Recap
Youngbloods Under 14 Boys were back in action this week against West Herts Warriors, Home at St Angela’s, following last week’s close loss to RIchmond Knights with the side looking to rebound and get back to winning ways. Youngbloods Daniel Porter started off proceedings as he scored on the break and this was quickly followed by a score from Alex Distras to take the lead early on in the first quarter, Youngbloods continued to hold the lead throughout the first but never managing to break the 10 point differential barrier until Franklin Agu managed to convert following a strong rebound giving Youngbloods a 10 point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Warriors started the brighter of the two sides netting the first points of the second quarter, with Distras hitting back immediately to maintain the 10 point lead as Agu and Distras continued to link up well as they finally extended their lead to 12 points midway through the second quarter when Agu netted in from the Free-Throw line following a foul. The two sides continued to trade baskets for the remainder of the second period although West Herts managed to score before the buzzer to cut Youngbloods lead to 9 heading into the halftime break.
Distras continued to exert his dominance on the game early on in the third as he dominated for the Home Side, continuing to get to the basket at will and causing havoc for the West Herts defence. Defences lapse began to creep in for the Home side, and West Herts took full advantage of this as they brought the game to within 4 points, forcing Youngbloods to take a timeout and regroup. Following the timeout, Distras and Agu were full of energy and they sprung to life Newham’s Offense along with Titus Warari who had great defensive stops to give the Home side a 7-0 run to re-establish their 10 point lead and going into the final quarter ahead yet again by 10 points.
Youngbloods continued as they did in the third and looked to establish a greater lead, however defence lapses again cost the home side dear gifting 6 straight point to the visitors, giving West Herts glimpses of a successful result. Good ball Movement by Newham with 4 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter saw Nathan Mburu set up Titus Warari for the 3 point shot as he was fouled whilst taking the shot giving Warari 3 Free-Throws from the line as he cooly shot all 3 successfully to give Youngbloods an 11 point lead yet again. The free shots seemed to reinvigorate the visiting side as they were gunning for a way back into the game scoring 6 straight to give a tense final 2 minutes for both sides, however their fighting spirit was left in vain as both sides traded baskets to end the game with Newham Youngbloods winning the game by 6 points, Final Score: 76-70.
Youngbloods Coach Aaron Senior “Our first quarter performance gave us the springboard for the rest of the game, Credit to West Herts they came here ready to get a result, however our boys stepped up early on to give us the victory”