Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Win the perfect response
Basketball
Canterbury Crusaders returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 61-27 win over Folkestone Saints to keep their East Kent League play-off final destiny in their own hands.
Crusaders bounced back from their second loss of the season – 54-28 against Christ Church College – to ensure that they will reach the finals if they win their remaining fixtures.
Crusader Sam Sauriol opened the scoring but Saints briefly took the lead after Cara Shaw levelled, followed by Mollie Davies knocking down a jumper from the top of the key.
Crusaders stepped up their defence and shut out their opponents for the remainder of the quarter while some excellent rebounding and quick outlet passing from Effy Panayiotou set up the fast break which Danielle Muckian and Emma Loane converted to give Crusaders a 16-6 lead.
In the second quarter, Crusaders stuttered in offence, scoring only two baskets in the first six minutes.
They created plenty of chances but failed to capitalise, although their defensive work maintained their 10-point lead, despite the efforts of Saints players Janka Goldman and Agne Zilinskyte.
Crusaders finally found space in the Saints zone and Sauriol helped ensure the home side were 16 points ahead (28-12) at half-time.
The third quarter was the defining period as any hope of Saints getting back into the game were ended as a result of a fine shooting display from Benita Palmer.
Saints were forced get out to Palmer to stop the run but it opened up space in their zone which Sauriol exploited, taking her personal tally to 12 points.
Crusaders’ movement and passing were good and the quarter finished with Panayiotou knocking down a big threepointer to put Crusaders 27 points up.
The fourth quarter was almost a formality but Saints kept up their efforts, determined to make Crusaders work hard for possession.
Davies and Ffion Platt, with a long range three-pointer, kept Crusaders busy in defence while Sophie Moseley did well under the boards, grabbing the loose ball to maintain the offensive momentum.
Muckian ran the lanes to feed Lisa Martin who took her chances well and Palmer hit three baskets in succession to take her personal tally to 14.
As time ran down, Sauriol put back a rebound making her equal top scorer with Palmer to give Crusaders a much needed 34-point win.
Coach Graham Jones said: “It was good to bounce back with a win after hitting a low point against Christ Church. We were only eight points down going into the final quarter (of that game) but we totally lost our way.”