Junior men pick up the win in SLBA action
Last updated: 12.15pm, Wednesday 1st November 2017
Our u18 men took to the court at Eastbank Academy last night in SLBA action where they took on Ayr Storm. Following on from the cadet men's overtime thriller the previous week, our junior men were keen to get out on court and put into action the lessons they learned through in Edinburgh at the weekend.
A quick start from City sparked by aggressive slashes to the rim by Captain Christopher Brammer and a three pointer from Johnathon Norris saw the boys race out to an early lead. 13 first quarter points from guard Sean McCulloch helped City out to a 30-14 lead after the opening period.
Cooling down slightly going into the second period the boys outside shots failed to fall early however this let big man Patryk Kozlowski take advantage inside with back to back scores in the paint. The boys continued to play some excellent basketball breaking down Storms up court pressure with short sharp and smart passes. A transition three from Evan Doherty helped the boys take the quarter by three points and hold their lead into the half.
Storm came out fighting into the third with increased aggressive full court man to man and trapping actions catching the boys by surprise and allowing Ayr to capitalize with 6 quick points. Strong inside play from Kozlowski on the defensive end and some fantastic defensive effort from big man Matthew Tonnar combined with solid offensive contributions from Norris, McCulloch and Brammer helped the boys to maintain their lead 60-53 going into the final period of the game.
In what was to be an exciting fourth quarter, Ayr storm again came firing out of the blocks determined to to push City to breaking point even taking the lead by one early on in the fourth. Solid defensive hustle of the bench from David Ochnio and Roy Attah combined with a much needed three from Sean McCulloch saw City hold their nerve and eventually take the win 77-72.
Sean McCulloch impressed with 25 points, Johnathon Norris contributed 16, Christopher Brammer 14 and Patryk Kozlowski 11.
The boys have shown fantastic improvement since they first stepped on court at the start of the season and will continue to see the rewards of their hard work and dedication to development as the season goes on. Well done boys!!!