Wildcat Alex Riley, aged 14, was one of only 8 boys selected for Under 15 England Trials from the Regional Basketball Trials which involved players from the North East, North West and Yorkshire. Also there were Alex's Wildcat team mates Ryan Farley, Andrew Vincent and Tom Noble who all attend Woodham School. The boys, originally spotted by Mark Elderkin in the Wildcats primary basketball pilot scheme, are now coached by Danny Morgans who runs the Wildcats Under 16 National League team.Durham Wildcats Under 16 Team 2009 - 2010
Wildcats U.16’s go 4-0
Wildcats U.16’s are following in the footsteps of their Division 2 senior counterparts after Saturdays defeat of Barnsley Leaders at Ferryhill to remain unbeaten in the season. Without the presence of 51 point scorer from the previous week Lewis Fisher, Wildcats knew there were going to be opportunities and an expectation that others stepped up to fill the scoring void left by his absence. Wildcats started brightly and after 4 minutes had ran out to a 12-2 lead, but things didn’t go all their way as Leaders fought their way back through some strong inside play to trail by 5 at the end of the quarter. The second quarter started evenly with the teams trading points until Tom Loveday found his shooting range and left unopposed hit 4 from 4 from just inside the arc. Wildcats played some strong defence in the final 2 minutes of the half preventing the Leaders scoring, and a buzzer beating 3 from captain David Benham saw the Wildcats go into a 38-24 lead at half time.
The third quarter was the most even of the game with Leaders edging it by 3 as Wildcats still struggled to come to terms with the inside strength of Bailey and their lead was reduced to 11 going into the final quarter. Once again Wildcats worked hard on the defensive end and it was the 3rd minute before Leaders were able to add to their total at which point the Wildcats lead was 17, points were exchanged for the remainder of the game and the 17 point margin was maintained until the end of the game. Wildcats are now the only undefeated team in the league and are pleased to welcome back 6”8’ forward Mark Woodward to training after illness. Mark’s inside presence has been missed this season and his return will help them in their pursuit of the title this season.
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LEWIS FISHER SCORES 51 AS WILDCATS BEAT LIONS |
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After resounding victories the previous weekend against York Vikings and Middlesbrough Lions, Wildcats Under 16’s faced their toughest test of the season when a determined Middlesbrough Lions team visited Ferryhill Leisure Centre on Saturday. Wildcats began quickly and soon moved into 13-2 lead but midway through the first quarter Lions hit back. Motivated by their 30 point loss the previous week they had done their homework on the Durham side and soon came to terms with the inside threat of Alex Riley and despite their early setback, won the first quarter 26-21. Lions continued to impress early in the second and by the halfway point in the quarter they had extended their lead to 12. Clearly rattled Wildcats needed to regain their composure and toughen up on the defence, which they did, keeping the Lions to 2 points in the final 3 minutes of the quarter and steadily whittled away at their opponents lead to reach half time with both teams level on 42. The third quarter was a much tighter affair with teams trading baskets and there was never more than 4 points between the teams.
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