Durham League - Fixtures re-start this week after the Christmas break, so the round-up of statistics from the first half of the season finishes with a look at Division One.

The first division of the Durham League was seemingly taken over by Teesside this season. In a relatively small league of seven teams, five play their home games somewhere on Teesside. Of the remaining two, only East Durham and Houghall College A actually play their home games in the County of Durham. But the Durham League it is, even though those Teesside teams are dominant not just in quantity, but quality as well. A look at the current first division league and cup tables only serves to confirm that.

Middlesbrough Mavericks, the most improved team since the start of the season, head the league table, albeit by virtue of having played more games than their rivals. No one though can deny them their place in the sun at this mid-point of the season and what they need to do is to knuckle-down and prove that their 96-83 cup win over Teesside Huskies was no fluke.

For their part Teesside Huskies did complete a Durham League treble in season 1998-99 and of the five Teesside teams they do seem to have the right blend of experience and youth to be able to match that achievement. At the moment though they are holding up the Cup table, which seems to belie the fact that on their day they are good enough to beat any of their division one rivals.

Middlesbrough College Academy has to be the team of the moment. The Academy has only been open for business for a short time and in this, their first season in Durham they are still unbeaten. They hold second spot in the league table and they lead the first division cup qualification table and under the tutelage of Paul Douglas they play a brand of fast running basketball which many of their older opponents have not been able to live with.

The two non-Teesside members of the exclusive first division club, Nissan and East Durham and Houghall College A are well matched. The College season was delayed when they had trouble registering the Academy players with England Basketball and Nissan have been plagued by injuries since September. It is hoped that the Christmas break has given them both time to re-group and come out fighting to give a bit more respectability to their standings in the two tables.

Back on Teesside, the two remaining clubs, Norton and University of Teesside both find themselves in precarious positions in both league and cup tables. Both have youth on their side though and someday they are certain to regain their status of old.

Current Division One league and cup tables and some of the seasons statistics so far are shown below . Remember that a more detailed look at the tables, plus a much greater variety of statistics can be seen on the Durham League website at www.geocities.com/basketdurham

Division One (League)

P W L Pts

Middlesbrough Mavericks 6 4 2 14

Middlesbro Coll Academy 4 4 0 12

Teesside Huskies 4 3 1 9

Norton 5 1 4 7

Nissan 5 1 4 7

University of Teesside 4 1 3 6

ED and H College A 2 1 1 4

Division One leading scorers (League): Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 139, Steve Butler (Norton A) 113, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 110, Steve Lowde (Norton A) 102, Andrew Swanson (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 75, Rob Bryson (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 69, Steve Dixon (Nissan) 62, Marlon Henry (Middlesbrough College Academy) 57, Rob Harland (Teesside Huskies) 53, Bill Spragg (Nissan) 51.

Division One (Cup)

P W L Pts

Middlesbro Coll Academy 3 3 0 9

Middlesbrough Mavericks 3 3 2 9

Nissan 4 2 2 8

ED and H College A 3 2 1 7

University of Teesside 3 0 3 2

Norton 2 0 2 1

Teesside Huskies 2 0 2 1

Division One leading scorers (Cup): Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 81, Phil Thomas (ED and H College A) 64, Steve Butler (Norton A) 50, Paul Connery (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 46, Arran Hope (Nissan) 39, Graham Hunter (ED and H College A) 35, Wayne Robinson (Middlesbrough College Academy) 34, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 33, Ian Barrow (ED and H College A) 32, Tony Hanson (Teesside Huskies) 30.

Division One leading scorers (League and Cup combined): Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 164, Steve Butler (Norton A) 163, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 143, Steve Lowde (Norton A) 102, Rob Bryson (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 91, Andrew Swanson (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 89, Paul Connery (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 87, Arran Hope (Nissan) 84, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 81, Kieron Achara (Middlesbrough College Academy) 69, Wayne Robinson (Middlesbrough College Academy) 68, Bill Spragg (Nissan) 66, Phil Thomas (ED and H College A) 64, Marlon Henry (Middlesbrough College Academy) 63, Tony Hanson (Teesside Huskies) 62, Steve Dixon (Nissan) 62.

Division One leading averages (League and Cup combined): Steve Butler (Norton A) 40.8, Chris Jackson (University of Teesside) 36.0, Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 27.3, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 27.0, Leon Gabbidon (Teesside Huskies) 26.5, Marlon Henry (Middlesbrough College Academy) 21.3, Phil Thomsa (ED and H College A) 21.3, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 20.4, Steve Lowde (NortonA) 20.4, Richard Stoker (Teesside Huskies) 19.5.

Division One leading three-point basket scorers: Wayne Robinson (Middlesbrough College Academy) 17, Steve Butler (Norton) 16, Carl Henry (Middlesbrough College Academy) 15, Chris Maddison (Nissan) 12, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 12, Andy Reid (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 11, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 10, Rob Harland (Teesside Huskies) 10, Michael Gayle (Middlesbrough College Academy) 7, Richard Stoker (Teesside Huskies) 6