Arrows invade the Vikings and march onwards

Derbyshire Arrows 91 York Vikings 33

The Derbyshire Arrows U14s made no mistake against lower table opposition, demolishing York Vikings 91-33 away from home. This game for the Arrows was to continue to build momentum after a fantastic performance against Leeds Carnegie the week before.

The Arrows started slow by their own standards and after 3 minutes only had an Aidan Dennison free throw and a Ross Walcott layup for their effort. But the Arrows continued their run and extended it to a 13-0 scoreline as Conor Hicken contributed alongside Walcott and Dennison. A jumpshot from James Bennet kept the momentum going for the Arrows as the quarter finished 25-3 in favor of the Arrows.

The second quarter was almost a carbon copy of the first, with the Arrows starting slowly and then found rhythm. Baskets for Zorain Zaheer, Ellis Salim and U12 star Wadha Hassan all helped the Arrows push the lead further and crush the Vikings advances dead. The Arrows went in to half time with a very impressive 47-6 scoreline.

The third quarter allowed more freedom for players, and this was shown as rookie forwards Bennet and Zaheer both got on the scoresheet again with 2 baskets each. It wasn't only offence that was being shown, as Adam Wood did an excellent job defensively for the team. In this quarter York, tried to fight back into the game with some longer shooting which dropped for them, but the Arrows still took the quarter and extended their lead, 70-22 with a quarter to play.

The Arrows are the highest scoring team in the country to date, scoring 1,218 points so far, and this was shown even more in the fourth quarter as  more baskets for Hicken and Walcott pushed up the scoring. But it was Salim who was the fourth quarter killer scoring 8 points. There was also another score via a free throw for young Hassan, as the Arrows cruised to a 91-33 final scoreline.

Arrows Scorers; Walcott 28, Dennison 17, Hicken 14, Salim 12, Zaheer 10, Bennett 6 and Hassan 3

The Arrows are favourites to finish in 2nd place, with Leeds Carnegie still needing to beat unbeaten Newcastle to claim 2nd spot. But last weeks' last second shot from Walcott could claim 2nd place for the Arrows via the series between themselves and Leeds. The next fortnight is a big one for this young Arrows side as they face their two toughest remaining fixtures, home to the Saints and away to Leeds Tigers. The big rival game between them and the Saints is at 11:30 Sat 4th Feb, and the Arrows look to do the double over the Saints(Sharks) for the first time in 6 years.