Newry Fliers 39 Blackstone 21
Having faced a tough Blackstone side at the start of the season, Newry Fliers U16 Boys welcomed the Ballymena team on Saturday, hoping that their home court would give them the advantage.
Having won the tip, Eoin McStay opened scoring early for the Fliers. Point guard Kamil McCabe took charge of the game for his team, setting the pace at the level that suits the Fliers best, working the ball around the court and allowing for shot after shot for the home side.On the other end of the court, Blackstone struggled against the Fliers zone defence. Having identified Blackstone’s strongest player, Michael Higgins, early in the game, the Fliers put their strongest defender, Ross O’Hanlon, on him, giving him one job- to keep Higgins out of the scoring zone. And that is exactly what O’Hanlon did. Playing tough defence, O’Hanlon prevented Higgins from scoring until the closing minutes of the game, earning himself game MVP for the effort and closing the quarter with a 5 point lead, 7-2.
A fresh set of players came on to the floor for the Fliers in the 2nd quarter, hoping to maintain the standard of play already set. The Fliers looked unsure of themselves at first. On defence, Guards Gary Black and Garrett Campbell struggled to communicate at the top of the key, with Higgins still on the floor. On offence, post player Aaron O’Reilly was playing out wide, making it difficult for any points to be scored inside the key and thus relying on Campbell to drive through several players at a time for points.
After a quick time out talk though, the Fliers were back on form on offence and defence. O’Reilly resumed his usual position, adding points to the Fliers tally. On defence the Fliers looked sharper, communicating well and, with strong rebounding under the basket from Paul Cunningham, Blackstone were unable to add any points in the 2nd quarter, ending the half with a positive 20-2 lead.
The Fliers went out into the 3rd quarter determined to end the game once and for all, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Blackstone started to score. The Fliers continued to look strong on both ends of the court with great work from the Fliers’ Captain Aaron Miller, driving hard to the basket and providing skilled, long range passes for his team to add points to the board.
But as the minutes pushed on, the Fliers clocked up some unnecessary fouls, getting into foul trouble and allowing Blackstone to add some points. Despite this, the Fliers continued to soar, going into the final quarter with a 30-6 lead.
With such a lead for the home side, Blackstone knew they would have to increase the pressure on the Fliers, knowing that 8 minutes in basketball is still plenty of time to make a comeback. The visitors started off well, forcing a turnover and finally getting Higgins on the score sheet. As the Fliers went to inbound the ball after this score, they were faced with new competition- a full court press. When done correctly, a press can force turnovers for the offensive team and Blackstone were working hard to ensure that happened, with Higgins again scoring for his side and closing the gap.
After a few efforts, the Fliers settled themselves, with Black, McCabe and Ben Crozier working well together to pass their way out of trouble. Once the Fliers had cleared the half court mark, they looked as strong as ever, with points added from Crozier, McCabe and Michael Clarke. In the dying minutes of the game, hard work from O’Hanlon and Lloyd Clarke at the top of the key ensured that Blackstone had no way to comeback, ending the game with a sixth win, 39-21.
Newry Fliers: A.Miller (C) 6, R.O’Hanlon (MVP) 4, A.O’Reilly 10, G.Campbell 5, E.McStay 5, B.Crozier 4, M.Clarke 2, P.Cunningham 2, K.McCabe 1, L.Clarke, C.Lewis, G.Black
