Recaps

NEWTOWN TITANS 114-12 FLINT

Sunday January 14th 2007
Newtown Titans 114-12 Flint
Maldwyn Leisure Centre
Attendance: 20

Titans line-up:
PG Hamish Clifton
SG Sam Cook
SF Tyler Jerman
PF Steve Jones
C Adam Yates
6 Sam Sheriff
7 Berti Jones
8 Lewis Lees
9 Leo Rutter
10 James Evans

Head Coach: Guy Evans
Assistant Coach: Danny Price
Scorer: Paul Barker
Referee: Danny West

1st Quarter
The Newtown Titans played host to old rivals Flint in a Sunday showdown at Maldwyn Leisure Centre. The Titans coaches saw this game as an opportunity to give court time to a number of newcomers and other young members of the squad who have not always experienced big minutes on court. This resulted in a somewhat new starting line-up, with 14 year old point guard Hamish Clifton given the reigns to direct the Newtown offense. Our game plan was simple: run the floor every chance we get, and if we have to slow it down, get into a 1-3-1 set. This strategy payed big dividends from the start as it was clear that our opponents, although the same age as most of our team, were unable to stop our quicker and stronger players on their way to the basket. Our 2-3 zone made it hard for Flint to penetrate to our hoop and the introduction of longtime Titans stalwart Leo Rutter helped give us a 16-3 advantage after 1 period of play.

2nd Quarter
Despite scoring 16 points in the 1st quarter and recording 12 steals, everyone on the Newtown bench was aware that we could do even better in the next 10 minutes of action. A plethora of substitutes entered the fray and immediately made an impact. James Evans was outstanding with 10 points and 7 rebounds in this one period alone. Our defense remained solid and a succession of steals from Hamish provided us with easy drives to the basket. We wanted to stress attacking the basket instead of settling for perimeter shots, and this was reflected by our outstanding 63% shooting percentage in the quarter. Up 44-6 at halftime, the Titans coaches set our players a target of reaching 100 points for the game.

3rd Quarter
In the first half, every single Newtown player had performed their role admirably. No matter who was scoring the points or grabbing the rebounds, major contributions from all members of the team were needed to gain a sizable 38 point cushion. We started the 3rd right where we left off, scoring hoop after hoop with the quickness of Sam Cook and Tyler Jerman giving our team many options on the break. The inside trio of Rutter, Adam Yates and James "Shaq" Evans dominated inside, and would finish the contest with a combined 50 rebounds between them. Lewis Lees did well in his first ever contest, and Berti Jones began to make some key passes that would eventually lead to more Newtown points. Our 30 points in the period further extended our lead but it was important to finish the game the right way and continue to play hard and support each other.

4th Quarter
Obviously by now the game was out of reach for our North Walian visitors, although they must be commended for their never-ending determination and hustle despite being heavily down on the scoreboard. A lot of substitutes checked in and out of the game in the final quarter as coach Guy Evans attempted to give everyone a fair amount of action. Sam Sheriff and Steve Jones began to cut through the Flint zone for lay-ups, and Leo continued to rack up several baskets per minute whilst shooting with an absurd accuracy. James Evans continued to hustle and upon him leaving the game, the Titans coaches were stunned to discover he had finished with 22 points and an incredible 22 rebounds. Newtown soon surpassed the 100 point mark and Sam Cook provided the finishing touches with a lay-up just before the end of play to make the final decision a 102 point win for the Titans.

Conclusion
When you win by 102 points it is hard to complain about anything. And, to be honest, even if we had lost by as many points I still don't think I could grumble too much. I say this because the 10 lads who played today, and, for that matter, everyone who has suited up for us over the last 18 months has always gave 100%. They support each other, they encourage each other, and they play with each other. If I had to be picky I could point out that our communication on defense was poor for the most part, and we could have done with more passing of the basketball, particularly on the fast break. 6 assists on 57 baskets is not a very good ratio and against other teams we will need to improve that considerably. Man of the Match goes to Hamish who finished with 12 points, 3 assists and a Titans-record 14 steals in his first ever game. Leo Rutter of course must be mentioned for a sensational display in limited time and also for his maturity to accept less minutes in wake of our decision to play the younger ones more. Outstanding job Leo. James Evans had the best game of his Newtown career with a huge double-double, whilst Steve Jones showed his trademark versatility with 10 points, 8 steals and 3 rebounds. Sam Cook looked like he has improved tremendously, and the same could be said for Tyler, Sam Sheriff and Adam Yates. Berti Jones made some good passes and looked for his team-mates often which gave us many chances to score. Lewis Lees, the youngest player on court, did a fine job in his 21 minutes and hopefully will be available for future fixtures. So what is the next step for this team? Well first of all we must not get too ahead of ourselves and start patting each other on the back too much after this great win. We executed our strategy very well and played with tremendous enthusiasm, but we will encounter better sides in the future which will test our abilities even more. So to all the Titans, keep working hard on your games and hopefully a run of fixtures can be negotiated with some local opposition soon. Many thanks go to Danny Price and Paul Barker for working the scorer's table. Matthew Humphreys was unavailable to play but perhaps it was for the best because we might have scored 150 if he suited up.

Man of the Match: Hamish Clifton (12 points, 14 steals, 3 assists)

TEAM STATS

Team Score by Quarter
1st Quarter - 16
2nd Quarter - 28
3rd Quarter - 30
4th Quarter - 44

Shooting Percentages by Quarter
1st Quarter - 47% (8/17)
2nd Quarter - 63% (14/22)
3rd Quarter - 48% (15/31)
4th Quarter - 62% (20/32)

Total Team Stats for Game
Field Goals - 57/102 (56%)
Free Throws - 0/2 (0%)
3 Pointers - 0/0 (0%)
Assists - 6
Steals - 48
Defensive Rebounds - 23
Offensive Rebounds - 38
Total Rebounds - 61
Personal Fouls - 6
Points - 114

INDIVIDUAL STATS

Hamish Clifton - 6/14 field goals (43%), 0/2 Free Throws (0%), 3 assists, 14 steals, 1 rebound, 1 personal foul, 12 points, 28:46 minutes played.
Sam Cook - 6/13 field goals (46%), 0 assists, 7 steals, 3 rebounds (1 offensive), 0 personal fouls, 12 points, 16:08 minutes played.
Tyler Jerman - 5/9 field goals (56%), 2 assists, 5 steals, 2 rebounds, 0 personal fouls, 10 points, 23:37 minutes played.
Steve Jones - 5/10 field goals (50%), 1 assist, 8 steals, 3 rebounds (2 offensive), 0 personal fouls, 10 points, 17:10 minutes played.
Adam Yates - 6/8 field goals (75%), 0 assists, 1 steal, 8 rebounds (4 offensive), 1 personal foul, 12 points, 15:55 minutes played.
Sam Sheriff - 1/3 field goals (33%), 0 assists, 3 steals, 1 rebound, 1 personal foul, 2 points, 21:16 minutes played.
Berti Jones - 0/1 field goals (0%), 0 assists, 3 steals, 1 rebound, 0 personal fouls, 0 points, 28:39 minutes played.
Leo Rutter - 17/23 field goals (74%), 0 assists, 4 steals, 20 rebounds (15 offensive), 0 personal fouls, 34 points, 12:03 minutes played (not a typo).
James Evans - 11/20 field goals (55%), 0 assists, 2 steals, 22 rebounds (16 offensive), 2 personal fouls, 22 points, 20:04 minutes played.
Lewis Lees - 0/1 field goals (0%), 0 assists, 1 steal, 0 rebounds, 1 personal foul, 0 points, 20:41 minutes played.

SHOT CHART

Note: The green squares indicate shots made and the yellow ones represent shots missed. The half court on the right hand side shows the total number of field goal attempts in the FIRST HALF, whilst the left hand side illustrates the attempts in the 2ND HALF. Depending on the speed of your server, the image (893kb) may take time to appear.