guards of the 2-3 zone work extra hard. With a lack of closing out on defence which led to LT’s Marcius hitting consistent 3 points which gave LT a comfortable early on lead of 20 points. Turbines would have some good spells of offensive play that lead to great open shots and kept them on the score sheet. The end of the first half was 43-24 with Turbines trailing by nineteen and something of an up hill battle.

The third quarter stated out well with great defence from Turbines, which led to Hylands scoring inside on the offence. Threats from LT ran short, as number 19 Ramas, who had scored 20 within the first half, had been taken care of by a great display from the back three defenders or Ireton, Hylands and Widdup. In addition both young forwards Dawson and rookie Zak Boardman doing well to collect defensive rebounds. The Turbines had now closed to gap to 11 points by the end of the third quarter offering a glimmer of hope that the game was not yet set in stone.

The fourth quarter saw Turbines step it up a level with both defence and offence proving to be effective to keep high on LTs heels. On the offensive side LT were struggling to keep out forward Hylands so the plan came clear to pass it inside with Ireton and Capps providing some A-Grade passes. It became clear that LT had ran out of steam and ideas when they continuously missed opportunities to score as Turbines had stopped LT scoring for a ten minute spell while going on a 20pt surge themselves. With half a minute left on the clock Turbines were down by a single point and had possession of the ball which lead to Capps going to the hoop only to be fouled on the layup and draw in an unsportsmanlike-like foul which gave the team in white 2 free throws and possession of the basketball. Capps made one of the three throws to tie the score at 61-61; however a turn over from Capps and Turbines failing to score in the closing seconds took the game to overtime.

The start of overtime saw the West Craven defence start out just as strong as where they left off and gave LT a tough time on offence. The game plan remained and Hylands would carry on going strong to the basket only to receive more points. Also with Widdupp and Capps scoring on the break Turbines extended a lead to 8 points. The game looked to have been taken by Turbines until LT came back with their usual transition offence with Ramas again scoring which lead to them trailing just 3 points in the final 30 seconds with them having possession of the ball. Turbines had done everything to keep the ball from going outside to the three point shooters. However, a determined Marcius would convert a three from little over two meters over the half way line to tie the score and go into a second overtime period.

The second overtime would see LT begin to shot consistently again and Turbines ran out of ideas on offence and struggle to make the simple plays that kept them in the game. This overtime was a quick lesson and it did not take long for LT to carry out a nine-point lead and close out the game for the win.

Overall a great performance from all the players that played well and showed the hard work is more important than having talent. A big mention to the young forwards Lonsdale, Dawson and Boardman who came on to show a great display of defence. Also to main players Ireton, Capps, Widdup, and Robinson for a good range of offensive abilities and Hylands who earned himself a 43 point game, in doing so setting a new club record for the most points ever scored in a game and giving him over 100 points in just three games played. “This game turned out to be one of Turbines best ever performances which would clearly shows that any game is winnable and if playing with discipline and focus if can we can continue we this seasons target of bringing home the clubs first ever trophy come June.” Coach Ireton

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