The Medway Park Crusaders Under 14 team played their third and forth games of the season at home on Saturday 14th November 2009.

The first game was against London Pioneers.

Crusaders didn’t have a good record at home before these games. In fact, last season they didn’t win at Simon Langton School once so were hoping that a new season was going to mean a different outcome. This certainly turned out to be the case…

The first game against London Pioneers started fairly slowly with neither side putting up many points on the board early on. At the end of the first quarter it was 6 -5 in Crusaders favour with all but the last two points for Pioneers coming from just a 2 minute spell in the middle of the quarter.

Crusaders were solid in defence, but struggled going forward, just converting 3 out of 8 attempts. However, Crusaders got it together in the second quarter and stopped Pioneers from scoring at all and managing to put 6 points on the board to finish the half ahead 12-5.

The teams were very evenly matched in the third quarter, both scoring 4 baskets each so the quarter ended with the score 20-13.

Although Crusaders scored more baskets than Pioneers in the fourth quarter (3-2), Pioneers converted 6 out of 7 free throws and outscored Crusaders in the last quarter 10 points to 7. The game finished 27-23

Coach Matt Fenton said “The old saying that “playing badly and winning is a sign of a good team” was definitely the phrase of the day on Saturday. With the game being delayed by over an hour due to transport problems for our opponents Pioneers, and despite leading from start to finish, we never really established ourselves or got into any rhythm offensively. In fact, it was our tough defence, limiting a talented Pioneers team to a mere 23 points in 28 minutes and our mental toughness down the stretch that ensured that we came out the game with a victory. 11 points from Liam Carpenter along side strong plays at both ends of the court were highlights of the game.”

Coach Matt Fenton’s MVP for this game was Tyler Russell.

Next game was against London Spartans.

London Spartans had just lost to London Pioneers in a very close overtime game so Crusaders made sure that they started well and once they had established an early lead, managed to do enough to keep the gap through the game.

The first quarter ended with Crusaders 7 points up 17-10. In the second quarter Crusaders played well going forward and in defence and kept the gap fairly constant to finish the half up 25-19.

In the last two quarters Crusaders capitalised on Spartans earlier energy draining game and score well finishing the third quarter up 38-21 and then scored a similar amount in the fourth quarter to end the game 49-22 and securing their fourth consecutive win.

Coach Matt Fenton said “During the second game, normal service was resumed by Crusaders as they ran out to a relatively easy win at the hand of Spartans. Early points inside from Kyle Vincett, and George Fuller allowed the lead to open up and Crusaders never looked back. The most pleasing parts of the game was seeing Jono Hayward sink 2 free throws, an area of his game that he has worked tirelessly to improve, and points for rookie Mitchell Rae. The winning margin of 27 must also be attributed to the fact that Spartans were involved in a nail biting overtime defeat to Pioneers 5 minutes before tip off.”

Coach Fenton’s MVP for the second game was George Fuller.

Crusaders have continued their great start to the season with 4 wins out of 4 against London clubs. They next travel to Westminster to play London Pioneers and Hertfordshire Warriors on Sunday 22nd November.

Statistics – London Pioneers Game
EBL National League Under 14’s Boys South II Division

London Pioneers (5, 5, 13) 23
Medway Park Crusaders (6, 12, 20) 27
Scoring:
Medway: Liam Carpenter 11, Tommy Dobson 4, Tyler Russell 4

Statistics – London Spartans Game
EBL National League Under 14’s Boys South II Division

Medway Park Crusaders (17, 25, 38) 49
London Spartans (10, 19, 21) 22
Scoring:
Medway: Tyler Russell 16, George Fuller 10, Kyle Vincett 8

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