[18 JAN 10] CRUSADER NEWS

Coventry Crusaders U18's News

By Adam Manning

CRUSADERS Under 18s Head Coach Alvin Scott conceded that this season “may well be a rebuilding year” as he watched his side play out a record 32-97 loss to second placed Leicester Warriors at the Coventry Sports Centre last Saturday.

Coventry’s youngsters went into the game trying to end a four game barren spell, but Warriors showed why they were challenging with their neighbours Leicester Blaze for top spot in the Midlands Conference to leave Coventry Under 18’s suffering on of their biggest ever losses.

Leicester raced away with the score line right from the first whistle, with the deficit between the two teams dramatically increasing, as Crusaders could only muster an average of 8 points per quarter to Leicester’s 24.

The opening five minutes were a sign of things to come for Coventry, as Warriors raced ahead on a nine point run, five of which came from Leicester’s M.James who was fouled by the Crusaders defence on three occasions. Even though Coventry had started the game brightly with Craig Dakin and John Egid letting shots off after being first to offensive rebounds, it wouldn’t be until the sixth minute until Henry Janda netted Crusaders’ first two points of the game with a shot from the right flank. Warriors maintained their lead as the quarter came to a close, as Leicester’s I.Osman clinically executed two identical three pointers from the left of the court either side of another two points from Janda. The quarter ended 18-5 in Leicester’s favour.

The second quarter proved lethal for the home side, as Leciester managed to score 28 points to Coventry’s 10 to open up the mountainous task of over turning a 29 point deficit. Leicester flew out of the traps within the first minute, with E.Sentance starring to execute half of this four free throws, while team mates R.Keshinro and M.James were quicker to offensive rebounds to give Leicester a further four points. Egid got his first points of the game for Crusaders half way through the quarter after dribbling right to the basket, and although opportunities came around more frequently, Alvin Scott’s men struggled to capitalise. Including influential guard Billy Paronia launched a direct counter attack for Crusaders, playing Tanvir Shah clean through, only for the youngster to lose his composure and miss the basket.

However Paronia looked to redeem his side, running through the Leicester defence for two points after Shah provided the service. However the Leicester defence seemed to grow with confidence, as Warriors continued their clinical streak from counter attacks. This was typical when Leicester’s Thomas-Eduords intercepted from a mix up between Izaak Amanna and Ally Abdallah to race clear and slam dunk two points to notch his side up to 36 points.

E.Sentance continued to punish Crusaders’ defence in the third as he was allowed to drift in from out wide for six points early on. Crusaders refused to give up though despite Leicester’s offensive dominance, with a Henry Janda two pointer and an executed run from Maddar Mohammed bringing Crusaders past the 20 point mark.

Paronia followed suit by picking his moment from the centre of the court to glide through Warriors’ defence for the home side’s first back to back points in the game, with the game set at 23-54. They were unable to build upon this however, as passing mistakes and the opposition’s resilient blocking meant advances from Craig Dakin, Andrew Cook and Izaak Amanna were all soaked up by Leicester, leaving the score line heading into the fourth at 23-67.

Coventry showed more of their potential at the beginning of the final quarter when a slick, fast offensive set involving Amanna and Mohamed set up Janda to burst through to the basket for another two points. It was only a temporary display though, as Warriors were able to run to the basket un challenged at times which culminated in a 16 point run to leave Crusaders Under 18s with their heaviest defeat of the season.

Following the game, Coventry Head Coach Alvin Scott was humble in defeat, but couldn’t hide his disappointment at his side not playing to their potential.

“I think without question we played the best team in the league” he said. “They didn’t do themselves any justice today, and I think what happened is when the opposition got on them, they lost their confidence and didn’t try to play their way”.

He reflected further, saying: “The gap (between the two teams) is not that big, but what I’m very disappointed with is the fundamentals, but it’s life experience. We lacked character today and we played a better team, and it’s something we’ve got to learn from, it’s got to be a learning curve. When you play against good teams you’ve got to play to your potential, not go down to a lower level. I think there was frustration where people tried to force it, when we should have had a bit more poise”.

As for how he expects his side to react to the defeat, Scott stressed: “We’ve got to hold on, we’ve got half of our season to make so somehow we have to pick ourselves up and continue to fight hard. These results happen now and again, but you can’t let it define the rest of your season and you can’t let it get their heads down”.

Crusaders U18's next home match is on the 23rd January when they face Birmingham Mets, tip-off is 2.15pm at the Coventry Sports Centre.

  Main Menu | News | Crusaders U18's News  18 JAN 2010