Ruthless Blazers are rampant again
BASKETBALL
FOR the second week in succession, Derby Trailblazers inflicted a 40-point defeat in an East Midlands derby.
Their 88-48 home win was Derby’s biggest-ever margin of victory over Leicester and leaves the Blazers top of NBL Division One, while the Warriors are still looking for their first win in all competitions this season.
It was another well-balanced performance from Derby, who were led by Jacob Conway with 18 points, but it was Oli Stanley’s production which really caught the eye. The Derby captain finished with 16 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.
Ash Ugo (15), Josh Guddemi (14) and Ronnie Oberia (14) provided good support for a Blazers side still lacking Charlie Brown and Luke Ptak through injury.
“I was really delighted with the level of performance,” said head coach Matt Shaw. “I thought we started phenomenally well and we managed to stay focused throughout. We played some really good defence and made it really tough for them to get going.
“I’ve no doubt we managed to catch Leicester on a bad day but I was pleased we didn’t take our foot off the gas and we executed our game plan pretty well for the most part.
“It was also really good to see some of the younger guys get a chance to play extended minutes and contribute really well at this level.
“We came out with a lot of energy and we played really good defence to hold them to 14 points in the first half. That was our main focus and regardless of who we’re playing, we just try to come out with a lot of intensity and play as good defence as we can.”
The Warriors were missing leading scorer Henri Langton and former Derby guard Ellis Haggith but 6’9” centre Elji Jabby returned. The Blazers still had a significant height advantage and used it to win the battle of the boards 61-34.
Defensively, Derby were superb, restricting the Warriors to six points in the first quarter and 14 in the first half. In contrast, the Blazers shot 52% from the field and punished the visitors with 52 points in the paint.
Derby took a 27-6 first quarter advantage and a 12-2 run capped off by a huge dunk from Stanley took the score to 42-14 at halftime.
Baskets from Conway and Malcolm Smith saw the third quarter lead peak at 53-16 and that was the cue for Derby to start bringing their young bench players into the action.
The Warriors managed to close out the quarter with a 13-8 run but they were still 61-29 in arrears as they headed into the final quarter.
The Blazers had another strong start to the fourth, when Jake Chilver’s opening basket was followed by an example of Stanley at his absolute best. Blocking an attempt from Pearson, he collected the defensive rebound and then provided the assist for a Conway basket. Academy player Jack Halstead then followed suit by rebounding a missed shot and feeding Conway for another score.
Derby stretched their lead to 72-32 off the back of an offensive put-back from Stanley and a wide open three from Ash Ugo. Three-pointers from Dom Prospere and Guddemi in another 10-0 burst took the score to 82-36 for the Blazers’ biggest lead on a dominant day. DERBY: Conway 18, Stanley 16, Ugo 15, Guddemi 14, Oberia 14, Smith 4, Prospere 3, Chilver 2, Roberts 2. LEICESTER: Henry 10, King 8, Pearson 6, Turiccki 5, Chingombe 4, Willian 4, Slasor 3, Gayle 2.
■Derby’s final action before the Christmas break will be at home to Worthing Thunder in the quarter-finals of the Trophy on Sunday (2pm).