Basketball: Wolves teams make a trio of kills

Nov 12 2009 by Alistair Watson, West Lothian Courier

THE various West Lothian Wolves basketball teams enjoyed a hat-trick of wins in the past week.

The senior men were back in action with a Chairman’s Cup fixture against the Dunfermline Steel on Thursday evening.

The Chairmen’s Cup is the national competition for local league clubs.

The Wolves have reached the final 16 and the quarter-finals in the past couple of years and are looking to put in a good run this season.

The Dunfermline Steel play in the Lothian League division two, and beat the Wolves division two team in overtime a couple of weeks ago. This match however was against the division one Wolves side.

The senior men started slowly and allowed the Steel to get some easy baskets early on.

The Wolves just kept playing and slowly started to build a lead, going into the first break ahead 20-12.

The Wolves coach Andy Smyth pulled his guys together and the senior men started to play up to their normal standards. The Wolves defence closed the basket to the visiting team allowing only one basket to be scored in the whole second period, while the home team poured in 23 points.

The Wolves got steal after steal and pushed the ball up the floor for easy baskets.

Highlights came from a beautiful over the shoulder pass from Owen Cook to Warren O’Connell for a wide open basket, and O’Connell’s full-court pass to Andy Smyth for a high-flying alley-oop lay-up.

The Wolves continued to play aggressive defence into the third period allowing the visiting team only three baskets in that spell, while again scoring 23 points to push the lead even further.

The Wolves ran their offence to perfection, moving the ball quickly which resulted in easy scores and wide-open shots. The Wolves ran out winners by 48 points with a final scoreline 81-33.

Top performers were Andy Smyth with 17 points, two steals and six rebounds, Marc Dickson with 16 points, four steals and 11 rebounds, young Grant Dickson finished with 10 points and Owen Cook with nine points.

The Wolves Cadet men faced off against Glasgow City in National League action on Saturday and won by the narrowest of margins 67-66.

Glasgow City came into the game the only unbeaten team in the league.

The Wolves started off with their usual good defence and good ball movement to open up the game early.

Leading at the end of the first quarter 24-12. Ross Kohler and Duncan MacPherson continued their good shooting touch, however the offence was run well that helped free up these two young shooters.

The second quarter was a tighter affair, with the visiting side winning the quarter by three points. The two teams traded baskets throughout this quarter, and both teams had small runs, making the game very entertaining and fun to watch.

The Wolves were trying out a 2-1-2 zone defence, however the young men made a number of defensive mistakes that the City team took advantage of.

The third period again was a close-fought contest, however the Wolves were able to maintain a 10 point lead going into the last period.

Scott Thompson came to life in the third quarter, making a couple of nice jump shots and a fast break lay-up. The Wolves thought that they were going to get the victory easily, however the Glasgow City team made a strong push in the fourth quarter and almost beat the Wolves.

The home team were down by one point with 49 seconds left when the Wolves got the ball to Duncan MacPherson, who converted a difficult turn around jump shot to the put the Wolves up by one.

The City team failed to scored on the ensuing two possessions and fouled the Wolves, putting them on the line. However the Wolves missed four free throws in a row, which would have put the game out of reach of the visiting team.

The Wolves did enough to squeak a win and leave the league wide open, with the three tops teams with one defeat each.

Top performers were Ross Kohler with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Duncan MacPherson with 19 points, Matthew Kean with 17 rebounds and Andrew Bleakley with 11 rebounds.

The Wolves junior men made easy work of the Glasgow City junior squad in a 76-53 win.

The City team are from a young squad, who should see an improvement over the next year, however they were presently no contest for the Wolves.

The junior men had a slight change to their starting lineup, putting in Ross Imrie to add a little extra defence early on.

The Wolves started off with a couple of easy scores and good defence lead to an early 6-0 lead. This lead would never be relinquished by the home team.

The junior men went inside to their big man Liam Marshall, on the coach’s instructions, which resulted in a number of easy baskets for Liam and for other players. The big man was able to pass the ball to open players, or shoot over the smaller defenders.

The Wolves’ other big man Ross Patterson awoke from his early-season scoring drought to find the basket due to some well run plays and strong attacks to the basket.

Starting point guard Daniel Brazil controlled the game well taking his opportunities to score. The Wolves went on to win the contest by 23 points with a final score of 76-53.

Wolves newcomers Jamie Shade, Murray Porteous and Duncan Ewan saw some action which will allow these young players to further develop.

The game’s top performers were Liam Marshall with 31 points and 16 rebounds, Ross Patterson with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Daniel Brazil with 11 points. A great week of basketball for the club, who continue to develop and go from strength to strength.

If you would like more information on the Wolves google West Lothian Wolves to find the club website.