Basketball: Troon Tornadoes open with a hat-trick

Sep 24 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

ALL three Troon Tornadoes teams made comfortable starts to their respective national leagues.

A much changed Tornadoes seniors beat newly promoted Dunfermline Reign 92-50 without being tested.

Tornadoes led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter but in the second quarter got into a running game and went on a 27-11 scoring spree.

The foot came off the pedal and Reign won the third quarter 22-21, scoring more points than they did in the whole of the first half before Tornadoes regained the edge in the last quarter and outscored them 15-1.

Two players made their debut after playing in the USA for a couple of years – point guard Malcolm Morrison top scored with 21 points while Johnny Petit had 16. Michael Lynn (13) and Ifadade Thomas (11) were also in double digit scoring.

Tornadoes have a much deeper bench this season and this will help as they try to play a more up tempo style of basketball but they will need to be more aggressive to compensate for a lack of tall players.

Team: Chris Bombani, Malcolm Morrison, Ifadade Thomas, Johnny Petit, Euan Campbell (capt), Stuart Ramsey, Michael Lynn, Alexi Zhyzhyn, Scott Frew, Josh Crolley.

On Friday, Tornadoes host Glasgow Rocks, another new entrant to the national league. The Rocks who also have a separate team in the professional BBL, caused an upset when they beat Glasgow Storm at the weekend. The game tips off at 8.15pm at the Citadel.

This will be the first and last chance to see Josh Crolley in action this season as the 6ft 7in forward from New Cumnock returns to the USA to a prep school in Maryland. Last season Crolley attended a High School in Texas.

Tornadoes juniors beat last season’s Second Division champions Dunfermline Reign 79-41.

A sluggish start saw Tornadoes trail 14-13 before they changed their defence and played more aggressively with Sam Jack and Jordan McIlwraith starting to hit some shots for a 40-21 lead.

In the second half, Joshua McGillivray and Chris Savage made their presence felt at both ends as Tornadoes led 61-30.

Chris Miller went on a scoring run, ably assisted by Harvey Baker-Flanagan as Tornadoes ran out comfortable winners. Scott Armstrong did well controlling the back court.

Team: S Armstrong, S Jack, J McGillivray, C Savage, J McIlwraith (26 pts), C McQuade, H Baker-Flanagan, C Miller (13), I Burns, H Forsythe.

Tornadoes Cadet Men beat Boroughmuir Blaze 53-70. Level 12-12 after the first quarter, Tornadoes opened a slender lead before starting point guard Allan Gebbie picked up his third foul with six minutes left.

Captain Joshua McGillivray scored six of his game high 37 points in this quarter as Tornadoes led 27-33.

The third period was won 17-8 with some nice shooting from Gordon Hill but Gebbie picked up his fourth foul.

Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the fourth quarter. McGillivray was in excellent form on both ends, easily scoring a ‘triple double’ with 37 points, 12 blocks and over 20 rebounds.

Team: Allan Gebbie, Mark Gebbie, Greg Austin, Craig Boyce, Adam Jack, Fraser Wright, Gordon Hill, Craig McIntyre, Hamish Forsythe (15 pts), Sam Paterson, Joshua McGillivray (capt 37 pts).

On Saturday, Tornadoes Juniors and Cadets host St Mirren at Marr College.