By James Bourne.
CRUSADERS’ Under-18s fell to a disappointing 58-71
defeat to City of Birmingham II at the Sports Centre, with coach Alvin
Scott disappointed at a result that his team should have been able to
win.
The first quarter could not have started better for
the Crusaders, taking an 18-4 lead into the changeover. Craig Dakin
enjoyed two three-point efforts to help increase the scoring, with the
team into double figures by the time the visitors first threatened the
Crusaders basket.
This was due to a combination of the offensive and
defensive moves working well together. A great example of this was where
Dakin and Jack Ford managed to stop a Birmingham move dead in its tracks
thanks to superb hard work and pressure.
But the visitors managed to get back into the game
significantly, notching an incredible 29 points in the second quarter.
Dakin hit another three pointer at the beginning of the quarter, but
from then, the Birmingham pressure increased.
City visibly grew in confidence and a combination of
more accurate long shooting and being quicker to the rebound lead to a
plethora of points.
It could have been more but super defensive work from
Jonathan Egid – once intercepting a certain assist and then producing a
fine leap to deny the visitors a score – tried to keep City at bay.
The game entered a scrappy period of play towards the
end of the third quarter, which didn’t help the Crusaders get back into
the match, but good scores from Dakin, Egid and the exciting Billy
Paronia gave them a chance going into the fourth quarter at 47-53.
But unfortunately, the score line began to race away
from the Crusaders during the fourth quarter. More good rebounding from
the visitors helped set up a ten-point lead within the first few
minutes.
Coventry never really recovered from that, but there
were still some good plays going on; notably Luke Finlay’s excellent tap
rebound from Craig Dakin’s shot, and Egid, who again impressed with his
defensive work, cutting out a through-ball which was could have easily
been a City score.
There were some good individual performances from the
young Crusaders. Craig Dakin’s long shooting and general play was
excellent throughout, Jonathan Egid’s defence was great throughout, and
Billy Paronia gained in prominence in the latter stages of the game with
his direct running.
However, the team will consider this result as one
that slipped away.
Speaking after the match, coach Alvin Scott said: “We
should have beaten that team. You can’t let a team get comfortable,
because when you do, even the most basic team will beat you.
“As a team, they [Birmingham] stuck to their guns,
played harder and were more aggressive.”
Quarter Scores: 18-4, 13-29, 16-20,
11-18.
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