Blazers steal Thunder in fourth-quarter blitz
A BLISTERING fourth quarter helped Derby Trailblazers get the 2020-21 NBL Division One basketball season off to a winning start.
They piled on an astonishing 39 points in the final period to beat Worthing Thunder 113-99 at Repton School Sports Centre but it’s now unclear when they will play again as a second national lockdown looms.
The club are waiting for guidance from Basketball England on the latest restrictions.
Against Worthing, Derby had trailed at each of the other three breaks but stepped up a gear in the fourth to ensure the visitors went home empty-handed.
Blake Bowman and Jacob Conway were joint top scorers for the Trailblazers on 26, with Malcolm Smith adding 25 points, Josh Guddemi 23 and Oli Stanley a further 11 as Derby proved they certainly weren’t lacking in fire power, despite being without summer signing Rema Lascelles.
Thunder were led by Cameron Hildreth on 35 points, with Max Richardson on 22 and Tom Ward on 20, but the battle between Hildreth and Bowman was a delight to watch, as the country’s top two under-19 players went head to head against one another.
Hildreth added 11 rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals to his tally, while Bowman had eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block.
He also converted 84.6% of his shots in what must be his most accomplished senior performance for the Blazers to date.
The significance of that battle wasn’t lost on Derby’s head coach Matt Shaw.
“I thought it was a great battle between Cam and Blake, who are two of the greatest young talents of this generation,” said Shaw.
“I was pleased with how tough Blake was and how well he got to the basket.
“He’s such a bright young talent and we’re looking forward to seeing how he does this season, before we wish him well as he embarks on his journey to the United States.”
Derby shot the ball well and worked tirelessly on the boards, eventually out-rebounding Worthing 49-33, with Stanley (9) and Bowman (8) leading the way, ahead of a quartet of players who each collected five.
Having won the tip, Conway opened the scoring with a triple via an assist from Smith and Bowman then converted a three-point play, as Worthing’s influential American Zaire Taylor picked up his second foul.
He then had to sit out for the bulk of first half, something which no doubt helped Derby’s efforts.
“Obviously, if a player of Zaire’s quality gets in foul trouble, that’s definitely helpful,” added Shaw.
“That certainly wasn’t the game plan but it was useful that his minutes were limited.”
Thunder led 52-51 at half-time and 76-74 going into the final break.
A three-point play from Richardson extended Worthing’s lead to five points before the Trailblazers – and Conway in particular – started to step up their game and take control.
A 13-2 run followed, with Conway netting seven of the points and Bowman completing two coast-to-coast moves, one of which followed a block from Guddemi, opening up an 87-81 advantage.
Moments later, Taylor became the first of four Thunder players to foul out, despite their being almost six minutes remaining.
Worthing briefly cut the gap back to 93-88 with two minutes and 40 seconds left but they then resorted to fouling to stop the clock and Derby closed out the game with some exemplary foul shooting.
Shaw added: “I thought Jacob had a solid debut. It took him a bit of time to get into the game but I thought his fourth quarter performance was stellar. He came through in the clutch and was tough down the stretch for us.
“Josh also had a solid game, despite not shooting as well as we know he can. That said, he found a way to get it done and we’re just excited to have him back on the court.
“The fourth quarter was just fantastic because the guys were really tuned in.”
DERBY: Bowman 26, Conway 26, Smith 25, Guddemi 23, Stanley 11, Ugo 2, Brown 0, Chilver 0, Ptak 0, Bousfield DNP, Prospere DNP, Roberts DNP.
WORTHING: Hildreth 35, Richardson 22, Ward 20, Crawford 12, Fontaine 8, Ives 2, Ballone 0, Goddard 0, Taylor 0.