Basketball

A brace of three-point baskets from Andrew Knox took Belmont into the first break with a 17-10 cushion. All changed in the second quarter as Graham Ord, John Middleton and Stuart Anderson shared 17 unanswered points to take Hornets into the interval 35-27 up. Belmont turned the game on its head on the restart when Simon Whittaker, Knox and Richard Huntley all hit points in a five minute, 15-0 run which restored their lead at 42-37. The see-saw swung again as Hornets went ahead 50-48 with five minutes left only for seven free-throws to go astray as Belmont edged into the final.

The second semi-final between Nissan and Middlesbrough Mavericks was postponed because of the unavailability of a court.

Both of the Mens Division Two semi-finals were completed, both went to form.

In the first Durham Saints put on a brave show before losing 104-65 to Consett Steelers.

Brendan McNeaney and Matt Patterson gave Steelers a 12-5 start and when Chris Telford rounded off a 12-2 burst with a three-point basket, Saints were struggling at 24-7 with eight minutes gone. Craig Sowerby then shook up Saints offence with 10 from 14 only for McNeaney to take Steelers into the interval up 50-27. The third quarter was Saints best as Phil Bailey and Simon Dunlop collected 25 points only for Mark Ewen to guide Steelers to a 75-50 lead with ten minutes left. The final quarter gave Steelers the chance to stretch away again which they did with a 17-5 burst in the last three minutes.

Old Houghtonians took their place in the final with a 88-54 win over Shildon Strollers in the second semi-final.

Once again a good start set up the victory as all five players on court hit the baskets which gave Houghtonians a 13-2 advantage after four minutes and a 21-9 cushion by the tenth. Strollers were struggling to get going and only Mal Turnbull offered them any real hope and half-time arrived with them 41-25 down. Houghtonians Phil Smailes took a grip on the game at the opening of the second half and a 15-4, six minute run extended their lead to 56-29. Craig Lowe and Mal Ballard combined to give Strollers the better of an even last quarter, but it was too little and too late.

Two of the best games of the week came in the semi-finals of the Mens Division Three Cup.

In the first, Specsavers Wear Valley Warriors recovered from a slow start to beat East Durham and Houghall College B 71-58.

Paul Cassell and Wayne Dunn gave College the better start and a 14-10 cushion as the first quarter finished. Tony Swallow kept College in front in the next period as Warriors scored only four baskets and an even, higher scoring third quarter had College in control at 42-32 as it finished. College had started the game with only six players and by the three-quarter mark, three of them were in foul trouble. A combination of that and fatigue turned the game on its head as Warriors opened the fourth and final quarter with a 15-2 burst, took the lead for the first time in the game at 47-44 and then eased into the final.

Belmont are favourites to complete a third division cup and league double and they did reach the cup final with a 82-50 victory, but not before Teesside Huskies had given them plenty to think about.

Once again the third quarter was crucial as a 14-0 spell stretched the Belmont lead to 46-29 after the first and second quarters had scored 16-14 and 14-13. Reno Raftopolous did all he could to bring Huskies back, but the closest they got was at 70-49 with four minutes left.

A 50 points handicap start was not enough to give Tyne and Wear Juniors the win they wanted in their Womens Handicap Cup semi-final with Nunthorpe Boro Bruins, as the latter wiped off most of those points in a 63-55 first half, took the lead for the first time at 85-84 as the third quarter closed and went on to win the game 110-90. Hard working man defence from Nunthopre had restricted Tyne and Wear to just two baskets in the first quarter and four in the second and a basket from Kath Ashwell gave Nunthorpe the lead at 85-84 as the end of the third quarter whistle blew.

In the second tie Durham Knights made the most of a 10 point start to beat Sunderland Nissan 59-44.

Give or take a few, those same 10 points separated the teams for all but the last five minutes. Saori Inomata, Tamara Davies and Harunu Kaneko all enjoyed good spells for Knights as the Sunderland response came mostly from Audrey Crawford. With thirty-five minutes gone Knights cushion was 58-44 and unfortunately for Sunderland they could not score again as the University students finished with 11 points without reply.

As well as the cup games there were a couple of very important results in the handful of league games which were also played

The most significant was a 85-77 first division victory for University of Teesside over Steve Whithead Joinery and Double Glazing Middlesbrough Mavericks, a win which opens the way to the Division One title for Middlesbrough College Academy A.

University beat Mavericks because they fielded their strongest team, including David Jack and Jon Stonebridge, for the first time this season. As befits two teams with some of the best players in the league, the action was fast and furious from start to finish as the lead changed hands throughout. University led 42-40 at half-time and it was all-square at 63-63 as the last ten minutes started. Even then the outcome was in doubt until the closing few moments when two baskets from Jack and a free-throw by Stonebridge stretched the University lead from 80-77 to its 85-77 conclusion.

For their part Middlesbrough College Academy A took one step closer to the first division title with a 87-68 success away to Nissan.

Academy focussed better after a delayed start and Carl Latham-Henry hit 13 as Mark Greenwood got nine in giving them a 22-13 cushion as the first quarter closed. A basket-for-basket second quarter followed as Nissan managed to match but not catch Academy and half-time passed at 37-28 to the visitors. The third quarter of games has become something of a nemesis for Nissan this season and sure enough by the thirty minute mark the deficit had stretched to 68-51 a gap which they could not reel in.

The other highly significant result of the week was a 80-58 win for Tyneside in their Womens Division clash with East Durham and Houghall Academy. Academy were the only side in with any chance of snatching the crown which Tyneside have now worn for eight of the last nine seasons, but they failed.

Eleven points without reply in the last three minutes of the third quarter stretched a narrow 53-44 Tyneside lead into one of 65-44 and gave them a welcome breathing space which until then the dogged shooting of Academy's Tamsin Vicary and Ruth Cass had denied them. Once in the clear Tyneside were able to do just enough to stay there.

Mens County Cup semi-final: Belmont Reds 61 Hartlepool HQ Engineering Hornets 55.

Mens Division Two Cup semi-finals: Durham Saints 65 Consett Steelers 104; Shildon Strollers 54 Old Houghtonians 88.

Mens Division Three Cup semi-finals: Belmont 82 Teesside Huskies 50; East Durham and Houghall College B 58 Specsavers Wear Valley Warriors 71.

Womens Handicap Cup semi-finals: Tyne and Wear Juniors 90 Nunthorpe Boro Bruins 110; Durham Knights 69 Sunderland Nissan 44.

Division One: Hartlepool HQ Engineering Hornets 80 Norton 77; University of Teesside 85 Middlesbrough Mavericks 77; Nissan 68 Middlesbrough College A 87.

Division Two: Middlesbrough College Academy B 61 Trimdon Community College Association 87.

Division Three: Specsavers Wear Valley Warriors 64 Young Houghtonians 48; Durham Knights 49 Young Houghtonians 35.

Womens Division: East Durham and Houghall Academy 58 Tyneside 80