Westminster Warriors Basketball Club

BRIXTON TOPCATS 46 - WARRIORS 98

League leading Westminster Warriors made the short trip over to South London to take on the Brixton Topcats at the legendary Brixton 'Rec'. The Warriors went into the game as the only unbeaten team in the U18's Premier league (9-0) and were keen to keep up their run of good form against the well disciplined Topcats team.

In preparation for the game coach Nhamo Shire had briefed his team on not becoming complacent, "Despite Brixton's league position, any team representing Jimmy Rogers can always present problems as Brixton teams have a long and successful history in playing a well structured, disciplined style of basketball that can often negate whatever advantages opponents may have. We won't be taking them lightly at all and expect a very competitive game" he said pre-game.

As it turned out, Brixton were without 2 of their leading players, who were away on Christmas holidays, which made the game more lopsided than first imagined. In a forgettable game, which saw the Warriors play some of their most lacklustre basketball of the season, the Warriors bulldozed their way to a sloppy 52 point win. "Not too much positive to come out of this game, to be honest" commented Warriors coach Jackson Gibbons. "Our defense was pretty bad out there today, and we couldn't find our groove offensively either. I give credit to Brixton for battling as best they could, but above all, we played poorly today, so it's one we'll take a look at with the game tape and look to improve upon for the new year" he continued.

The only bright spots for the Warriors were the overall play of Ryan Martin (39 points), Leon Bennett-Harris (24 points) and Rahkim Thomas-Hunte (4 steals). "Ryan was physically dominant out there today, which showed on his statline and I thought Leon played well with him on some good inside/outside play between them at times. However it was Rahkim who really rose to the occasion today. He had a good game on the defensive end, taking away passing lanes, closing up the lane, taking charges and basically doing everything that was asked of him. He had the kind of game we've been expecting from him this season, so hopefully this will be a sign of things to come in the new year" coach Shire concluded.

With the win, Warriors now move to 10-0, the clubs best start ever in top flight Junior competition and lead the league in both wins and also point differential - beating teams by an average of 40 points per game. All eyes will be on the Green Machine's 'young guns' in the new year to see if they can continue their remarkable season as they look to extend their winning ways.

Key Statistics:

Scoring: Martin 39, Bennett-Harris 24

Rebounding: Martin 12, Bennett-Harris 6, Inacio 5

Assists: Okereafor 4, Bennett-Harris 3

Steals: Thomas-Hunte 4, Tek-Kwo 2