Basketball: Tornadoes give Edinburgh Kings a fright

Oct 15 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

TROON Tornadoes senior men looked set for a shock when they led Edinburgh Kings 42-35 at half-time at Portobello.

After a big loss to St Mirren, Tornadoes weren’t expected to get near to unbeaten Kings but on the back of eight first quarter points from Ifadade Thomas they finished the period just 15-13 down.

In the second period, Tornadoes offense kicked into gear as eight different players scored. But while the defense continued in the second half, their offense dried up and they managed only 12 points in the whole of the second half – they had scored 29 points in the second quarter – and Kings ran out 75-54 winners.

The senior men’s league looks to be more competitive this year and the play-off places for the top four teams look difficult to predict at this stage.

On Friday, Tornadoes travel to Musselburgh where they will face a tough test against East Lothian Peregrines.

Team: Chris Bombani (5 pts), Malcolm Morrison, Stuart Ramsey, Ifadade Thomas (17 pts), Muir Campbell (2 pts), Jonathon Pettit (6 pts), Euan Campbell (capt 9 pts), Fraser Smith, Michael Lynn (2 pts), Alexi Zhyzhyn (8 pts), Ian Holland, Scott Frew (3 pts).

Even at this early stage, the junior and cadet national leagues look to be between three teams with the rest of the teams relatively weak.

Tornadoes are in the driving seat in both leagues as they have comfortably beaten the other two teams in contention – St Mirren and Edinburgh Kings.

The juniors maintained their unbeaten start to the season by crushing Perth 111-43.

They ran in 31 points in the first quarter, paced by 11 points each from Sam Jack and Jordan McIlwraith to lead 31-13. Connor McQuade came off the bench and chipped in eight points as the lead increased to 61-23 at the break.

There was no let-up with Scott Armstrong, Chris Savage and Josh McGillivray adding to the score and the latter two pulling down rebounds and initiating the fast break.

Perth hardly knew what hit them and had no answer to the powerful play of a Troon team who controlled the game from start to finish.

Team: Scott Armstrong (16 pts), Sam Jack (29 pts), Chris Savage, Josh McGillivray (14 pts), Jordan McIlwraith (16 pts), Conner McQuade (15 pts), Harvey Baker-Flanagan, Ian Burns, Hamish Forsythe.

Troon Tornadoes Cadet Men maintained their unbeaten record in the National League, beating Perth Phoenix 71-35 at Marr College.

Ahead 26-7, Tornadoes quickly increased their lead to 30 points thanks to some nice perimeter shooting from Craig Moffat and strong drives to the basket from captain Joshua McGillivray to lead 50-10 lead at the half.

Guard Adam Jack was able to steal the ball from the opponents on numerous occasions, allowing Craig Boyce and Hamish Forsythe to profit offensively. Boyce was in excellent form during the final period, racking up five points and finding his team mates for some excellent assists.

Team: Adam Jack, Greg Austin, Craig Boyce (9 pts), Craig Moffat (5 pts), Alexander Anderson, Gordon Hill (7 pts), Craig McIntyre (4 pts), Hamish Forsythe (24 pts), Sam Paterson (2 pts), Joshua McGillivray (captain, 20 pts).