Basketball

A mixed bag of league and cup games was played in Durham this week. The final two games of the third round of the Mens County Cup were completed, and both ties went to form.

In the first, division one side, Steve Whitehead Joinery and Double Glazing Middlesbrough Mavericks, clocked a comfortable 89-68 win against second division East Durham and Houghall College A thanks to a great first half.

Baskets from six different players had edged Mavericks ahead at 20-14 by the end of the opening quarter. The Middlesbrough side then took charge in the second period as Marek Pawlak, Wayne Bailey and Paul Connery grabbed control of the boards and when they finished the half with a 11-1 surge their cushion was 43-25 at half-time. A much closer third period raised College hopes as David Wylie, John Harding and Malcolm Johnson all countered baskets from Pawlak, Andy Buchanan and Ian Viveash and although College netted 20 points, the 30 which Mavericks scored had stretched their advantage to 73-45 with ten minutes to play. Mavericks then relaxed and a 20-4 College run between the third and eighth minutes of the last quarter did raise the heat before Viveash eased them into the quarter-finals.

Pawlak and Viveash were Middlesbrough Mavericks match-winners with 26 and 24 points apiece, although Buchanan and Bailey did add 15 and 14. Three players hit double figures for East Durham and Houghall College A; Harding (20), Wylie (18) and Vickers (17).

The second County Cup tie also went to the home side as Nissan scored a 85-79 success from a ding-dong battle with guests Willington Wasps.

The roller coaster pattern of the game was set in the first quarter as the lead changed hands throughout until a 7-2 last two minutes gave Wasps the edge at 24-20. The second quarter belonged to Nissan as great defence restricted Wasps to only 12 points. At the other end of court Arran Hope, Ian Barrow and Lee Davie were all converting chances and when the interval buzzer sounded it was Nissan who were cruising at 45-36. Wasps were not done though and thanks to Ben Scorer, Neil Baxter and Simon Lloyd they were buzzing again in a third period which they bossed to take the lead again at 58-54 as the quarter closed. The tie finally swung Nissan's way in the opening three minutes of the last quarter as Hope and Dale Burrell did best in a 11-2 burst which gave them a 69-56 advantage which Wasps this time could not reel in.

Points were well spread throughout the Nissan team although Hope and Burrell did finish with 21 and 17 as Bill Spragg chipped in with 12. Four players shared most of the Willington Wasps points; Scorer (27), Baxter (19), Paul Campbell (16) and Lloyd (11).

A couple of first division league fixtures were also played.

Middlesbrough College Academy A avenged their 79-70 County Cup defeat by Belmont Reds with a 89-66 victory at home to the Durham side.

Roberts Shanks and David Urwin gave Academy a 14-8 lead by the seventh minute, before Andrew Knox hit back to cut the deficit to 19-16 as the first phase finished. Likewise a good start to the second quarter stretched the Academy cushion to 26-16 before Richard Huntley and Mark Elderkin initiated a good last five minutes for Reds and at the interval Academy led 38-33. Back-to-back three-pointers from Urwin opened up a 48-35 gap after just three minutes of the second half, only for Belmont to cut it to 50-44 three minutes later. Academy then made the telling break as Shanks and Carl Latham-Henry combined in a 13-4 finish which gave Academy match control at 63-48 as the thirtieth minute finished and Reds were beaten.

Four players shared all but six of the Middlesbrough College Academy A points; Shanks (29), Latham-Henry (21), Urwin (20) and Osei (13). Huntley did best for Belmont Reds with 21 points as Knox and Elderkin got 15 and 12.

Belmont Reds rounded off their week in much better humour with a 87-59 success from a league fixture with University of Teesside at Middlesbrough.

Belmont are both well organised and hard working at both ends of court and it was defensive intensity which gave them the early edge and then allowed them to ease away throughout the forty minutes to chalk up their third league win of the season. Belmont led 42-29 by the end of the first half and with the University students flagging early in the second half Belmont were able to inflate and keep a 15 to 20 point gap throughout the rest of the game.

Richard Huntley topped the scoring for Belmont Reds with 20 points as Andrew Knox and Mark Elderkin collected 14 and 13. David Jack, Adam Taylor and Chris Harnish did best for University of Teesside with 18, 12 and 11 respectively.

The best second division fixture of the week gave Hartlepool Hawks ND a narrow 94-88 victory over hosts Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves.

Points from Leon Thompson, Anthony Robinson and Ian Anderson gave the visitors a 27-18 lead as the first ten minutes ended. The second quarter belonged to Sam Attah as he almost single-handedly put Wolves ahead at 37-36 after eight minutes and kept them there at 42-40 as the first half finished. Hawks had the better of a staccato third quarter at 62-59 and the contest was all-square at 69-69 with seven minutes left. Hawks then unleashed a barrage of three-pointers from the Thompson brothers and Robinson and with a minute and a half left on the clock they led 91-82. A brace of threes from Attah cut that gap to just 91-88, but Hawks held on.

Attah was outstanding with 50 points for Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves as Dawson and Dave Storey added 16 and 14. Luke Thompson just edged Robinson out with 29 to 27 as Leon Thompson netted 20, all for Hartlepool Hawks ND.

Trimdon Community College Association were back to their best to win a bruising encounter with Shildon Strollers 95-85.

A see-saw first quarter ended at 26-16 to Trimdon. Strong inside play from Steve Troman and Terry Fell for Strollers was countered by a good spell from Lee Norton in the second period and when it ended Trimdon still had the edge at 41-38. Trimdon pulled away to 68-61 by the end of an even third quarter and with Strollers snapping at their heels it was only a strong finish which netted them their win.

Consett Steelers kept up the pressure on Trimdon and Hawks at the top of the table with a 83-63 triumph at Framwellgate against Durham Saints.

A great first half gave Steelers the spoils. As so often this season Matt Patterson took the early initiative for Steelers and a trio of three-point baskets from him helped the visitors to take a 30-18 lead by the end of the first phase. Colin Lishman did all he could to get Saints marching, but it was Brendan McNeaney, Mark Ewen and Patterson who dominated the second quarter to give Steelers a 51-36 half-time advantage. The second half was much more even as Phil Bailey and Neil Guthrie did all they could to rescue Saints cause only for Graham Craggs and Chris Telford to ease Steelers through to the close.

Patterson was once again the leading scorer for Consett Steelers with 30 points as McNeaney and Ewen netted 18 and 11. Four players shared most of the points for Durham Saints; Lishman (19), Bailey (15), Neil Guthrie (12) and Craig Sowerby (11).

Old Houghtonians had a comfortable 106-42 win at home to Hartlepool CJ Hydraulics A. 15 points without reply in the last four minutes of the first quarter put Houghtonians in charge at 23-8 as the ten minutes finished and set the tone for the rest of the game. Hydraulics did only marginally better in the second quarter with nine points, but the 26 which Anthony Burdis, Phil Smailes and Nathan Jenner helped themselves to gave Houghtonians a 49-17 advantage which Hydraulics, even at their best, would not have been able to counter.

A mix-up over eligibility of players meant that Shildon Strollers had to replay their Division Two Cup quarter-final with Middlesbrough College Academy B, but when Academy arrived with only five players Strollers seized the day to win 67-36.

A 20-10 opening period in which Steve Pattison and Craig Lowe did the damage posted Strollers intent and when Academy collected only five second quarter points, the match as a contest was over as Strollers led 37-15 by half-time. Only in the last quarter did Dean Hanson and Michael James give Academy any solace, but it was too little and too late.

County Cup: Middlesbrough Mavericks 89 East Durham and Houghall College A 68; Nissan 85 Willington Wasps 79.

Division One: Middlesbrough College Academy A 89 Belmont Reds 66; University of Teesside 59 Belmont Reds 87.

Division Two: Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves 88 Hartlepool Hawks ND 94; Old Houghtonians 106 Hartlepool CJ Hydraulics A 42; Durham Saints 63 Consett Steelers 83; Trimdon Community College Association 95 Shildon Strollers 85.

Division Two Cup: Shildon Strollers 67 Middlesbrough College Academy B 36.

Division Three: Belmont 78 Teesside Huskies 36; East Durham and Houghall College B 54 Durham Knights 62.

Division Three Cup: Teesside Huskies 70 Durham Knights 64.