Match Report by James Bourne:
COVENTRY Crusaders succumbed to a 75-94 defeat against the Derby
Trailblazers at the Sports Centre in what head coach Scott Neely
described as a “frustrating” performance.
Proceedings were held up for over an hour as the Derby coach was stuck
in traffic. However, after a series of discussions, the game went ahead,
albeit with a reduced half-time break, with tip-off just before 9pm.
The Crusaders, playing in their new strip, were looking to protect their
unbeaten record on home court stretching back to December 12th, whilst
the Trailblazers were looking to make it eight league wins in a row.
Both teams started the contest evenly, with Crusaders doing a
professional job in the wake of the delay.
Coventry grabbed a slender opening lead on the league leaders, thanks to
a Ryann Samuel lay-up and a deuce from John Olinger. However, this was
immediately cancelled out by a sleek three-pointer from Derby captain
Matt Shaw.
The Crusaders struggled at times on offensive boards, and this was
exacerbated by the visitors hitting threes from all around the court,
including efforts from Simon Allaway and the impressive Shaw.
But the home side ended the quarter stronger. Facing a ten-point deficit
going into the second ten, Matt Smith used good strength on the inside
to lay up, followed almost immediately by a Dan Taylor rebound on the
buzzer to make it 22-28.
It seemed that the league leaders had an answer for the Crusaders’
attacking plays at every opportunity, and a fine example of this was at
the beginning of the second quarter, where a great move finished off by
Smith outside the two-point-zone was immediately cancelled out by
another long drive from Shaw.
But the Crusaders kept at them for the duration of the half, albeit with
longer distance punches. Simon Payne hit three from outside the arc in
the second quarter, including two in a row to drag Coventry to within a
point at 35-36. His tally of nine was the highest from any player in the
second quarter.
Despite this, the Crusaders had difficulties getting the ball inside on
attacking plays, and it gave the Trailblazers more possession, which
they converted into points. After a score from Joe Francombe under the
hoop, the visitors went on a seven-point run, including free throws from
Simon Spencer and Dave Attewell.
Payne had the final word with a three following slow build-up with
Stephen Danso unable to find any options mid-court, but the visitors
held a 40-48 lead at half time.
Matt Shaw started the second half quickly for the Trailblazers, spotting
Simon Allaway under the hoop, and he converted with nobody around him to
give the visitors an opening score within three seconds.
Derby outscored their hosts by 24 points to 11 in the third quarter,
including six out of six free throw opportunities. The Trailblazers hit
a 94% free throw average throughout the match, whereas the Crusaders’
percentage trailed behind at 55%.
The highlight of the quarter for Crusaders fans was a fine three-pointer
from John Olinger after the Derby defence backed off him.
Olinger was the top scorer for the Crusaders with 20 in a game where the
points were shared out equally, with four Crusaders and six Trailblazers
hitting double figures.
However, Derby were beginning to run away with the contest. Eight
unanswered points gave the Crusaders a mountain to climb in the final
ten minutes, being 51-72 down.
To their credit, the Crusaders battled hard in the final ten minutes,
outscoring their opponents 24-22. Stephen Danso top scored with ten
points, including a fine three-man move involving Dave Edden and John
Olinger to make it 63-83.
But it was the Trailblazers who had the final say with a Ryan Lewis
rebound from a Stedroy Baker shot giving them a 75-94 triumph and an
11-2 win-loss record in the league.
Head coach Scott Neely said after the game that whilst the team did a
good job given the delay, there were some aspects of their shot
selection that could have been better.
Neely said: “Our first half was not bad. We were not taking some of the
shots that I preferred, and we were taking some early jump shots.
“It was a decent first half, but we would either have had a tighter
first half or actually had the lead had we have a little bit more
discipline, and tried to work the ball inside.
“Second half, I think there was one stretch where we
had three turnovers in a row and just not getting a shot, and Derby
coming the other way and capitalizing, and that’s how they pushed up
their lead.”
Quarter Scores: 22-28, 18-20, 11-24,
24-22.
Crusaders top scorers: John Olinger
20,
Dave Edden 14, Stephen Danso 13.
Mohawks
top scorers: Shaw 16,
Allaway 16, Attewell 12.
Crusaders next home match is on the 13th
February when they face
Taunton Tigers, tip-off is 7.30pm at the
Coventry Sports Centre.
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