Wildcats Make It a Treble
Durham Wildcats Basketball Club sealed the National Division Two treble with a thrilling 70 - 67 point victory against local rivals Team Northumbria at the Amaechi Basketball Center in Manchester on Sunday.
It was their third piece of Silverware in their debut season in National League Division Two, and with 31 wins from 33 games the Wildcats hope that their stay in division 2 is for just 1 season.
This was the fifth meeting between the two teams this season and the Wildcats had won the previous four. Any thoughts of an easy win were dispelled by a determined opponent who matched every move the Wildcats made in a tight first quarter that finished with Durham leading by 1 point at 11 - 10.
Northumbria scored the first point of the second period to tie the game, but the Cats scored the next eleven before Greg Modelewski got Northumbria back on the scoreboard. It stayed even for the rest of the quarter and the Wildcats led 33 - 20 at the half.
The Wildcats went out to a 14 point lead at 52 - 38 but a mini run from Northumbria ended the third quarter back were it started with an eleven point Wildcats lead.
The whole game swung to Northumbria in the early stages of the final quarter, and with the Wildcats scoreless for nearly six minutes Northumbria seemed in control at 61 - 57 with less than 3 minutes to play.
As in so many tight games this season the Wildcats defence stepped up to produce a thrilling final 2 minutes. 2 steals by Paul Elderkin, 1 by brother Mark put the Wildcats back into a lead they never lost and a 70 - 67 victory that delighted the many fans who had made the journey down from Durham
Scott Morton top scored with 18 points and with 5 assists, 4 steals and a bunch of rebounds was the games Most Valuable Player, pushed all the way by an outstanding performance from Michael Davies with 17 points; it was a good day for the Wildcats Forwards with Anthony Trigg adding 13 and Steven Jones 10 points.
Head Coach Dave Elderkin "Our offence misfired for most of the game and Northumbria showed why they had beaten the second and third seeds to reach the final, but we don't like losing, and when it mattered most our defence got the job done."
Five of the team are finishing their studies so it's going to be a busy summer. Team Durham's Sam Chambers and John Morgan are ready and will join a first team squad that Coach Elderkin wants to expand to 16 players to cope with the demands of National League and the promotion to the Universities Premier Division.
The club is close to signing 2 'front line' players and 3 new squad players, leaving 1, possibly 2, places still to be filled - Coach Elderkin wouldn't be drawn on names at this stage.