Young guns star as the Tornadoes reach semis
AFTER a season which promised much but delivered little so far, Coventry Tornadoes reached two semifinals in the Warwickshire Basketball Handicap cup competitions.
Whilst their senior team were defeating highly-fancied Nuneaton Predators1 88-76 in the Plate competition qualifier, the stars of the club were undoubtedly their juniors who took on the experienced Team Rebels who have been long-established in the second tier of Warwickshire Basketball.
Tornadoes 2, a hybrid team selected from their 14 to 17-year-old age group squads, entered the Challenge Cup competition as a guest side and were given a handicap start of 35 points which so far has seen them through to the semi-final stage after they managed to stave off a late charge by Rebels, who received 30 themselves, and after a terrific contest the scores were level at 97-97 with five minutes left.
Despite all the pressure, the youngsters held firm and cashed in at the opposite end to clinch a 108-103 win which takes them into the draw along with JM Grizzlies, who, although being unbeaten in the league, qualified as best losing side after their 75-77 defeat by Westwood Rhinos.
Rhinos’ win over Grizzlies brought the most exciting fixture of the tournament so far, thanks to a series of last-minute efforts by both sides after Grizzlies had pulled back the 25-point handicap Rhinos received.
It was hard work though and they could not master the Coventry side until the third quarter, when things started to go right and, after finding themselves adrift at 53-33, they began a salvage exercise which hauled them
up to 62-63 inside the last ten minutes.
Rhinos went again as Mike Kearsley and Matt Bevis slotted home triples but Grizzlies struck gold then sank three shots from the foul-line to go ahead for the first time with three minutes on the clock.
Kearsley put another three away, and followed it up with a two pointer to sneak back in front. Not to be outdone, veteran Steve Impey drained one for the Warwick side and with eight seconds remaining Kearsley responded. Grizzlies took possession but the final shot of the night rolled agonisingly round the ring and out as Westwood banked a famous win.
In the Division One Handicap cup the two leading sides in Warwickshire Basketball coasted to victory, with Tile Hill Trojans1 completely destroying Warwick China Red for the second week running. This time though the students had a 30-point start but were torn apart by the rampant Trojans who had Mark Larner leading the way with 51 points.
Arden Griffins maintained their 100 per cent record for the season by defeating Leamington Spartans1 11169, as their hosts tried to build on their 25-0 start without achieving any success.
It was party-time for flying forward Paul Roberts who sank another ten three-pointers as Griffins bossed it all the way from tip to buzzer.