Arrows stake claim to 2nd place with last second basket

Derbyshire Arrows 80 Leeds Carnegie 74

The Derbyshire Arrows proved their worth in the North East division with a home win against last years runners up Leeds Carnegie. One of the issues the young Arrows side has had in the games with the top two sides are slow starts, and Coach Jonathan Kelly emphasised the desire to run and work hard in the first half.

However things didnt look to great as Leeds started the game with a 10-4 run inside 5 minutes. The Arrows however stuck back in the game with 5 points from Ross Walcott and a basket from Aidan Dennison created a 7-0 run at the end of the quarter. Going into the break the Arrows were down by a basket, 21-19.

The second quarter started with baskets trading as neither team getting a foothold in the game until a 8-0 run by Carnegie looked to burst the game open. However Conor Hicken came to the Arrows saviour with a personal 5-0 run at the end of the quarter to bring the game back to 3 points. It was noticeable at this point that Leeds were struggling with the pace of the Arrows. The Arrows were showing superior fitness at the end of each quarter, and the lock down defence of Walcott on Leeds' top man caused problems as he scored only 4 points.

The second half proved to be a high scoring affair as the game stretched due to the tempo of the game. Aidan Dennison proved his worth in this quarter as he stacked up 14 points in this 10 minute period, shooting 6 of 6 from the line. The game looked like it was turning for the Arrows as they took a 43-40 lead 4 minutes into the 3rd quarter, but Leeds instantly struck back with another 8-0 run as the game became tense again. The end of the quarter looked to be another strong end for the Arrows as they put a small 6-2 run together in the last minute, before a buzzer beating shot gave Leeds a 3rd quarter lead at 57-55.

The Arrows looked in a killer mood going out to the fourth quarter and tried to take control of the game with Hicken showing his worth with a bucket either side of Walcott's 4 points. but with 6 minutes remaining Conor Hicken picked up his 5th foul and was out the game. This left Salim, Bennet and Zaheer, playing in their first national league season in the game. But this did not show as Bennet scored  a key free throw to put the Arrows up by 2 with 5 minutes reamining. Leeds got right back in the game with 2 unanswered baskets, but more free throws for Dennison and a layup and mid range shot for Walcott created a 4 point gap. With less than two minutes on the clock Leeds went for a final push as they became a basket behind. But a drive by Walcott and kick to Ellis Salim in the corner, found a clutch 3 pointer to put the Arrows up 5. The game turned dramatically on this shot, not only were the Arrows looking to win the game, but also the series where Leeds held a 5 point advantage going into the game. But again Leeds weren't done with the game and a shot fro Rowley brought the game to 3 points with less than a minute. With 7 seconds left the Arrows had the ball at the halfway line where Coach Jonathan Kelly drew up a play for a 3 point shot to win the series. However the game didn't get to that as a foul on Walcott sent him to the line with two shots to tie the series. Making the first, and missing the second looked like the series over, before a Dennison rebound and shot looked to have won it, but rimmed out, and Walcott followed in with a rebound, spin and fade away bank shot, to win the series by 1, with just 0.7 seconds left on the clock.

The Arrows were well supported by Hassan, Lycoudis and Wood, as well as a great team performance for Zorain Zaheer. The victory means an unbeaten end to the season would guarentee 2nd place and a possible home tie in the playoffs. Conor Hicken's (14 pts) performance was a key for the Arrows, as he was the all round glue that allowed Dennison and Walcott to push on their performance. Ross Walcott flirted with a quadrouple double in the game finishing with an astonishing stat line of, 35points, 16 rebounds, 9 assists, 8 steals and 4 blocks from the starting point guard. Aidan Dennison also chipped in with an impressive 25 points, 17 rebounds game also making 9 out of 10 free throws.

Arrows Scorers; Walcott 35, Dennison 25, Hicken 14, Salim 5, Bennett 1