Mole Valley Phoenix VS Southampton Trailblazers
National League Match

final Score: MVP (85) - Southampton Trailblazers(43)

First away game of the season and it was all the way down at Southampton. The team left at 10am for a 2pm tip. We got there two hours early and some people went straight back to bed, must have been a late night for TJ and Kevin. Anyway, we didn’t know much about this team so we just expected to have a tough game.

With a starting five of Dean, Justin, Karl, George B and TJ we decided to press from the beginning forcing them to turnover the ball a number of times. We took our chances from fast breaks and started to build a strong lead. A strong coast to coast move by TJ set the pace of the game as he beat everyone down the court to finish with a simple lay in. Taking orders from Coach Matt Phoenix drove to the basket on every offence to draw fouls. Strong drives by Karl and Jeffrey got them to the line and the free throw shooting seemed to have improved from last week. Phoenix ended this quarter 25-7.

The beginning of the second Phoenix sat back in a zone, but this allowed the Blazers to score more freely than they did in the first quarter. But strong play from Jake inside and more fast break points from everyone kept Phoenix’s lead. The second half ended 42-18.

Although Phoenix had a strong lead the game was far from over yet. Coach Matt told the team to go out and play like it was 0-0 again, and that is exactly what they did. Phoenix started with a full court press again, and earned a few steals which led to more easy buckets. Strong offensive moves by Jeffrey made him unstoppable driving to the basket. A massive block by George Broom which pinned the ball to the backboard showed Phoenix’s defensive game. By the end of this quarter we had a 34 point lead.

The last quarter was all about maintaining this lead and getting the stops on the defensive end. The Blazers still found it hard to score as Phoenix carried on pressing throughout this last period. This looks to be Phoenix’s most comfortable form of defence. Three 3 pointers by Karl and an and one dunk by Jake capped off a great win for the Phoenix Team.

This was a great overall team effort. The team played well together and the team is starting to gel. Huge thanks to the parents who drove the players down to the game and the people who came all the way to give us support.

Phoenix Team: Dean, Justin, Karl, George B, TJ, Jeffrey, Jake, Kevin, Arnell,
George N (D.N.P: Will, Hugh, Ariff, Matt, Chip)