A wild night in Newton Aycliffe
BBL Trophy: Durham Wildcats 66 Newcastle Eagles 88
The Durham Wildcats began their inaugural BBL season on what must surely have been the hottest ever October evening in County Durham. A quick 40 minute zip down the A1 from Newcastle saw us approaching the venue and initial signs were positive with crowds of people purposefully striding towards the centre, and clear signage for basketball parking in the surrounding streets. All good stuff. We couldn’t even get parked in any of the designated car parks it was so busy.
Walking from the car in the balmy weather, if you closed your eyes for a second or two you might just imagine yourself about to be entering the American Airlines Arena in Miami rather than the considerably more humble, yet endearing in its own way, Newton Aycliffe leisure centre.
Inside, the organisation and huge efforts by the Durham Wildcats to provide an entertaining game day experience were in evidence everywhere you looked; an abundance of helpers in blue tee-shirts, Wildcats banners draped throughout and mobile concession sellers. The leisure centre was approaching capacity on both sides of the court when we took our seats behind the Eagles bench with still almost half an hour to tip-off. As game time approached even the balcony was filling up and the thermometers must have been off the scale as we began to melt in the oppressive heat.
The weather, small venue, big crowd and heated swimming pool on the floor below had combined to form a micro-climate similar to that of the Amazonian rain forest. If the crowd continued to sweat at this rate for the rest of the evening, we might even create a mini Amazon of our own. If it was this bad for us, goodness knows how the players would cope.
Just before the player introductions we were treated to three lads break dancing or is it street dancing these days? It was well received by the crowd and frankly by this time anything that took our minds off the heat for a few minutes was a welcome respite.
A sponsor-led ceremonial tip-off was immediately followed by the real thing and so big time basketball was born in Durham. The Eagles raced away to 6-0 lead with the home crowd anxious to see that first BBL basket for their boys. They didn’t have to wait too long before the impressive Ralph Bucci sank a 3-point shot. The Eagles defence led by twin towers Defoe and Thomson had a strong first quarter limiting Durham’s opportunities. The quarter ended with the visitors leading by 21-13 and looking pretty comfortable.
Durham came to the fore in an evenly contested second period with the veteran Bucci, backed up by Fred Hinnenkamp and Mike Capocci, orchestrating things for the home side. The margin was a just 7 points at the break with the visitors leading by 35-28. The heat was becoming a major factor with a quick rotation of substitutes and the Eagles bench getting plenty of court time with new boy Joel Madourie making his competitive debut.
That was as good as it got for Durham. Judging by the Eagles second half response, Fab Flournoy’s half time team talk must have stripped paint off the walls of the visiting changing room. Darius Defoe had an immense period at both ends of the court and the Wildcats were given a lesson by the stronger more experienced Eagles team. The quarter ended Durham 46 Newcastle 67.
The final quarter was a formality with the Eagles taking their foot of the gas, yet still keeping a healthy 22 point lead to end a thoroughly entertaining game Wildcats 66 Eagles 88. Young Eagle Lamar Morrison enjoyed some valuable court time and the icing on the cake was his first senior basket for the club.
Big man Darius Defoe top scored with 23 for the Eagles, with the Durham point guard Ralph Bucci posting the same total for the home side. Bucci looks like he’ll be a real star for Durham this year and will surely lead the Wildcats to a few wins in front of the partisan Newton Aycliffe crowd. As we all know, one player does not a team make, and I think the Wildcats will need one or two more players of his calibre if they are to make much of an impact in the BBL. They’ll also need to try and keep out of the foul trouble that plagued them throughout the evening as they can ill afford to give opposing teams the cheap points they gifted the Eagles tonight.
All in all it was a great night in a packed venue and two comfortable victories to start the season for an Eagles team still playing well within their limits.
