Kendal Warriors 39- Preston’s College 73

KENDAL Warriors were well beaten at home against high-flying Preston College.

Preston are a team made up of some of the country's best young players as well as having several players from the United States here on scholarships.

They are coached by former LA Clippers NBA star Malcolm Leek and their quality shone through as they ran out 39-73 winners at Dallam High School on Saturday, November 22.

Despite being up against much-fancied opposition, Kendal started the game confidently.

They were boosted by victory in their last home game and cheered on by a packed out crowd.

Spirits rose even further when Kevin Mason powered his way to the basket early on against much bigger opposition.

The Warriors continued in this manner against their well-drilled opponents and matched them in all aspects of play.

As the quarter drew on Keith McInnes and Mathias Basedow were proving their worth in what was becoming an ever increasing physical battle. McInnes fought hard to rebound and Basedow chased down any loose ball.

However a couple of converted three point shots from the visitors at the end of the first quarter saw them take the lead and round-up the first part of the action with the score at 14- 21.

Gareth France led the offensive charge for the Warriors at the start of the second quarter as he hit some three point shots of his own.

But aside from his efforts, Kendal were starting to find it difficult to add any further points.

Tom Withnell and Marc Crockford came on to help protect the ball on offence as Preston further tightened their defence.

This had the added impact of aiding Kendal’s own defence as their fresher legs were able to maintain the Warriors own pressure serving to limit their opponents while allowing the Warriors to commit men forward.

At half time the sides went in with the scores at 22-39.

Despite warnings to guard against complacency Preston caught Kendal out at the start of the second half.

Their full court pressure allowed them to win the ball quickly and extend their lead.

Worse was to come for the Warriors as the influential Kevin Mason took a blow to his knee which forced him off the court for the rest of the game.

This prompted a tactical reshuffle as his brother, Phil Mason, went to play in an unfamiliar role.

Despite lacking the same physical presence as his brother, he provided great defensive cover and helped stem the flow of Preston's scoring late in the third quarter.

Kendal continued to battle hard for the final quarter and used this period to rotate their squad.

Kon Arfanis and Peter Howarth switched with Withnell and Basedow while France and Phil Mason continued to rotate with McInnes to fill the void left by Kevin Mason.

It resulted in some scrappy play to finish the game as Kendal struggled offensively.

Playing in unfamiliar roles, the Warriors men could not run their plays effectively going forward.

Their disjointed approach allowed the visitors to pounce and break quickly to rack up the points.

There were some bright spells as McInnes and Basedow finished off some good attacking play but this unfortunately was few and far between as Preston saw the game out 39- 73.

Scorers- G France 14 K Mason 8 M Basedow 7 K McInnes 6 M Crockford 2 P Mason 2 T Withnell 0 K Arfanis 0 P Howarth 0