This week Taunton Tigers U16's travelled to Abingdon for a match which could ultimately determine who would win the league. Tigers have only been defeated once this season whereas the Eagles have lost twice with one of those games being to the Tigers, who on that occasion won by 15 points. This meant that the Eagles would have to win by 16 or more to go ahead of Taunton in the league.
Tigers were very slow to catch on during the first quarter with the Eagles flying out to a big 1st quarter score of 31 – 11. In the second quarter Tigers got themselves together after a shaky start and slowly managed to get to grips with their opponents, with Mark Schroeder leading the attack on his birthday. The Eagles replied in the form of Mike Bird (captain) nailing three 3 pointers to end the half 40 – 31 to the eagles.
The second half was full of mixed emotions. The 3rd quarter saw the Tigers make their comeback, led by guards George Scarborough, Jack Murphy and Ed Surtees and at the end of the quarter Tigers had closed the gap to just 4 points (44 – 40).
In the 4th and final quarter Tigers got themselves into some unfortunate foul trouble resulting in Surtees being fouled out of the game. Some poor shot selection allowed the Eagles to capitalise with some big shots down the stretch, with only Henri Little who having any effect on the excellent Abingdon defence. Little was effective throughout the quarter and with the re-emergence of Nicky Gratton the Tigers were never to far away. The last of the Tigers ‘Nine lives’ was taken 3 minutes from time with the Eagles again hitting long range 3 pointers. The game ended 68 – 59 to the eagles.
Credit must go to the Eagles who were a very organised side and whose 1st quarter performance effectively decided the game, but the Coaches Carter and Scarborough took positives from the Tigers showing excellent character to keep their heads in the game and still give themselves the opportunity to go on to win the league. Tigers now have a season decider away at Plymouth this Friday.