BASKETBALL: Titans start with an impressive win

Harry Mitchell displayed his full range of offensive threats on his way to a game-high 28 points, while Harry Holt locked down Derby’s main guard with some amazing defence.

Derby led by three at half-time but they were held to just four points in the third period while Titans poured in 21 and that eventually proved decisive.

The Titans Purple under-14 team in the Midlands West Regional League suffered a 74-53 loss at the hands of Worcester Bears, who proved too strong despite only having seven players available.

Bears led 24-6 after the first period but Titans did hold their own for the remainder of the match.

Ethan Round led the way with 18 points while Ethan Mead added 15.

It proved to be a tough weekend for the first-year Titans under-16 boys.

They were beaten 92-56 by Bristol Flyers in the Premier Central League as they struggled to cope with the pace of the game and made multiple turnovers.

They trailed 45-29 at the half but didn’t give up and improved as the game went on.

In their second match in 24 hours, Titans suffered a 111-80 loss at the hands of MK Trojans in the National Cup.

Titans stayed with the visitors for the first three periods with captain Tommie Olubisi impressing.

But Trojans ramped up the scoreboard in the final quarter to secure their victory.

There was better news for Titans in the Under-16 Girls National Cup as Titans beat local rivals Northants Lightning 72-61.

Lightning led 23-17 after the first quarter but Titans’ focus on defence in the second paid off as they restricted the visitors to 12 points to ensure the scores were level at 35-35 at half-time.

Titans dominated the third period and they allowed Lightning just seven points while wave-after-wave of converted offences put the hosts on their way to victory.

Four Titans players made it into double figures while, for Lightning, Poppy Barnett top scored with 19 points, supported by Dina Kosnikovska with 13.

It was a tough weekend for Northants Basketball Club as they played eight cup and conference games and managed to win just one of them.

The only success came from Northants Thunder in the Under-16 Boys Midlands West Conference as they picked up their first win of the season with a 71-35 victory at Coventry Tornadoes.

In what proved to be a dominant display, Ashley Kitchen led the scoring with 17 points including five three-pointers.

He was well supported by good performances from Grigori Litsai and Henri Berry who scored 14 and 11 respectively.

It was a mixed weekend for the team, however, as they were well beaten 129-42 by Oakland Wolves in the first round of the National Cup.

Thunder were hindered by only being able to field eight players and they struggled right from the start and trailed 62-16 at half-time.

In the end, they were well beaten with Litsai (11) and Kitchen (9) being their top scorers.

Northants Thunder’s senior men went down 88-66 to London United in the first round of the National Cup, despite an improved performance.

They trailed 21-11 after the first period but were competitive for the rest of the game and the positives came from some good personal performances with Jake Wyatt and rookie Hayden Alcindor both recording double doubles while Terrell Salmon and Richard Higgins both battled hard.

Other results

Under-18 Boys Midlands Premier League: Northants Thunder 46 Team Birmingham Elite 96.

Under-18 Boys National Cup first round: Canterbury Crusaders 103 Northants Thunder 57.

Under-14 Boys Midlands West Conference: Northants Thunder 44 Milton Keynes Trojans 80.

Under 14 Girls Midlands East Conference: County Upper Wolves 61 Northants Lightning 60.