Colliers end Saints hoodoo:
P65
South Lanarkshire Colliers’ under-16 boys team are celebrating after earning their first-ever win over St Mirren.
In five years of trying, Colliers had failed to topple one of Scotland’s elite basketball clubs.
But last week they came from behind to earn a 62-53 win over their rivals at St Andrew’s and St Bride’s High School.
Colliers came out strong against their guests, making sure they kept their discipline and didn’t commit needless fouls.
As a result, Colliers took an early lead through good safe passing on fast breaks and good off-ball movement in the half court offence, giving them a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A five-point lead against a team the hosts were so used to chasing, might have left the players thinking this was too good to be true.
St Mirren were clearly rattled and raised their game, focusing on getting the ball inside to their centre where they had a clear size advantage.
In doing so, they clawed the scoreline back to 35-27 at half time.
After the interval, Colliers knew they had to get back to basics by making safe passes and, playing help defence, they got stop after stop.
In transition St Mirren’s main threat committed his fourth foul of the contest and their coach took the decision to sub him off to avoid fouling out.
It was at this point Colliers really took control. Now with a size advantage, they could exploit their own inside play and this frustrated their opponents – so much so that one of their players was ejected from the game for committing two unsportsmanlike fouls.
Colliers took the quarter a massive 25-6, setting up a thrilling final period.
In the fourth, St Mirren went back to their big guy in an attempt to claw back the Colliers’ 11 point lead but the hosts kept him quiet to earn a nine-point victory.
Thrilled coach James Ritchie said: “Everyone played a role and surpassed any expectations I had.
“Alexander Gunn and Dean Quinn were fantastic in their rebounding efforts. Stuart Mackinnon, Jordan Ritchie, Fraser Reid, David Gordon and Matthew Bell showed great composure on the ball.
“Adam Walsh and our captain Robbie Watson were a constant threat driving into the lane, causing St Mirren all kinds of problems on defence. Coupled with Robbie and David applying unstoppable defensive pressure, it rounded off a complete team performance.”