Blazers’ depth shows to take them through
THE weekend brought only one, instead of the scheduled two, matches for Derby Trailblazers but it was enough for them to book their place in the quarterfinals of the L Lynch Trophy.
That came with a 94-72 home win over Division Two Myerscough Academy but Derby’s trip to Team Newcastle the following day was postponed due to a Covid issue within the squad.
Derby were without starting point guard Charlie Brown through injury and Malcolm Smith through illness, while Ryan Bruggeman is still waiting for a visa to travel to the UK.
But Trailblazers showed the depth of their squad by winning at a canter, as Sol Rolls-Tyson led the way with 37 points off 83% floor shooting, plus eight rebounds and two steals.
Jonas Dieterich added 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
“It was a pretty strong performance but there’s definitely room for improvement and we’ll have to improve in the coming weeks,” said head coach Matt Shaw.
“That said, we controlled the game for the most part and there was some good stuff at the offensive end from several individuals, but we can still do better.
“Sol is a really tough match-up for any team when he’s shooting as well as he is from the outside because he has the ability to go off the bounce as well.
“It’s so exciting to have him on the roster this season and we look forward to keep seeing him produce the sort of performances he did at the weekend.”
Back-to-back three-pointers by Rolls-Tyson set Derby on their way but an 8-0 burst put Myerscough 11-6 ahead.
An 8-2 run saw Derby back in the lead at 14-13 midway through the first quarter and they did not trail again.
By the end of the period, Derby were 28-22 ahead and they stretched that to 53-39 by halftime.
Myerscough started the third quarter well and cut the gap to 10 points before a three-pointer from Dieterich was followed by nine successive points from RollsTyson to make it 67-45.
Myerscough were not done and closed the quarter trailing 70-58 but Rolls-Tyson then opened the final period by making it five of five three-pointers as Derby finished well on top.
DERBY: Rolls-Tyson 37, Dieterich 21, Carter 12, May-Thompson 9, King 4, Ugo 3, Oberia 3, Prospere 3, Perry 2. MYERSCOUGH: Shema 16, Akanmu 13, Ellery 13, Cavli 8, Robinson 7, Birch 6, Hencher 5, Kemp 2, Lasisi 2.
The NBL Division One season begins on Saturday with the Blazers away to Thames Valley Cavaliers.