Taunton Tigers U16s hosted Solent Kestrels from the Premier Division South, which is a league above Tigers, in the 3rd round of the Sureshot Cup. Solent, having only lost once in their league, were coming up against an undefeated Tigers team who are improving with each game.
The Tigers team, in there new kit, were playing at Wellsprings for only their 2nd competitive game but with the help of a vocal crowd the team planned to put on a good show.
The start of the first quarter did not start well with the Kestrels going on a 14 – 3 run. Tigers played nervously in those opening stages forcing the ball and not executing the game plan. But after a couple of timeouts by Coaches Carter and Scarborough the Tigers defensive intensity lifted, which stopped the Kestrels scoring until the buzzer. Tigers clawed their way back into the quarter and finished only 3 points down.
The 2nd quarter ebbed and flowed with both teams exchanging blows and going on mini runs. Pip Anderson and Ed Mortimer were able to come off the bench and grab rebounds and score vital points. This was matched by George Scarborough who was able to come on for the guards and defend Solents better players. Tigers were only 2 points down at half time.
The start of the 3rd quarter was poor from the Tigers with the Kestrels again going on another strong scoring run. An early timeout in the quarter was called to iron out the problems. George Williams' season finally took off and he found his scoring touch by individually scoring 10 points in the quarter for Tigers. The Tigers were down by as much as 11 points with 2 minutes remaining but with Williams ending the quarter with 6 straight points, the team would end up being 5 points down heading into the 4th.
Tigers started the last quarter again very nervously and with only 5 minutes to go the team were down by 12 points. But having rested most of the starting 5 players which included influential Scott Speed who had 4 fouls for much of the game, the Tigers team defence started to take over the game. With the bench and the crowd getting noisy, the team restricted Solent to only scoring 2 points in the last 4 minutes. The belief was now sky high and with Tigers knocking down free throws and Speed driving to the hoop, the game turned especially when Solents Kirkman got fouled out in the 7th minute having already Scored a game high 31 points. In the dying seconds of the game captain Sean Clifford, who had been a calm presence throughout, was able to score a free throw to tie the game and take it into overtime!
Solent started the overtime period of 5 minutes better but Tigers were able to stick with them and in the last minute of overtime the team finally took the lead for the first time in the game, and with Sam Hardy icing 2 free throws with 1 second left on the clock the game was won.
This was a big team performance with everybody contributing greatly to the win, the players were reminded to let the win soak in but not to get to carried away. The team is growing in stature but there are still plenty of areas which need improving and with one more game before the Christmas break at home to Plymouth the aim is to go into the new year undefeated. The team will know next week whether it will be either Reading Rockets or Brighton Bears at home in the Quarter finals.