Westminster Warriors Basketball Club

READING 80 - WARRIORS 93

Warriors U18's remained unbeaten in National League play on Saturday, playing away from home against title contenders Reading Rockets.

The 13 point victory marked a reversal of fortunes for the Warriors, who lost to the Rockets by just 1 point in the Sureshot Cup 4 weeks ago - their only defeat in all competitions this season. Going into the game, the Warriors once again were not at full strength with Uyiosa Abifade unable to make the trip and Ryan Martin and Eliandro Inacio both carrying ailments. However, Warriors coach Nhamo Shire seemed defiant “We’re a little banged up right now, but I don’t believe in excuses. You either do or you don’t do in this game. We expect maximum effort and single-minded focus on the team from whomever steps out on the court in a Warrior uniform today” he said.

Once the game got underway it looked to be a case of ‘de ja vu’ for the Warriors as they struggled early on to find any kind of offensive rhythm as Inacio and Martin picked up quick fouls. Meanwhile Reading edged ahead behind the hot shooting of wingman Kofi Joseph and big man Steven Vaughn. It was left to Warriors backcourt duo of Teddy Okereafor and Leon Bennett-Harris to keep the Warriors within reach of the Rockets, which they did with a series of slashing drives and pull up jump shots, sending the Warriors in down by 2 at the end of the first quarter.

Another early foul on Martin sent him to the bench in the second quarter, forcing the Warriors into an unusually early zone to help protect both Martin and Inacio from picking up any further fouls. However Joseph and Adam Thoseby managed to exploit the usually tight Warrior zone with some sharp outside shooting, pushing the Rockets lead out to 13 by the half.

After a ‘grilling’ by the coaches, the Warriors came out in the third quarter with a determination and sense of urgency they had been lacking in the first half, quickly cutting into the Rockets lead behind 2 quick 3-pointers by Martin and ‘coast to coast’ drives by Okereafor and Bennett-Harris. Switching the defense up again to one of their ‘special’ sets also worked wonders, with defensive wizard Arnold Tek-Kwo putting the clamps on Joseph, the Rockets offense began to sputter. With Martin heating up from all angles and the Warriors backcourt in fine form, the ‘Green Machine’ came storming back into the game and ended the quarter down by just 1 point.

With Tek-Kwo making his presence felt all over the floor, the momentum was now firmly with the Warriors as he continued to keep Joseph at bay while, surprisingly, grabbing offensive rebound after offensive rebound -despite being the smallest player on the floor. Unable to crack the ‘Tek-Kwo’ code, Reading’s usually fluid offense looked disjointed and out of sorts – allowing the Warriors to pull away to a 15 point lead. Some late ‘desperation’ shooting from the Rockets threatened to get them back into the game late in the quarter, but each time they scored Okereafor seemed to strike right back for the Warriors. When Okereafor wasn’t scoring, he was dishing to either Martin or Bennett-Harris for the score, making it virtually impossible for the Rockets to get back into the game.

All that was left was for Martin to seal the game with a thunderous slam dunk, which capped a convincing comeback win for the Warriors and extended their unbeaten record in the league to 9-0. “We looked sloppy in the first half, but really stepped it up in the second” said coach Jackson Gibbons. “Once again, Arnie changed the game with his defensive abilities as usual, but was outstanding on the offensive glass in the crunch, which was big for us. Teddy and Leon played much closer to their potential today and I was pleased with the defensive effort. Ryan came to play in the second half and that was pretty much the story. Still a number of areas we need to improve upon, but a good win over a solid team” he concluded.

KEY STATS:

Scorers: Bennett-Harris 25, Martin 24, Okereafor 22

Rebounds: Martin 9, Tek-Kwo 7, Inacio 6

Steals: Tek-Kwo 4, Okereafor 2