This past Saturday (29th February), Kings hosted Round 3 of Pool D fixtures in British Wheelchair Basketball’s Lord Taverners Junior League – the final qualification pool round on the road to the Elite 8s competition with matches between the Thames Valley Kings, Aces, and London Titans.
In the first game of the day, Kings faced the Aces, with Kings resting some key players for the later game against Titans which gave some of their younger juniors the chance to play. This game was evenly matched with both teams taking their opportunities at the basket – the lead in the game flipped between both clubs before Kings went into Half time leading 21-16.
The game remained competitive in the second half with an even third quarter, before an Aces fight back at the start of the fourth resulted in Aces reducing Kings lead to just three points before Kings were forced to play some key players to pull away, and end with a 15-point win, 49-34.
Conal O’Donovan hit 15 points, with Corey Bloomfield hitting 12 and Liam Barker hitting 10 points for Kings during the match.
Titans and Aces faced off in the second game and it was Titans who picked up the win 64-21.
In the final game, Kings faced Titans, and with the teams being so evenly matched it had the potential to be another great game between the teams.
Kings found baskets through five different players in the first quarter as Charlie McIntyre, Todd Tavers, PJ O’Donovan, Liam Barker, and George Gray all found the basket to give Kings a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Titans started to find their rhythm scoring in the second quarter which lead to a very evenly matched game both teams finding the net in a high-paced match, with the score 29-20 at half time.
The game remained even in the third quarter as well both teams attempting to place pressure on the other but it was Kings who began to take control, 41-29 going into the final quarter. The final quarter was a high scoring affair as both teams continued to find baskets as Kings rode out the game to a 63-42 win.
George Gray was the top scorer in the game with 23 points with Liam Barker also hitting 18 points.
Kings and London Titans will advance to the Elite 8s Competition held at the EIS Centre in Sheffield.
