KNIGHTS BACK IN THE GROOVE
Mixed fortunes as new season gets underway
The Scottish basketball season tipped off last weekend with four out of the five Stirling Knights teams playing away from home in their first games since March.
Coach Cory McCabe took the senior men’s team to Edinburgh University on Sunday for a Divsiion One and after a poor start they found themselves trailing the students 36-21 at half-time.
An outstanding third quarter 34-8 saw the Knights charge back to take the game 80-68 – a fantastic team performance underlined by U17 guard Ruari Doherty adding 11 points on his senior debut with fellow young gun Shaun Craig hitting 17.
McCabe said “The players have worked well in preseason and this paid off for us in the second half. Our young players are really stepping up too which really helps.”
Elsewhere, the U16 women were visitors to Perth where they lost 89-38 against a strong team who will be in contention for the league title.
The mostly U15 Knights team performed well in spells with Molly Waddell and Ciorstadh Ainsworth looking sharp.
The U16 men were on the road bright and early to Aberdeen to face Grampian Flyers. An outstanding start saw Knights take the lead 32-7 which allowed coach Les McGlasson to run his bench on the way to an 95-62 win. Scotland caps Louis Sullivan and Rob Gilmour led the Knights with 35 and 20 points respectively.
The U18 men were also visitors to Perth and won a close, well-fought game 7464 with 37 points from Shaun Craig and U16 Louis Sullivan adding 17.
This weekend sees all five teams play their first home games as Knights host the City of Edinburgh. The senior men game tips off at The Peak on Friday, September 8 at the new time of 7.40pm, all spectators welcome and free entry.