Kentish Express Ashford & District
Lions surge to victory
The North School Lions continued their undefeated start to the ABL regular season with a stunning 93-91 victory at The Norwood School in south London.
The beginning of the game saw the Southern Conference rivals trading baskets at lightning pace. The Lions were led by star guard Conal Parnell, whose 16 points gave them a 28-24 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw the Lions continue to execute with precision on the offensive end, however they struggled to contain the free scoring Norwood in transition. Thirtytwo second quarter points for the home team saw the Lions trailing 56-48 at the half-time break.
Norwood pushed their lead out to 16 points within two minutes of the third quarter but the introduction of
Kieran Hodges fired up the Lions defence as they forced Norwood into a series of missed shots.
Parnell continued to drive the Lions forwards on offence as he reached the 30-point mark and they had reduced the deficit to just two (74-72) with one quarter to play.
Norwood switched to a 2-3 zone defence in the fourth in an attempt to slow down the Lions attack. However guard Roshan Thakali responded in style, hitting six straight three-point baskets to give the Lions their first lead since the opening quarter at 83-82. Norwood continued to attack relentlessly, but the Lions were able to rely on their defence to force the gamewinning stop. Fittingly, Thakali hit the game’s final shot at the free-throw line as the Lions secured a famous away victory.
Parnell led all players with 42 points and Roshan Thakali’s hot shooting saw him score 30 points of his own.
Lions head coach Andrew Sunderland said: “Conceding 56 points in the first half made things really tough for us but the players adjusted magnificently in the third quarter. It took a total team effort but we held Norwood to just 35 second-half points and it won us the game.”
The win takes the Lions to
4-0 for the season and moves them to joint first in the ABL Southern Conference.
Parnell said: “It was a very physical game which was ultimately won by team defence. We stayed composed in the fourth quarter to keep the game at our pace and we consistently hit key shots to maintain our momentum.”