BASKETBALL: Titans step things up to seal a deserved win

Northamptonshire Titans claimed a well-deserved 62-55 win over Sheffield Hatters II in the U16 Girls North Regional.
Amber Martin in action for Titans during their 62-55 win over Sheffield Hatters IIAmber Martin in action for Titans during their 62-55 win over Sheffield Hatters II
Amber Martin in action for Titans during their 62-55 win over Sheffield Hatters II

After an evenly-matched first quarter, Titans’ Tegan Opongntim-Millar proved to be a constant problem for Sheffield, while Imogene Williams continued to contain the Hatters’ backcourt.

But it was Hatters who inflicted an 8-0 run to take a half-time lead.

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An unsettled Titans took to the floor in the third and, thanks to Amber Martin and captain Emma Wickham, they started to find their rhythm and began to convert opportunities.

In the fourth, Titans’ defence stepped up a couple of gears as they restricted the visitors to just six points while pouring in 15 of their own to secure the victory.

Titans had a flow about their game right from the start and Isaac Round’s three-pointer put them on their way to a 97-91 success over Surrey Rams in the U16 Boys Premier Central.

Titans started well but Rams hit the home side with 10-0 run before captain Tommie Olubisi halted proceedings to start an 8-0 run of their own.

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Ben Hooper was causing Rams’ defence difficulties and with Round commanding the Titans’ offence, they led by 10 going into the fourth.

Rams put together a 10-0 run to leave the game in the balance but some cool heads from Round, Hooper and Olubisi sealed their fate.

Having opened the season with a fine win, Titans took to the road to take on Leicester Riders in the U14 Boys Premier North.

The two teams were evenly-matched and that was reflected in a 32-32 scoreline at half-time.

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But Riders took control in the third quarter and further increased their lead to wrap up an 80-66 victory.

Titans Purple will have to wait a little longer for their first U14 Boys Midlands West Regional win after they suffered an 80-62 defeat to local rivals Northants Thunder.

They only lost the first quarter by one point but struggled to cope with Thunder’s Tom Greenfield and Bena Maldutis who contributed 50 per cent of their points.

The reliable Ethan Mead top-scored for Titans with 19 points and Ethan Round also reached double figures with 15.

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Kettering Phoenix’s teams have been back in action in the Leicestershire & Rutland League.

In the Women’s Division, Phoenix claimed a 54-36 success at Peterborough Vytes with Hannah Valentine and Diana Parv both contributing 12 points.

The men’s first team slipped to an 82-62 home loss to Gateway in Division One, despite the efforts of Danny Barrett (15).

But there was better news in Division Four as the Phoenix Suns beat Ashby Aztecs C 75-30 and the Phoenix Tropics won 71-42 at Ashby Aztecs B.

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Nick Lander (13), Andrew Alleyene (12) and Dominic Castrichino (12) led the scoring for the Suns while E Ters (13), Jarrod Sheppy (10), Djole Opacic (10) and S Brunton (10) starred for the Tropics.

The club are looking for females of all ages to develop the girls and women’s sections.

For more information, email to [email protected]