Match Reports
Away v MBC2
13/4/05 Match
Stats
Play off Semi Final
Lost 38-94
An
incredible experience, playing at the Amaechi Centre, in front of a crowd that
cheered every point of ours, and after 4 minutes we were 2 points up and
dreaming of the final the next day. But the MBC had matched our 8 players with
12 of their own, not a bad player amongst them and in the big arena they really
made us work hard. Our legs ached and our lungs burnt but our hearts kept going
as we played for our pride. The full court man to man against us was relentless
and in Q3 we were shattered at despite all our effort only scoring 3 points it
looked like they were going for a huge total. But the courage of this team
never ceases to amaze. Gary, Gregg and Nick rolled back the years to chase down
the ball and block out their big guys, Peaky out rebounded their 610 centre,
Chappie and Steve swished a couple, John Whelan stole the ball from under their
noses and Tom rounded off with a 3 pointer great afternoon of basketball.
Top
Scorer Steve
Played
out of their skin Gary and Nick just for the sheer determination both of
these guys threw in.
Must
improve getting more than 8 to a semi final!
Home v YMCA
13/4/05 Match
Stats
Play off Quarter Final
Won 81-71
Steve
Vaughan jumped out of the starting blocks and fired Holmes Chapel into the lead
with world class shooting 5 out of six shots in the first six minutes including
4 three pointers. But the 10 point lead we had at this stage was whittled back
to 1 point at the end of the quarter with some excellent shooting and driving
by YMCA. The Hornets game plan was simple to play a man to man defence and
using the whole bench tire the YMCA and hopefully get them into foul trouble.
But the YMCA are an experienced team and they stayed out of foul trouble and
won the 2nd quarter to take a one point lead into half time. Quarter
3 saw some hot shooting from Tush, Steve and John Whelan and the defence
tighten as it was changed to a zone to stop the driving around the man to man. The
Game plan worked in quarter 4 YMCA finally started to run out of steam and Tom
and Dave capitalised as they had to chase the ball leaving gaps near the
basket. Top effort from the whole team and certainly the way we will be playing
for the whole season next year. Maybe, just maybe with this form we could cause
an upset in the semi-final?
Top Scorer - Steve
Played out of their Skin
Steve incredible shooting, Dave Evans great close finishing, Chappie, good
control and important points
Must
improve Blocking out the rebounder, giving help in man to man defence
Home v Copley 3 13/4/05 Match Stats
League Match
Won 85-66
The
Holmes Chapel team had greater ability in every department and a much deeper
bench than our Copley visitors. The starting five appeared 20 inches taller
than the opposition, whom appeared terrified to enter our zone in the first
quarter. The strong defence, which gave up just 2 fouls forged a comfortable
lead with the opposition scoring just 11 points in the first quarter. Squad
rotation in the 2nd quarter lead to a number of fast breaks but
still a balanced score card. The 2-1-2 defence was creating steals but giving
up fouls. The third quarter was brilliant as the opposition fouled and fouled
and the 3-2 defence protected the zone without giving up fouls. From the 3rd
minute they were in foul trouble. Free throws poured in. The final quarter was
the 3 pointers competition with honours shared at 4 for each team. Copley
scored 24 in this quarter as our team relaxed to a comfortable victory.
Top Scorer - Steve
Played out of their Skin
Steve top shooting and 17 out of 21 points in Q4
Must
improve Ball handles must drive and dish off against a team in foul trouble,
good quality passes need to go through all 5 players in a 24 second offence,
shooters must wait for the rebounders to be in place before firing shots.
Home v High Peak 30/03/05 Match Stats
League Match
Won 72-57
Best performance of the year from Holmes Chapel. Full concentration for the whole match in which we lead from start to finish and won each quarter. All of this playing a new defence Box and One for the whole match.
Top Scorer Tush
Played Out of their skin Everyone!
Cliff great man to man marking and good distribution in offence
Steve Top rebounding and a couple of trademark 3 pointers
Peaky Out rebounded their 67 Centre twice!
John W- Combined Man marking with a couple of stunning steals
Simon Top class finishing on fast breaks
Tush constant source of points world class free throws
Tom Great defensive rebounds and short shooting
Gary Rolls back the years for check of the season
Harry Pulled down loads of rebounds on comeback game
Chappy controlled our offence in closing phase
Dodge Great rebounding and distribution
Away v YMCA
22/03/05 Match
Stats
League Match
Lost 64-67
Very
frustrating to have to write about another dreadful quarter one, which saw us
down by 17 points at the end of the quarter. The main problem was the
willingness to give the ball up cheaply: travels, poor passes, back court
violation, foot in court when in-bounding all contributed to giving the ball
back to YMCA without an attempt at a basket. The defence was changed to a man
to man at the start of quarter 2 and this was much more effective and the fight
back started. Q2 saw points flying in, Steve tremendous 3 pointing form all
night, Simon fast breaking and Dave Grice driving into the zone to create
opportunities for himself and others. Q3 saw YMCA coming back as Holmes Chapel
continued to make unforced errors. YMCAs very good zone defence saw very few
chances for Holmes Chapels big men but the outside shots continued to fall to
keep Holmes chapel in the hunt. Last Quarter and Holmes Chapel went up another
gear the 3 point shooting from Steve was breath taking at times and we cut
the lead to 2 points at one stage. But we naively let 20 seconds slip off the
clock at the end as YMCA played keep ball and they scored to close out the game
by 3 points.
Top
Scorer Steve
Played
out of their skin Steve 7 from 8, 3 point shots! Simon good haul with first
class finishing.
Must
Improve - Quarter one slow starts and turnovers (how many times will I write
this!)
Home v Cardinal
Langley2 02/03/05 Match
Stats
League Match
Won 60-50
Cardinal Langley feel like a team that Holmes Chapel should beat easily but we seem to struggle to impose ourselves on them, testimony to their fighting spirit. Another slow start for Holmes Chapel saw only 9 points for the first quarter with a lot of missed shots and turnovers. The second quarter was pivotal to the game with Holmes Chapel enforcing a Press defence and outscoring Cardinal Langley by 10 points. Tom was starting to shine and this was his best game yet for Holmes Chapel. He stormed into the second half scoring 7 points in 4 minutes with a great display of Big Man basketball. The rest of the team started to chip in with points coming from all over the place and a pleasing patience on offence with much better shot selection than in most games. Cardinal Langley got the score to within 6 in the last quarter but Holmes Chapel had a winning attitude and ran down the clock for a comfortable victory in the end.
Top Scorer Tom
Played out of their Skin Tom unstoppable at times
Must Improve Quarter one slow starts and turnovers
Home v Salem 23/02/05 Match
Stats
League Match
Won 112-105
Wow this was always going to be a close match but I dont think anyone was ready for a night of records. 112 points - Highest score by Holmes Chapel ever. 217 points in the game highest in Div2 this year. 70 Points in a quarter highest recorded this year. 52 Fouls in the Game and 73 Free throws most recorded in Holmes Chapel Match this year. The Match stats took an hour to do, Janet got writers cramp and the Pub had shut and re-opened by the time the match ended! A close fought encounter where the lead swapped constantly saw Holmes Chapel down by 2 points at the end of Q1 and still down by 2 at half time after having had the lead in both quarters. But this game was being tightly refereed and Salem hadnt brought enough players to keep making the fouls they did The Holmes Chapel game plan of keeping driving at the opposition was starting to work as they picked up foul after foul and frustration showed when they added Technical fouls to this (pleasingly no Ts for Holmes Chapel tonight). As the score line suggests neither team played effective defence and Q3 saw Salem lead by 8 points at one stage but this was pegged back to 3 by the end of the quarter helped by the awarding of 6 free throws to Hornets for a foul, technical foul and coach technical foul all within 3 seconds. The Hornets played with magnificent control in Q4 as they finally got in front again. But praise must be given to the opposition who kept coming back and even took the lead again with 2 minutes to go. The confidence showed in Holmes Chapel though and the lead was quickly regained and the game was taken away from Salem with some top class free throws.
Top Scorer Tush
Played out of their Skin Simon Huge game scored 11 and looked right back on form. Dave Evans huge rebounding performance.
Must Improve moving our feet when defending
Away v MBC2 17/02/05 Match Stats
League Match
Lost 84-32
This was never going to be an easy match, against opposition that arguably are the best team in Manchester. Conditions didnt help with a very dust floor and whistles from the cyclists going off whilst the game was going on. MBC really showed their class in Q1 in every aspect of the game and cruised to a 33-5 lead at the end of the quarter it looked like being a very long night. But the pride of the Hornets was stung and Q2 saw the team playing for their pride and wearing the bruises as a result! The match got very physical and the referees let that carry on for the rest of the game, refereeing up to their standard rather than down to ours (a compliment of sorts but some of the contact was brutal). We actually drew the third quarter before the athleticism of the opposition showed again in Q4 and they ran out easy victors. There were few positives to take from such a beating, but the way the team spirit held up was heartening to watch. This was also an indication of how much you have to fight for possession of the Basketball and then not give it up easily at the higher levels, and how to play against a top quality Man to Man defence. Now where is that liniment?
Top Scorer Steve
Played out of their Skin Steve scored over half our points, Nick impressive rebounding against much bigger players.
Must Improve relaxing when in possession and working to get free for a pass
Away v Uni2 10/02/05 Match Stats
League Match
Lost 74-73
The great thing about Holmes Chapel is the fight within the team. It would have been all too easy to go into Q4 20 points down and give up, but the team responds to challenges now and the fight back was incredible. After 6 Minutes of play Holmes Chapel were 18-5 down with the university putting on an effect press and yet again showing what an impressive array of 3 point shooters they have. But spirit was shown the Press was worked out and we started to show we had shooters too. Q2 saw a comeback Tush came into the game and started to fire and Tom swatted anything that came close to him in defence. Half time saw the deficit at just 4 points but the University came out with all guns firing and with Holmes Chapel making a series of turnovers completely dominated the quarter to lead by 20 points at the end. The stats say that Q4 was a Tush show and he was magnificent but it was a true team performance with every player getting court time and giving everything they had. Steals, Blocks, True aggression for the ball and a never say die attitude saw Holmes Chapel win the quarter 25-6. With 24 seconds to go we were 3 points down but they had possession. They in bounded and we fouled 4 times to stop the clock the last one gave them free throws and they hit one of them. So despite Steve Vaughans 3 pointer on the buzzer we lost by one.
Top
Scorer - Tush 37 points in 3 quarters
Played
out of their skin Tush best yet for Holmes Chapel, Tom magnificent blocks
all night, Everyone else in Q4.
Must
improve simple turnovers we gave away our possession too many times.
Home v Thornleigh
02/02/05 Match
Stats
League Match
Won 93-71
Excellent start to the second half of the season against a surprisingly tough opposition. Holmes Chapel won all 4 quarters and registered the second highest score of the season. Bill Baxter remarked afterwards that some of the training was starting to sink in and he was correct. The performance tonight was the best offensive performance of the season with every player working to get free for a good shot and playing with a patience not usually seen. The press offensive worked in patches but got better as the night went on and the rebounding was strong on both boards for most of the match. Tush, Steve, John, Tom and Dave scored the majority of the points, Chappie slotted a nice 3 but the other players didnt get on the score sheet and thats a real shame as they all played well. We must practice harder on shooting so that everyone is comfortable in attempting shots they should take.
Top
Scorer - Tush closely followed by
Steve
Played
out of their skin John W looked sharp all night, excellent steals and 15
points, Tush 8 out of 9 free throws
gets him a mention alone but constant pressure applied from his outside shot
too.
Must
improve Taking a shot when its available, concentration on the press and we
gave away 27 free throws!
Away v Copley Giants 3 17/12/04 Match Stats
League Match
Lost 66-54
This
match was played with none of the Holmes Chapel starting 5 players and at the start
of the match it was difficult to see where points were going to come from, but
this sort of environment gives players the chance to shine. Effort from
everyone on the night could not be questioned and the team spirit throughout
the match never faltered. The opposition made it hard by playing a full bench
and making us play against a full court man-to-man defence for most of the
match. Quarter one was pitted with mistakes from both teams and a scrappy
quarter saw us level at the end the highlight of the quarter was a 3 pointer
from Nick! (his first for the club strange wolf howls heard in the distance).
Copley dominated quarter 2 with Holmes Chapel Turning the ball over cheaply on
too many occasions. 30-19 down at half time and it looked like it was going to
be a long evening but the incredible team spirit showed for a second half fight
back. (Even after losing Dodge 2 minutes into the half with a twisted ankle
were now down to 6 players) John Whelan and Simon were magnificent scoring all the Holmes Chapel points in this quarter
with some great steals but the rest of the team chipped in with great
rebounding against bigger opposition. Q4 started the same way with the match
deficit being cut to 5 points 2 minutes into the quarter but Copley kept playing
to their strength under the board and managed to pull away. Still the Hornets
had some sting left and Simon and John kept running to land some break away
baskets. A Spectator remarked afterwards that it was a great game to watch it
was a great game to play in too.
Top
Scorer John Whelan
Played
Out of their Skin John and Simon constant pressure on the opposition and
full of running.
Must
improve Screening away against Man-to-Man and giving firm passes.
Home v Team Salford
8/12/04 Match
Stats
League Match
Won 83-50
Back to back victories Gary and Gregg were trying to remember the last time couldnt must be an age thing. Excellent start to this match top class defence combined with excellent shot selection meant we lead 22-6 after the first quarter. Q2 was much of the same but spoiled by a couple of very dubious decisions going against Dave Refs dont change their mind though and you have to take the bad decisions the Technical foul was a good call. 26 points up at half time and the game looked secure, but credit to Team Salford they stuck to the task and came back strongly scoring 18 points as our defence opened and we tried a man to man defence. We won Q3 by 4 points but only scored 1 out of 10 free throws in this period. Salford kept up the pressure and fought to the end but we ran out our victory. Now we have to make it habit forming.
Top
scorer Tush
Played
out of their Skin Chappie excellent defensive effort all night. Nick some
nice breakaway baskets.
Must
Improve: Free Throws, Man to Man Defence and Fitness
Away v Cardinal Langley 2 Match Stats
League Match
Won 43-42
Another very nervous start we didnt score for 4 minutes and only scored 3 baskets in the first quarter. Lots more turnovers than shots and Cardinal Langley took a deserved 16-6 lead we were dreadful! Only to bounce back in the second quarter to dominate totally John Whelan giving us control from the point and popping in a couple of long range shots. With a lead established by half time winning seamed a formality. Third quarter was a great defensive effort by the whole team Tom and Dave stopped any work inside, Dodge Gary and Peaky dominated the rebounding and the guards scampered around to block shots so good Cardinal Langley did not score until the 8th minute! We only scored 7 in the quarter though and took a lead of 4 into the final quarter. They threw everything at us at we crumbled started to lose composure and with 3 minutes to play they had a 3 point lead. At a Time Out Gregg asked for a Winning Mentality and got it Tom popped in from close range twice and Gary swished his by now customary end of match basket. Still nervous at the end with the last 2.4 seconds being replayed due to a scorer error.
Top Scorer Tom
Played out of their skin John Whelan took control in Q2 and Tom great blocks and important points at the end.
Must improve: The start can we pretend the first 5 minutes is over at the Jump Ball? and Turnovers so many loose passes and foot out of court errors!
Away v High Peak -
21/11/04
MATCH STATS
League Match
Lost 70-45
A very nervous start from Holmes Chapel lead to no score for 5 minutes and with
lots of turnover going to High Peak they cruised
to a 25-8 lead at the end of the quarter. Tom had
arrived after the game had started and only got into the game in Q2 but
without any warm up. But still Holmes Chapel eased themselves back into the
game cutting the deficit to 9 points at one stage while High Peak rested their
starting 5. The third quarter saw Holmes Chapel switch to a Man to Man defence
just as the opposition hit back with their starting 5 - who were too hot to
handle in a big court - again lots of turnover against a press defence and
Holmes Chapel lost this quarter 26-9. Holmes Chapel won the final quarter
determined not to give away points that may be vital in League positions at the
end of the season.
Top Scorer - Steve
Played out of their skin - Simon and John - non stop effort all night and some
great steals towards the end. Oh and the Wheezer popped in a couple of 3s.
Must improve: The start - very nervous in offence and defence. 5 man offence
and 5 man defence needed - too much jogging going on.
Home v YMCA - 17/11/04
MATCH STATS
League Match
Won 94-71
Victory at last - and a comprehensive victory at that - we won every quarter
and kept composure even in a keenly fought match with 46 fouls in total. Tom
controlled the first quarter when he was unstoppable unless they fouled him.
Quarter 2 saw a switch to a "man" defence from YMCA and Holmes Chapel
matched it with a great defence of their own. Simon made a couple of excellent
steals and scored off them. Holmes Chapel went into half time 10 points ahead
and were given the by now familiar team talk of "keep your
concentration" but this time listened and prospered. Quarter 3 was hard
fought with the Hornets giving away 13 free throws! Our lead was narrowed to 6
points at one stage - but our shot selection and patience remained excellent
and a number of players contributed points. Tush and Steve played excellently
all night but in quarter 4 they showed what class players they are scoring 33
points between them including some excellent 3 point shots from Tush and 3
point plays from Steve.
Dodge in Q4 said "We've had the ability to win games like this for a while
but haven't had the right mentality - it's all in our heads". Absolutely
correct - winning now needs to become a habit
Top Scorer - Tush
Played out of their skin - Tush, 19 points in Q4! and steady shooting all night
& Steve, massive points contribution and great rebounding.
Must improve - quick inbounding of ball when opposition score & still
picked up another Technical foul!
Home v Manchester University
- 10/11/4
League Match - with spectators turning up!
Lost 64-67
Great first quarter saw Holmes Chapel outplay the University in all aspects yet
finish up losing the quarter due to a string of four 3-pointers from the Uni
point guard. But great spirit was shown by all players in the second period to
ensure that we went into half time one point up. But fouls were mounting
especially for Tom and Dave, who had both played excellently to dominate the
boards - especially in defence. Both were subject to some
"questionable" calls early in the second half, but we must learn to
take them and not respond. As a result of a technical foul they got two shots,
scored them both and possession - from which they scored - and ultimately the
game was lost by 3 points! The second half was tight with the Uni just ahead
for most of it - but Holmes Chapel played with patience and were always in with
a shout with Tush and Steve Vaughan (in his first game) popping in some timely
3 pointers. Ultimately the Uni had the lead in the last two minutes and
protected it well.
Top Scorer - Tush
Played out of their skin - Dave Evans - Impressive rebounding and controlled
offence & Steve Vaughan - great all round performance on debut
Must Improve - The way we deal with the Referees, any more Technical Fouls will
be looked on very dimly by Gregg and the League!
Home v High Peak
Cup game
Lost - 68-83
Excellent fast half from Holmes Chapel saw a narrow lead being established at
half time - but concentration was lost in the second half and High Peak
came back strongly in the third quarter and showed their class to steal the
ball a number of times in quarter four and close out for a comfortable victory.
Top Scorer - Tush
Played out of their skin - Chappy, best performance yet for Holmes Chapel &
Peaky, constantly impresses by challenging for rebounds - and winning them!
Must improve - screening away from the ball and concentration