[08 MAR 10] CRUSADER NEWS

 Crusaders U16 News

Crusaders (40) 68

City of Birmingham II (36) 69

By James Bourne:

Coventry Crusaders under 16’s lost by the narrowest of margins against City of Birmingham II at the Sports Centre, but the 68-69 scoreline doesn’t come close to telling the full story of the game.

Both sides were understrengthed coming into the fixture. Coventry were without three of their senior players in captain Luke Johnson, guard Billy Paronia and forward George Riddington, whilst the visitors arrived with only seven men on their roster.

However, this was a good chance for other squad members to get solid game time under their belts, and whilst the result eventually came up short, there were a few good performances from the Crusaders.

Elliot Walker impressed in attack and defence, top scoring with 21 points and being one of only two men to hit double figures for the Crusaders. His height and physicality also troubled Birmingham on boards, even though the visitors sometimes had up to 4 attempts at the basket on attacking plays.

The first quarter started out low-key with both sides struggling to find their form, resulting in a lot of turnover ball.

Coventry didn’t give up the lead after a quick 5-0 advantage, and secured a 26-20 score at the end of the first ten thanks to good free throw percentages – 86% for the Crusaders – and two fine downtown efforts from Stefan Stojsavljevis.

The visitors – who had only won once the whole season – showed good resolve to come back into the game. The first few minutes of the second quarter saw the ball camped around the Crusaders basket, but Birmingham were unable to convert their possession into points.

After a timeout called by Marcus Garvey, a few scores of high quality pushed the Crusaders back in front after the visitors drew level at 31-31. Sam Blackwell’s one-handed lay up was the pick of the bunch, and two quick rebound scores from Elliot Walker before the end of the half made it 40-36 at half time.

The third quarter proved to be the turning point, as Birmingham outscored their hosts 16-25.

The visitors took the lead for the first time in the match with three minutes of the quarter remaining at 54-55, and even though Stojsavljevis swiftly replied, a six point run from the visitors confirmed the change of momentum, going into the final ten 56-61 down.

It seemed to all the spectators at the Sports Centre that the game was lost when a cheap lay-up following an error from the normally reliable Sam Cardwell made it 60-69 with five minutes remaining. However the Crusaders had other ideas.

Callum Mason and Elliot Walker netted in quick succession, and Cardwell atoned for his previous error with a fine score after finding space inside to make it 66-69. Mason’s rebound made it a one point game with 90 seconds remaining.

Unfortunately, the Crusaders couldn’t find that vital score – although they were let off the hook after two free throw misses from the visitors in the final minute – and Birmingham held on to record only their second win of the campaign.

 

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