Basketball: Troon Tornadoes lose to Stirling in thriller

Feb 11 2011 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

TROON Tornadoes seniors were involved inarguably one of the best games when they lost84-82 to new national league side Stirling Knights at the Citadel.

The first game in Stirling proved controversial and on the back of a player being ejected, Tornadoes lost.

Tornadoes started well and took an early lead but poor rebounding which allowed Stirling's rookie centre Gary Ferguson to pick up offensive scraps, meant the Troon side ended the half down 41-36.

Ten third quarter points from Ifadade Thomas allied with two big three point baskets from American Donald Sampley sparked a Tornadoes revival and they finished the period ahead 66-58.

Tornadoes kept their nerve for most of the last period and it looked as if they were going to win. In the last two minutes and ahead by five points, the fates seemed to conspire against the home side.

Two basic turnovers gave Stirling the ball and they scored off both possessions. Tornadoes were still ahead by one when Thomas went to the free throw line and made both shots.

As he entered the three second area too soon, his last shot was chalked off. Knights were down by two with 16 seconds to go. Knights had an inbounds ball from the Tornadoes baseline and a travelling violation by Stirling was not picked up by the officials. Knights scored to tie the game with six seconds left.

Tornadoes called a time out and from the resulting inbound they were looking to score or at worst that keep the ball. In a controversial decision, Thomas was called for a travellingviolation and this gave possession to Stirling who got a contested shot away on the buzzer.

When the shot dropped through the hoop, there was no comeback and Stirling couldn’t believe their good fortune in stealing the game.

Team: Chris Bombani, Malcolm Morrison (21 pts), Ian Holland, Donald Sampley (15), Jonny Petit (13), Euan Campbell, Stewart Ramsey, Alexi Zhyzhyn, Scott Frew.

Tornadoes have a chance to bounce back this weekend when they travel to Cumbernauld to play Glasgow Rocks.

Tornadoes junior and cadet teams travelled to Glasgow to play Glasgow Rens in their respective national leagues.

Cadets got back to winning ways with an 84-51 victory. Tornadoes raced 9-0 up thanks to seven opening points from captain Joshua McGilvary and two from Hamish Forsythe.

Gordon Hill and Craig Moffat shared the workload offensively, knocking down some nice outside shots to keep the Rens defensive focus off McGilvary.

Excellent full court pressure defence by twins Allan and Mark Gebbie allowed others to profit on the fast break, with six Troon players getting on the score sheet during the period as they led 42-23 at the half.

They extended their lead thanks to eight points from Hamish Forsythe but a lack of concentration allowed Rens to close the gap to 41-55 at the end of the period.

A good team effort in the final period saw eight players, led by McGilvary with 11 points, on the score sheet. McGilvary capped a fantastic performance with a huge dunk with minutes remaining in the quarter to silence the Rens fans.

Under-14 player Sam Paterson played some excellent defence on much taller and more athletic Rens centres as well as scoring well on offence.

Tornadoes face Rens again on Saturday in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

Team: Allan Gebbie (6 pts), Mark Gebbie (2), Greg Austin, Craig Boyce, Craig Moffat (10), Fraser Wright, Gordon Hill (10), Craig McIntyre (1), Hamish Forsythe (18), Sam Paterson (3), Alexander Anderson (1), Joshua McGilvary (capt 33).

Tornadoes Juniors continued their unbeaten run as they beat a very athletic Rens team.

Harvey Baker-Flanagan finished some early good moves but Glasgow edged the first quarter 22-20. Rens matched the Ayrshire team at every turn and despite 10 points from Sam Jack the visitors were still poor in defence as Rens held a 40-38 point half time lead.

Tornadoes had to sort out their defence or they would end up just trading baskets which is always a dangerous situation. However, Glasgow came out strongest and stretched their lead to eight points, before Joshua McGilvary netted nine points as Tornadoes led 61-53.

This seemed to break Rens’ resistance and Tornadoes restricted Glasgow to 10 points while helping themselves to 26, spread between seven different players.

With two league games against Falkirk and Edinburgh to go, Tornadoes are within touching distance of the championship.

Team: S Armstrong (13), S Jack (17), C McQuade, J McIlwraith (17), H Baker-Flanagan (12), J McGilvary (22), C Miller (2), I Burns (4), Hamish Forsythe (2).

On Saturday, the juniors entertain Grampian Flyers in the Scottish Cup semi-final.