Basketball: Troon Tornadoes at the double

Oct 9 2009 by Mike Wilson

TROON Tornadoes seniors made it two wins in a row when they beat East Lothian Peregrines 68-62.

They made an impressive start with Dan Donnelly and Andy Pearson finding their range from the perimeter while at the defensive end they kept Peregrines quiet. The first quarter ended with Tornadoes ahead 20-10 and cruising.

In the second quarter, Tornadoes’ zone offense started to misfire as outside shots wouldn’t drop and by half-time Peregrines had narrowed the gap to 28-33. Tornadoes failed to find the spark and although they never went behind they could not shake off Peregrines.

The lead was reduced to 45-41 going into the last quarter but Tornadoes kept their nerve to seal the win. Pearson and Donnelly returned to their best form but the rest of the team can step up a gear. This weekend Tornadoes travel to Falkirk to meet a Fury side that are also have a 2-1 league record.

Tornadoes, who will need to play a lot better to extend their run, should have Ross Campbell and Ifadade Thomas back. Team: Scott Frew, Kareem Nassar, Ally Hornell, Jordan McIlwraith, Gregor Anderson, Euan Campbell, Stefan Loyen, Andy Pearson, Jamie Frew.

Tornadoes Cadets were unable to bounce back from a defeat to St Mirren and lost 82-99 to Edinburgh Kings.

Tornadoes had some players missing and they did not help the cause as they ran into foul trouble. Tornadoes gave up 37 points in the first quarter while only replying with 17 of their own.

In the second half, Tornadoes slowed down the Kings offence and put points on the board, trailing 60-40 at the break.

With Kings giving some key players a break, Chris Miller (42 pts) was able to go to the basket uncontested. Down 81-55, Tornadoes began to show composure and outscored the Kings in the last quarter.

Team: Josh Hunter (12 pts), Hamish Forsythe (2 pts), Craig Moffat (2 pts), Gordon Hill (3 pts), Chris Miller (capt, 42 pts), Daniel Forbes (7 pts), Ian Burns, Joshua McGilvery (14 pts).

Tornadoes juniors continued where they left off in the loss to St Mirren by turning the ball over and presenting Kings with easy scores.

Tornadoes scored 16 points but leaked 28 in the first quarter. The second period followed a similar pattern to the first. Even although Tornadoes switched defences, this didn’t disrupt Kings and they increased their lead to 52-30.

Tornadoes made a strong start to the second half and slowed Kings’ scoring rate but trailed 69-35. In the final period, Tornadoes had a good spell but then gave the ball up cheaply as Edinburgh ran out 88-46 winners.

On Saturday, the Juniors and Cadets host Glasgow at Marr College and these games should provide a chance for the young teams to notch a win.