Basketball: Troon Tornadoes star but lose to St Mirren

Dec 17 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

TROON Tornadoes senior men turned in one of their best performances this season but still lost 63-60 to St Mirren.

Tornadoes had already suffered two big losses to Saints this season – a 27 point league defeat in Ayr and a 25 point cup loss also in Ayr.

At Paisley’s Lagoon Centre, a Tornadoes side, still without centres Scott Frew and Michael Lynn, led for three quarters of the game before Buddies got their noses in front.

Tornadoes had struggled badly in rebounding against a much bigger Saints side in the previous games but not this one. The front line of Jonny Pettit, Ian Holland and especially Alexi Zhyzhyn, were terrific on the boards but the real rebounding inspirations came from the smaller guards, captain Euan Campbell and Ifadade Thomas.

Malcolm Morrison kick started a Tornadoes offense which seemed almost flawless in execution during the first quarter and with captain Euan Campbell keeping the Buddies high scoring Nick Collins scoreless, they grabbed a 20-15 lead at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, St Mirren hit back with Collins scoring six points (four from the free throw line), but Tornadoes kept their composure to end the half ahead 34-31.

The third quarter was also a close affair and Tornadoes again racked up fouls (22 in the game to Buddies 12) and this led to Saints going to the free throw line on what seemed to be a regular basis.

However, Ifadade Thomas scored seven points in this period to help Tornadoes keep a lead of 46-45. Saints immediately took advantage of a number of Tornadoes turnovers and for the first time in the game they took a lead of five points.

Tornadoes didn’t buckle and junior Jordan McIwraith made a couple of big shots including a three point shot to reduce the deficit to 59-57.

Saints seemed to be cruising when they stole the ball and made two free throws when fouled to take a four point lead with 16 seconds to go.

Euan Campbell made a three point shot from the corner to put Tornadoes to within one. Saints turned ball over and Tornadoes had possession with six seconds to go.

A Tornadoes timeout gave them an opportunity to set up one last play but the shot didn’t drop.

In desperation, Tornadoes fouled but St Mirren made no mistake from the resulting free throws. This was a good performance from an under strength Tornadoes but it now looks as if they have no chance of making the end of season play offs.

Team: Chris Bombani, Malcolm Morrison (17 pts), Ian Holland, Ifadade Thomas (11), Josh McGilvary, Jonny Pettit (10), Euan Campbell, Stewart Ramsey, Jordan McIwraith, Alexi Zhyzhyn.

On Friday, Tornadoes host undefeated league leaders Edinburgh Kings in the last game before the Christmas break.

Tornadoes’ already depleted line-up will be further weakened with the non availability of starters Euan Campbell and Malcolm Morrison. This will give Tornadoes an opportunity to give some playing time to cadet Joshua McGilvary as well as junior Jordan McIwraith.

Team Ayrshire Tornadoes Cadet and Junior teams finished their pre Christmas national league programme with convincing wins over Perth Phoenix.

Both teams are in pole position to clinch their respective titles when the competition starts again in January. Cadets, minus three of their starting five in Allan Gebbie, Mark Gebbie and Hamish Forsythe, started in superb fashion.

Tornadoes were able to trap the Phoenix players all over the floor, causing them to turn the ball over and score a succession of fast break baskets. Tornadoes raced 14-0 ahead before Phoenix called time-out.

Phoenix hit a couple of baskets without reply after the time-out, but it was Troon who held strong in the quarter hitting a further 13 points for a 27-6 lead.

Captain Joshua McGilvary led on the offensive end of the floor hitting 15 points in the quarter. A lack of concentration and too many unforced turnovers allowed Phoenix to hit 13 points in the second quarter.

However, Tornadoes hit 18 of their own thanks to seven from Gordon Hill and six from Gregory MacMillan to lead 19-45 at the half.

An excellent third quarter from Tornadoes saw them limit Phoenix to only six points while racking up 24 of their own. Tornadoes got six different players on the score sheet during this quarter, led once again by Hill with seven.

Tornadoes kept the pedal to the metal during the fourth period, limiting Phoenix to only four points and scoring 25 of their own. Craig Boyce constantly stole the ball and ran in 11 points.

Point guard Greg Austin controlled the Tornadoes offence and assisted his team-mate Adam Jack to score 10 points during the period. Tornadoes ran out 29-94 winners.

MVP of the match was Fraser Wright who, although only scoring six points, had a very impressive performance, rebounding well, playing excellent defence and assisting his team-mates to score.

Team: Adam Jack (10 pts), Greg Austin (2), Craig Boyce (17), Craig Moffat (6), Fraser Wright (6), Gordon Hill (23), Craig McIntyre, Sam Paterson, Gregory MacMillan (10), Joshua McGilvary (20).

Tornadoes Juniors crushed Perth Phoenix 132-37.