A fantastic advert for basketball was displayed at Wellsprings last Saturday. The many new faces in the Tigers' large home crowd were treated to an intense up and down game, which in the end was just won by the more experienced heads of the visiting Leopards in Division 1 of the National League.
It always promised to be a very competitive affair with Leopards seeking revenge for their 7 point National Trophy loss to the Tigers earlier in the season. This task enhanced since then by their squad being strengthened by the signing of three top players from West Herts Warriors who have withdrawn from the League.
The visitors came out firing on all cylinders, with Laws getting 10 early points of his 20 point game tally, as well as shooters Latham-Henry with 8 of his game high 27 and Coliins all making a first quarter impact, enabling the Leopards to romp away to a ten point lead. However, despite the massive 36 points first quarter haul by the visitors (which included no less than five ‘three-pointers’), the home side were also generating easy scores for the Anderson twins (Rich 21 Points and Kev 17 Points) and themselves notched–up a very respectable 26 points before the first break.
The Tigers increased the pressure at the start of the second and a Jones basket following successive three pointers from Bird and Andrews saw them take the lead for the first time (45 – 44). However, some needless turnovers in a critical 4 minute period followed when they failed to score and Leopards were able to go on a 12 point unanswered run. Taunton struggled to recover this deficit and the second ended with the visitors maintaining their position of a re-established 11 point lead going into the locker room.
However, the third quarter was all about Tigers defence, with the intensity going up to new levels. By restricting Leopards to a single Laws basket from the floor and with all their other 7 points coming from the free-throw line, the home side were right back in the game. Such pressure resulted in Taunton having reduced the visitors lead to 5 points by the final break.
The fourth quarter saw the Tigers clawing back to level the score at 77 a piece after 4 minutes and from then on it was ‘nip and tuck’ right to the end. To the delight of the capacity home crowd the final four minutes saw veteran Jones stepping-up for Taunton, but 5/6 from the line by the Leopards in the final 2 minutes kept the pressure on the Tigers. With Jones being denied a call under the basket in the final minute after a Clifford three had closed the gap to a single basket, it was only a McCarthy 2 pointer right on the buzzer that made it a 5 point win for the Londoners.
Although disappointed with the loss, after the game Head Coach Heath was pleased with his squad's performance,
“Our young guys are gaining in confidence with every game and I was delighted that the Tigers' intensity and style of play had been rekindled. Again, a few silly mistakes eventually cost us the game. However, if these are avoided and the improvements continue, I'm now even more optimistic for the future. Our game at Coventry this weekend against the Crusaders should be interesting.”