Durham League

The season ended last week with a thrilling few days of cup final action and by the end of the week there was no doubt about the undisputed winners, not just of the week, but of the season as a whole. That accolade went to Middlesbrough College Academy who captured all three of the main Durham trophies, The Division One Championship, The County Cup and The Division One Cup, in their first ever season in its competitions. The Academy are also riding high in a couple of National competitions and have set a standard which they may be hard pushed to match in the future.

The unluckiest team of the year has to be Middlesbrough Mavericks. They are themselves in only their second season of Durham League action and for all but the last two weeks of their campaign it was they who set the pace at the top of the table. Unfortunately two league defeats to the Academy, added to their two reverses in the cup finals meant that they picked up runners-up medals for all three of those same competitions.

The first division league and league cup competitions themselves were a bit of a disappointment as, for one reason or another, no less than sixteen games were not played. On a brighter note, one new first division League record was set when Teesside Huskies beat University of Teesside 142-112. That aggregate score of 254 topped the old record of 246 which was co-incidentally set in the same University Sports Hall in 1999 when the students best Norton 124-122.

The second division title went to Durham side Belmont A. Their success was down to the impact which students from the basketball Academies will have in future Durham competitions as the Belmont team was packed with either past or present students from the East Durham and Houghall Basketball Academy. Hartlepool Hornets got the runners-up position in the league and East Durham and Houghall College B, with no Academy players in their ranks, won the Division Two Cup.

Two long-standing second division scoring records were also broken. East Durham and Houghall College B beat Durham Knights 160-38 to set a new high for the most points scored by a team in one game. The old mark stood at 156 and was set as long ago as the 1974-75 season. The second record to fall was the highest aggregate score of 209 which was set in the 1976-77 season. This time Belmont A and Trimdon CCA shared the honours as a 113-103 win for Belmont set the new standard at 216 points.

Division One leading scorers (League): Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 217, Steve Butler (Norton A) 199, Arran Hope (Nissan) 163, Ian Barrow (E D and H College A) 144, Bill Spragg (Nissan) 136, Sam Rowley (University of Teesside) 126, Leon Gabbidon (Teesside Huskies) 124, Chris Harnish (University of Teesside) 118, Phil Hale (University of Teesside) 112, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 110, Leon O'Donohue (Norton) 106, Steve Lowde (Norton A) 102.

Division One (Cup)

Division One leading scorers (Division One Cup): Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 154, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 108, Leon Gabbidon (Teesside Huskies) 108, Tony Hanson (Teesside Huskies) 96, Wayne Robinson (Middlesbrough College Academy) 93, Marlan Henry (Middlesbrough College Academy) 76, Paul Connery (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 75, Arran Hope (Nissan) 74, Kehinde Roberts (Middlesbrough College Academy) 70, Williams Omope (Middlesbrough College Academy) 70, Kieron Achara (Middlesbrough College Academy) 69, Ian Barrow (ED and H College A) 66.

Division One leading scorers (League, Division Cup and County Cup combined): Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 439, Steve Butler (Norton A) 265, Arran Hope (Nissan) 237, Leon Gabbidon (Teesside Huskies) 232, Ian Barrow (ED and H College A) 210, Bill Spragg (Nissan) 200, Kieron Achara (Middlesbrough College Academy) 196, Wayne Robinson (Middlesbrough College Academy) 186, Tony Hanson (Teesside Huskies) 184, Ian Viveash (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 183, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 174, Wayne Bailey (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 173.

Division One leading averages (League and Cups combined): Steve Butler (Norton A) 33.1, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 29.0, Leon Gabbidon (Teesside Huskies) 29.0, Cory Jackson (University of Teesside) 25.5, Marek Pawlak (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 23.1, Phil Thomas (ED and H College A) 22.8, Bill Spragg (Nissan) 22.2, Arran Hope (Nissan) 21.5, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 20.4, Liam O'Donohue (NortonA) 20.0, Steve Johnson (Nissan) 19.5, Graham Hunter (ED and H College A) 19.5.

Division One leading three-point basket scorers: Wayne Robinson (Middlesbrough College Academy) 32, Michael Gayle (Middlesbrough College Academy) 31, Carl Latham-Henry (Middlesbrough College Academy) 28, Chris Maddison (Nissan) 25, Creon Raftopolous (Teesside Huskies) 23, Darren Spence (ED and H College A) 21, Andy Reid (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 20, Steve Butler (Norton) 20, Neil Thorne (Nissan) 14, Ian Viveash (Middlesbrough Mavericks) 14, Chris Harnish (University of Teesside) 14.

Division Two leading scorers (League): Matthew Patterson (Consett Steelers) 449, Ian Harrison (Trimdon CCA) 436, Lee Davie (Belmont A) 361, Graham Ord (Hartlepool Hornets) 340, Andrew Bains (ED and H College B) 340, Lee Norton (Trimdon CCA) 332, Jamie Paul (ED and H College B) 331, Simon Lloyd (Old Houghtonians) 297, Dan Bailey (Hartlepool Hornets) 258, Sean Percival (Peterlee Video) 253, Wayne Oliver (Trimdon CCA) 233, David Wylie (ED and H College B) 226.

Division Two leading scorers (Cups and League combined): Matthew Patterson (Consett Steelers) 523, Ian Harrison (Trimdon CCA) 511, Lee Davie (Belmont A) 448, Lee Norton (Trimdon CCA) 432, Graham Ord (Hartlepool Hornets) 429, Jamie Paul (ED and H College B) 399, Andrew Bains (ED and H College B) 390, Dan Bailey (Hartlepool Hornets) 358, Simon Lloyd (Old Houghtonians) 351, Sean Percival (Peterlee Video) 312, Tom Wood (ED and H College B) 306, Wayne Oliver (Trimdon CCA) 284.

Division Two leading averages: Lee Norton (Trimdon CCA) 36.9, Tom Wood (ED and H College A) 30.3, Matthew Patterson (Consett Steelers) 28.1, Matthew Webb (Durham Knights) 26.7, Dan Bailey (Hartlepool Hornets) 25.8, Ian Harrison (Trimdon CCA) 25.6, Sean Percival (Peterlee Video) 25.3, Jamie Paul (ED and H College B) 23.6, Lee Davie (Belmont A) 22.6, Ben Scorer (Old Houghtonians) 22.4, Simon Lloyd (Old Houghtonians) 21.2, Graham Ord (Hartlepool Hornets) 21.3.

Division Two leading three-point basket scorers: Garry Gowans (Consett Steelers) 30, Simon Lloyd (Old Houghtonians) 30, Dan Bailey (Hartlepool Hornets) 28, Chris Elliott (Trimdon CCA) 26, Bruce Marshall (Hartlepool Hornets) 25, Steven Wood (ED and H College B) 25, Steven Graham (Belmont A) 23, Ian Harrison (Trimdon CCA) 22, Geoff Pollard (Belmont A) 18, Anthony Robinson (Hartlepool CJ Hydraulics A) 16, Lee Norton (Trimdon CCA) 16, Wayne Oliver (Trimdon CCA) 16.