Coventry Crusaders (67) 122

Hull Stingers (27) 68

Sports Centre Rocks as Crusaders Hammer Hull

With their best performance of the season so far, Coventry and Warwickshire Crusaders shot for glory and into the club's record books on Saturday night with a magnificent 122 - 68 victory over Hull Stingers.

Altogether it was a solid performance that saw all ten Crusaders on the score sheet with seven of them reaching double figures.

From the whistle the home side looked composed and confident, and as coach Derrick Pope opened up the game from beyond the arc with his first touch of the ball, the scene was set for an explosive spectacle of Crusader basketball.

Emo Westeby and Graham Cullingworth provided Stingers with their opening points, as they doubled up from long range to take a momentary lead 5 - 6 inside the opening two minutes.  However, by the time the game was five minutes old and with all five of Crusaders starters already on the score sheet, Coventry were well on their way to domination 21 - 6.

Despite twice substituting four of their five players, Hull could still not get through the tight Crusader defence as they repeatedly ran in to what must have appeared to them a solid wall in the shape of Dip Donaldson, Alaster Spiers and Derrick Pope.

With few fouls and accurate shooting from Crusaders, the home side had chalked up an amazing 42 points by the end of the opening quarter with Stingers trailing on just 9 points.  

Having been replaced by Lee Muir mid-way through the first period Manny Sharland came back to start the second quarter, alongside Wes Hall who himself was coming into the game for the first time.  This allowed both Larry Graves and Derrick Pope, already on 13 and 11 points respectively, time to sit out. 

Sharland was unlucky to have the opening basket of the second period disallowed for travelling, but was soon back thrilling the crowd with his ball skills and his athleticism, rebounding high above the rim to set up the in-form Lee Muir for a perfectly executed lay up. 

Sam Spare produced the first of his well earned haul of 11 points and although when I spoke to Sam after the game, he sounded a little disappointed with his shooting performance, he certainly made up for it in his defensive work and showed what a very useful player he is under the basket at both ends of the court, coming off the bench to produce no less than 16 rebounds. 

Three baskets from Graham Cullingworth saw him bring his personal tally up to 12 of Hull's 16 points. Nevertheless it was already obvious that Stingers were faced with an impossible task to catch up with their hosts who were fast approaching a 40 point lead they would hold by half time. 

Much to Hull's credit however, and very much reminiscent of last season's Crusaders, the young Stingers never lost focus and kept their heads high, despite the odds stacking up against them. 

Regardless of the score line Crusaders too remained focused, continuing to move the ball around court with a steady and well-disciplined determination, creating and taking chances with each procession.

They looked confident and relaxed as they made their way back to the changing room for the half time interval 67 - 27 ahead.  

Coach Derrick Pope, having sat out for the entire second period, returned with the rest of the original starting line up to get the third quarter underway in fine style with an alley-oop pass to Alaster Spiers to open up the scoring and bring the crowd to their feet. 

With such a comfortable cushion Crusaders could afford to play electrifying, exciting and entertaining basketball, and if anyone had been uncertain of Manny Sharland's return to form, his crowd pleasing dunk from way above the rim undoubtedly confirmed it, plus Manny's wide grin in celebration. 

A scoring free for all from Crusaders saw their 20 - 6 run stretch their lead to an incredible 91 - 33, just inside six minutes, before a long range jump shot from Tarin Algar and a couple of easy lay ups by James Goodwin who managed to get past a momentary sloppy Crusader defence sawHull move on to 40 points. 

However, having got over their temporary lapse, Pope, Muir, and Ed Baynes Clarke were back on target and the only question on every ones lips was would Crusaders make the century before the end of the third quarter?

The answer was yes, as the night's top scorer Larry Graves brought up the ton with eleven seconds to go, seeing the third quarter close 101 - 42. 

Having thrilled the Crusader fans with the opening shot of the third, Derrick Pope repeated the move to open the final period. This time it was Wes Hall who was on the receiving end of the alley-oop and ensuring that he himself made it onto the score sheet in style. 

The Crusader Coach was now replaced by young Hardeep Khosla to enable the Coventry bench players to play out the final quarter, giving themselves some valuable court time. 

Baynes Clarke led the scoring for Crusaders in the fourth quarter, bringing his total to 16 on the night, Sam Spare maintained his 100% shooting from the line and Khosla eventually ensured all Crusaders scored. Khosla's second basket came from a lovely jump shot right at the top of the key, proving what an asset the Crusader Junior Team Captain is going to be for the Senior Team in seasons to come. 

Credit again though to Hull's Neil Rimmer who despite what was by now an inevitable loss for his team, produced his first points of the night by way of four from downtown and one from just inside the three point line to boost his teams score by 14 points. In all, 30 of Hull's 68 points came from long range. 

Nevertheless on the night the confident and well managed Crusader performance had put the game beyond Stingers reach from the onset.   

After the game Coach Derrick Pope was at last all smiles about his team's performance. Not because of the score line, but because of the confidence they had shown both individually and as a team. 

"This week we had the best practice session we have had all season and it showed out there on court tonight. It's good to see players playing with confidence in themselves and in each other." 

Crusaders next challenge is to take on league leaders Worcester, next Saturday 7:00 pm at Worcester. Travel directions can be obtained from the Crusader web site www.crusaders.co.uk, or by contacting the Crusader Office on 024 76 811 759. 

Crusader Scorers:                         

Larry Graves 26, Ed Baynes Clarke   16, Alaster Spiers 16, Derrick Pope 15, Manny Sharland 13, Lee Muir 11, Sam Spare 11, Dip Donaldson 8, Hardeep Khosla 4, Wes Hall 2

Stinger Scorers:

Graham Cullingworth 24, Neil Rimmer 14, Tarin Algar 9, Emo Westerby 9, Jamie Goodwin 6, Graham Smurthworth 4, Nick Dawson 2