27/05/11
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk — Having 14 new players on the County Upper roster combined with only 2 weeks of pre-season before the first game, made it very hard to create a great team chemistry.
“It has been the toughest year so far to try and mould these talented players into a team that will best fit their abilities” said Coach Johnson “We have the most talented team in three years, but all this means nothing if we are unable to work as a unit on the court and in practice, it has been a challenge but we are slowly getting there”.
County Upper 57 – 92 Wellingborough Phoenix
County Upper started the season playing in the England Basketball League Cup against the Wellingborough Phoenix. From the very beginning of the game County Upper were struggling at both ends of the court, even with some great defensive stops they were playing catch up from beginning to end. The final score was 57 – 92 to Wellingborough Phoenix who gave County Upper their first loss of the season.
County Upper 74 – 66 College of West Anglia Fury
County Upper responded better in their second game of the season, as they were matched up against a veteran staked Kings Lynn Fury team in the first round of the National Cup. During the game County Upper showed signs of how good they could become but were still showing huge inconsistency in their offensive and defensive performance. County Upper managed to pull out a 74 – 66 victory levelling their season record to one win and one loss.
County Upper 78 – 65 Moulton Basketball Academy
In their first Academy league game of the season, County Upper played Moulton College at home. This was a re-match of the 2009 – 2010 U19 National Schools Tournament first round, where CU beat Moulton to progress into the round of 32 teams. In a game which was clouded with scrappy offensive and defensive positions County were able to show signs of how good they could become, with some excellent offensive and defensive possessions. This game however, has been disputed by Moulton College and County Upper has appealed. The appeal is still pending.
County Upper 79 – 88 Milton Keynes Basketball Academy
In their second Academy league game of the season. County Upper had to play the game with a depleted team. With a CU team still showing signs of inconsistency combined with a solid Milton Keynes team the game proved a tough game to play. Turnovers and bad decisions on both offence and defence led to easy breaks by Milton Keynes who had opened a 20 point lead at half time. During the second half CU began to dig deep with their defence and play better on the offensive end as they began to chip away at MK’s lead. A late run in the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter closed the gap to just 9 points but it was too much too late for County Upper as the game ended 79 – 88 to Milton Keynes and dropped CU to an all time record of 1 win and 2 losses. “We are still trying to get everyone on the same page, playing the same style of basketball, this game has been helpful in showing us a lot of the weaknesses we need to work on. I am very confident in turning this talented team into a complete team by the end of the basketball season” said Coach Johnson.
County Upper 79 – 66 Birmingham Met II
In their third away game of the season CU ventured to Birmingham to play a tough Birmingham Met’s team. Four players scored in double digits helping County Upper earn a hard-fought 79 – 66 win over Birmingham Met in National League action. The lead changed continuasly until the end of the 3rd quarter when County Upper locked up their defence allowing Birmingham to score only 9 points and produced some great offensive possessions to score 25 points, allowing CU to walk away with a 79 – 66 victory. The win improves County Uppers season record to 2 wins and 2 losses overall and 1 win to 0 losses in the National League.
County Upper 84 – 97 Ipswich Basketball Academy
A depleted team ventured to Ipswich in Elite Academy action. In their third Academy league game and to date their scrappiest game of CU’s two and a half year history, County Upper played like a team of individuals letting Ipswich have easy points. Although CU did a good job in the final 5 minutes by holding Ipswich to just 2 points while scoring 14 points of their own, the previous 35 minutes showed that as a team they have a lot of work to do. The loss drops CU to 2 win and 3 losses for the season and 0 wins to 2 losses in the Elite Academies league. “This is still early days, we have a new bunch of kids who are still fighting amongst each other trying to find their identity. I am not bothered with how we are playing at this point in the season as it is still early days, however if we keep developing it will be very interesting to see our team play at the end of the season” said Coach Johnson
County Upper 78 – 46 College of West Anglia Fury
In their first National League home game of the season a depleted County Upper team took on a Kings Lynn Team. After Kings Lynn scored the first three points County Upper locked up their defence and produced some great offensive possessions to finish the quarter on a 21 – 6 run to open up a 12 point lead 21 – 9.
The second quarter saw both teams trading baskets as CU won the quarter 14 – 13 and improving their lead to 13 points 35 – 22. The third quarter was all about County Upper as they first went on a 5 point to 3 point run followed by a 17 point to 2 point run to blow the game wide open by 30 points 57 – 27.
The fourth quarter was much the same as the second as both team traded baskets with County again taking the quarter with 21 points to 19 finishing with a 33 point lead and a 78 – 46 point win.
County Upper 91 – 74 Telford Basketball Academy
County Upper took their time to get into this game as Telford surged into a 9 point lead as they went on a 15 – 6 run. This lead increased to 12 points after another 9 – 6 run to finish the quarter 13 – 25.
The second quarter saw CU play better basketball to produce a 14 – 8 run cutting Telford’s lead to just 7 points 26 – 33. County Upper followed this with another 13 – 7 run to cut Telford’s lead to just one point 39 – 40 before they finished the quarter with two free throws and extending their lead to three points 39 – 42.
The third quarter saw Telford make a a little fight back as they went on a 8 – 4 run and improving their lead to back to 7 points 43 – 50. Both teams then traded baskets before CU went on a 13 – 7 run to close out the quarter tied at 64 – 64.
At the start of the fourth quarter County Upper blew the game open with a 10 – 0 start, and blew out any chance of a comeback with a 17 – 8 run to seal a 91 point – 74 point victory.
County Upper 84 – 59 Burleigh Basketball Academy
In a game that saw a replay of the National Tournament Last 8 fixture from last year, this game would prove to be exciting. County Upper started the better of the two teams by going on a 9 – 0 run, however Burleigh quickly replied with a 6 – 0 run of their own to cut CU’s lead to just 3 points. County Upper finished the quarter on an 11 – 3 point run to open up a 11 point lead 20 – 9 leading into the second quarter.
The second quarter was much the same as the first with County Upper going on a 12 – 7 run to increase their lead to 16 points 32 – 16. CU continued playing tough defence and offence as they saw out the quarter with a 12 – 8 run to end the half up by 20 points 44 – 24.
In the second half Burleigh dug their heels in and put together a mini comeback as they started the third quarter going on a 10 – 2 run to and cutting County Uppers lead to 12 points 46 – 34. CU responded with a 10 – 4 run to increase their lead back to 18 points 56 – 38, however Burleigh showed they were not allowing County Upper to run away with the game by finishing the quarter with a 9 – 4 run to close CU’s lead to 13 points 60 – 47. The last quarter saw both teams trading baskets up until the 5 minute mark when County Upper locked up their defence holding Burleigh to just 7 points while scoring 17 points of their own to finish the game winning by 25 points 84 – 59.
