BASKETBALL: Titans edged home in another close clash with Ipswich

Another close encounter had been expected after Titans lost the previous clash between the two sides in overtime, and so it proved.

Titans duo Isaac Round and Sean Rawlins got their team firing on all cylinders as they stormed into a 12-3 lead inside the first three minutes.

Ipswich took it in their stride as they hit an 11-2 run in response but Titans reacted well and finished the quarter 31-21 to the good.

Titans again started the second quarter well through Ben Hooper and Ipswich struggled with the Titans defence as they only managed 13 points in this period.

Ipswich managed to reduce Titans’ lead to 12 points going into the final quarter and the game was finely poised after they went on a 13-2 run in the fourth.

But in the final two minutes, Oskar Knight powered his way to basket along with a Round transition score that kept the visitors at bay.

Titans picked up another win in the U14 Boys North Premier League as they beat Birmingham Rockets 79-63.

Rockets were unable to recover after Titans had taken a nine-point lead in the first quarter and they will hope to follow it up when they head to Derby Trailblazers this weekend.

Titans Purple suffered one of their heaviest defeats of the season as they were beaten 92-37 at Worcester Bears in the Midlands West Regional League.

A Titans team which included six under-13s were simply no match for the older, stronger, quicker, much taller Bears.

Titans actually started well and were only 15-8 down after the first quarter, but the game was very one-sided from that point on.

Titans trailed by 35 points going into the final period and they tried to slow the game down but couldn’t stop the Bears from adding another 25 points and could only manage to add five to their own total.

Titans U12 Boys are still unbeaten after claiming two wins when they took on City of Birmingham and Northants Thunder at Northampton School for Girls.

In the first game, City of Birmingham held a one-point lead at half-time but a strong second half saw Titans go in front before recording a well-deserved 39-27 victory.

Titans then took on local rivals Thunder and went 17-16 up at half-time before tough defence stifled Thunder’s offence while they kept their own scoring ticking along.

Titans went on to win 37-31 and, with only one more tournament to play, it’s looking likely that they will be crowned league champions.

Titans showed their class as they inflicted a heavy 95-26 defeat on basement team Leicester Warriors in the U16 Girls North Regional League.

Warriors were kept scoreless for five minutes while Titan’s scoring was free-flowing and they didn’t look back to run out worthy winners.

A long trip proved fruitful for Titans as they claimed a fine 69-66 success at Norfolk Iceni in the U14 Girls Midlands East Regional League.

Titans started the game with strong team play and good ball movement and they held a 10-point lead at half-time.

They were still 10 ahead going into the final quarter and held on despite the hosts getting back to within three points.

Captain Imogene Williams led the team well, giving clear guidance together with excellent defensive play from Cerise Williams.

Charly Stalker worked hard battling on defence, and offensively reached an impressive 21 points.

Imogene Williams led the scoring with 27 while support came from Stalker, Abi Smith (11) and Cerise Williams (6).