Basketball

MIDDLESBROUGH Mavericks are enjoying a solid first season and gained a brilliant 89-82 win after a fiercely competitive battle with neighbours Teesside Huskies A in the Division One derby at Middlesbrough College.

Mavericks got off to a flying start as Wayne Bailey hit six from eight for the early lead. Control from Ian Viveash and power play by Marek Pawlak took the Middlesbrough side through the quarter at 28-19 ahead and into the break with a 48-30 cushion and match control.

Huskies switched to a half-court man defence on the restart and the pressure paid off as newcomers Nick O'Hara-be and Usman Cmera found their way through Mavericks' minefield. By the fourth minute of the second half the gap was down to 55-45 and two minutes later Mavericks advantage was only 61-54. A Viveash three-pointer shook Mavericks out of their lethargy and the final quarter scored basket-for-basket.

Pawlak did best for Mavericks with 38 points and he got excellent support from Viveash and Bailey who finished with 23 and 16.

Four players shared most of the points for Teesside Huskies A; Cmera (28), O'Hara-be (21), Tony Hanson (16) and John Anderson (10).

There is no stopping East Durham and Houghall Basketball Academy as they stretched their unbeaten league run to ten games with a Division One double. They had a 78-49 success against neighbours East Durham and Houghall Community College A.

Academy gained a 30-12 cushion at the end of the first quarter. A 14-2 spurt by the Academy increased the gap to 46-20 at half-time. The second half was fast and furious, but much more even. Adam Williams and Chris Butler at last began to convert chances for the College but they could not cut the deficit.

Four players hit double figures for East Durham Academy; Kerr (24), Butler (11), Ronny Gordon (11) and Simpson (10). Ian Barrow top scored for East Durham College A with 14.

The second win for East Durham and Houghall Basketball Academy came against Norton at Stockton by 85-62.

Academy established a 27-7 lead and the break at the end of that first quarter allowed Norton to regroup and they did at least match their guests for the next 30 minutes. But the damage had already been done and the 23 points separated the teams.

Academy top scorers were Simpson (21) and Kerr (16), Urban and Jenkins netted 23 and 20 apiece for Norton.

Nissan are on a roll and the students from the University of Teesside could do nothing to stop them as they stormed to an 110-68 win at Washington.

The students never really troubled Nissan as the four quarters scored 31-15, 24-16, 35-20 and 20-17. Nissan were at their best in the third quarter as the students could do nothing to stop them. Six of their players had reached double figures; Arran Hope (26), Neil Thorne (21), Bill Spragg (21), Steve Dixon (13), Chris Maddison (11) and Neil Baxter (10).

The students heads never dropped though and Sam Rowley, Matt Ellis and Michael Bouclas ended the game with 15, 12 and 10 points respectively

Division One: East Durham and Houghall College A 49 East Durham and Houghall Academy 78; Nissan 110 University of Teesside 68; Middlesbrough Mavericks 89 Teesside Huskies A 82; Norton 62 East Durham and Houghall Academy 85 .

Division Two: Belmont Reds 67 Hartlepool Hornets A 66; Peterlee Video 73 Consett Steelers 82; Old Houghtonians 66 Shildon Strollers 44; Consett Steelers 64 Durham Knights 60.

Division Three: East Durham and Houghall College B 51 Spennymoor Exiles 53; Hartlepool Hornets B 91 Young Houghtonians 65.

Women's Division: Durham Knights 36 East Durham and Houghall Academy Ladies 69; Whickham 63 Nunthorpe Boro Bruins 30; South Tyneside 67 Durham Knights 26