Basketball

Middlesbrough Mavericks, or to give them their full title, Middlesbrough Steve Whitehead Joinery and Double Glazing Mavericks, just as they did last season, are once again making the early running at the top of Durham League Division One. They opened with a win last week and this week consolidated their good start with a 80-64 victory at Durham against newly promoted Belmont Reds.

Marek Pawlak hit 12 of the 20 points which Mavericks scored in the opening quarter. Belmont recovered thanks to good shot selection from Andrew Knox and Simon Whittaker and the Durham side finished the opening ten minutes with a slender 21-20 cushion. The second quarter was decisive. Mavericks strength is their height and all four of their big men, Pawlak, Andy Buchanan, Wayne Bailey and Paul Connery scored baskets in two spells of nine points without reply. The first burst moved the score on to 31-23 and the second stretched the lead to 40-27 and by the time the half-time buzzer sounded Mavericks were comfortable at 42-30.

The second half was even as Knox started well and Mark Elderkin finished strongly for Belmont Reds. In between Steven Graham, also for Reds, matched all that Connery, Bailey and Pawlak threw at them. Unfortunately Reds could do nothing to close the interval advantage which Mavericks had secured. Pawlak was at his forceful best with 34 points for SWJDD Mavericks whilst Bailey also netted double figures with 14. Graham, Whittaker and Knox all collected double figure scores for Belmont Reds with 20, 16 and 11.

Both Willington Wasps and Hartlepool HQ Engineering Hornets are new to the first division this season, but when the Hartlepool side travelled to Wallsend with a below strength team, a beating was on the cards. And so it proved as Wasps had much the bigger sting and powered to a 113-58 win.

The die was cast from the start as Hornets went from the fourth to the eighth minute of the game without scoring and when the first break arrived Wasps mare or less had the game under control at 33-10. The visitors did much better in the middle half of the game as Luke Thompson and John Middleton ran into some better form and the second and third periods scored 17-14 and 24-19 respectively to Wasps. Phil Hughes and both Sam and Ben Scorer had kept the scoreboard ticking over for Wasps in that middle section of the game, and when Wasps really opened up in the last period the scored raced from 86-48 after three minutes to 95-53 just three minutes later. Five players netted double figures for Willington Wasps; Sam Scorer (24), Paul Campbell (20), Hughes (17), Dave Smith (14) and Ben Scorer (12). Brothers Luke and Leon Thompson did so for HQ Engineering Hornets with 21 and 11 points each.

Hartlepool CJ Hydraulics A got their campaign off to a good start with a 84-58 against another team new to the second division, Middlesbrough College Academy B. Dean Hanson and Michael James gave Academy a great start and after four minutes they led 9-0 as Hydraulics had failed to trouble the scorer. A time-out sorted Hydraulics problems. Gary Keith began to drive in on the baseline and seven points in a row from him cut the gap to 12-7. The rest of the game belonged to Hydraulics Colin Knight, as he drove time after time into the heart of the Academy defence. He was at the heart of a 20-5 spell at the start of the second half and with just eight minutes of the third quarter finished Hydraulics were comfortable at 55-29. The rest of the contest was quite literally even at 29-29 as Hanson and Jonathan Osborne both had success for Academy, but unfortunately for them they were unable to make an impression on the lead which Knight had given his team.

Knight finished with his best ever score of 41 points for CJ Hydraulics A, as Keith gave him excellent support with 29. Everyone scored for Middlesbrough College Academy, although James and Hanson made double figures with 19 and 13.

After their good start last week, Shildon Strollers were brought down to earth with a bump at Washington as Anthony Burdis hit seven three-point baskets and finished with 30 points in leading Old Houghtonians to a 60-39 triumph.

Luke Jenner added 10 to the 30 scored by Burdis for Old Houghtonians. Only Steve Pattison scraped double figures for Shildon Strollers with 12.

Durham Saints recorded their first division two success of the season this week, a 63-36 win ironically against the team which beat them to last year's third division cup final, Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves.

Wolves struggled to hit the target for most of the night. The opening quarter was slow going, but Colin Lishman hit nine points to give Saints an 11-6 advantage. Saints really got into their stride after that first break and when Lishman and Simon Dunlop shared in a 14-0 burst in the last four minutes the Durham side went into the break 31-16 up. Wolves did do better after the interval as Jonathan Hirst and Liam Holliday began to connect, but Saints always had the edge and ran out comfortable winners.

Lishman, Dunlop and Woodcock all made two figures for Durham Saints with 17, 13 and 10 respectively. Only Holliday did so for Wear Valley Wolves with 10.

After last weeks disappointment, Consett Steelers were back to their winning ways with a 91-75 success at home to East Durham and Houghall College A. As the score suggests, the contest was, for the most part, even and entertaining. Brendan McNeany and Mark Ewen combined to give Steelers the better start for a 26-15 lead ten minutes into the game. Steelers strengthened their hold in the opening three minutes of the second quarter as Matt Patterson converted a run of three-point baskets in a 15-1 run which left them almost out of sight at 41-16.

John Harding then hit 13 points to rally his troops slightly, but Steelers were still up 55-37 at the interval whistle. The second half was much more even as both sides ran their benches and on several occasions College did get the deficit below 10 points, only to see Steelers ease away again.Patterson was the Consett Steelers match winner with 23 points, Ewan, McNeaney and Graham Craggs collected 17, 13 and 11 each. Harding led the East Durham challenge with 26 points to which David Wylie and Mark Vickers added 15 as Malcolm Johnson hit 12.

Durham League Results: Division One : Belmont Reds 64 Middlesbrough Mavericks 80 ; Willington Wasps 113 Hartlepool HQ Engineering Hornets 58 .

Division Two : Hartlepool Hawks ND 84 Trimdon Community College Association 94 ; Middlesbrough College Academy B 58 Hartlepool CJ Hydraulics A 84 ; Old Houghtonians 60 Shildon Strollers 39 ;

Durham Saints 63 Specsavers Wear Valley Wolves 36 ; Consett Steelers 91 East Durham and Houghall College A 75 . Division Three : Specsavers Wear Valley Wizards 21 Belmont 89 ; Hartlepool CJ Hydraulics B 47 East Durham and Houghall College B 56 . Womens Division : Nissan Sunderland 24 East Durham and Houghall Academy 71 .