Hainault Stars 64 Erks 60
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Hainault Stars landed the Essex Met basketball double with a hard fought
victory over Erkenwald in the play-off final, the Stars' veteran
ex-Budweiser League duo Keith Pringle and Graham Hill leading the way
against an Erks team spearheaded by exciting young guards Chris Olufeso and
Irfan Hussain.
The opening exchanges saw the younger Erks leap out to a 13-1 start with
Olufeso & Hussain scoring on the break and Lee Atkinson hitting from
outside. However, the Stars then dug in and rallied to 20-12 at the end of
the first quarter, with ex-Crystal Palace guard Hill imposing himself at the
offensive end.
The Stars revival continued in the second quarter, with Pringle starting to
cut loose as the Hainault men took their first lead of the game with a
minute left in the first half. Then to cap their comeback, with the scores
tied at 31-31, bench player Daley hit a pair of unexpected, if riotously
received 3 pointers to give the Stars a 37-31 half-time advantage.
Undeterred, the Erks opened the second half in determined mood, forward
Richard Williams hitting all 3 of his shots in the period and Olufeso
driving aggressively to the basket as the Erks quickly ate into the Stars
lead. For Hainault, only lanky forward Burns made any impact in the third
quarter as the Erks defense stepped up a notch in an attempt to deny the
dangerous Pringle the ball.
With the score tied at 50-50, the game was in the balance entering the 4th
quarter, however the Stars Keith Pringle was not to be denied. Showing that
he's lost few of the skills, if a little of the quickness and athleticism,
that he displayed first for Erkenwald in the early 90's and then for Hemel
Royals and Stevenage Rebels in the professional game, Pringle reeled off 8
consecutive points in little over a minute to take his side 11 points clear
with 3 minutes remaining. In a low scoring game, that gap proved
insurmountable for the Erks despite a late rally, as the Stars were able to
run the clock down allowing captain Jon Clark to pick up the play-off trophy
to go alongside their League title.
The Stars victory is to be commended as they managed to overcome the absence
of their leading scorer, towering forward Tim Lewis, by playing aggressive
defence to compensate for their shortfall in points. The Erks failed to
exploit the hole in the Stars middle as their own star Essex Met forward
"Play-Off Ed" Bailey was similarly missing. Unfortuately for the Erks, Ed
actually achieved his disappearing act whilst playing 38 scoreless minutes
in the final!
SCORERS:
Stars:
Pringle 25, Hill 12, Daley 10, Burns 9, Reed 6, Goddard 2
Erks:
Olufeso 23, Hussain 18, Atkinson 7, Williams 6, Agbolegbe 3, Bromfield
2, McCusker 1
Report posted: 14/05/02
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