WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL
Lothian Phoenix First Team maintained their position at the top of Division Two North as they beat Manchester Revolution 54-30, whilst the Second Team secured a 53-38 win against Southport.
Finlay Erskine led the way for the First Team with an impressive 26 points in their victory, which included 10 in the first quarter with the Phoenix using an 8-0 run to get themselves 14-10 in front in the first quarter.
They put on a press in the second which allowed them to hold their ground on defence, only allowing their opponents to score just four points in the second quarter as the Phoenix led 28-14 at halftime.
Manchester narrowed the gap slightly by taking the third quarter by four points but Phoenix finished strongly with a 14 point streak in the final quarter taking the game away from Manchester.
Shayne Humphries scored a seasonhigh 20 points for the Second Team as he helped guide his team to victory over Southport.
Phoenix gave up an 8-0 run but were able to pull it back to trail by only two points at the end of the first quarter before dominating the second.
A 12-0 run turned the tide while Southport only scored four points in the second as Phoenix sat 26-20 in front at the half-time interval.
A back-and-forth third quarter was edged 11-10 in Phoenix’s favour before replicating the First Team and producing a strong finish to pull away in the final quarter, eventually winning by 15 points.
Conor Smart and Paul Sloan stepped up to coach both games in the absence of Niall Ritchie with Smart saying he was delighted with the club’s performance.
He commented: “I was very proud of both the first and second teams.
“The first team put their opponents under tremendous pressure, making them fight for every inch of court on defence. The second team did a great job working together and maintaining their composure on offence, taking time to pick apart the other team’s defence and looking for opportunities to score.”