Teesside League

Thornaby resumed where they left off last season, relying on Steve Butler to shoot them to victory with Darlington Devils on the receiving end in the opening week.

In an even first quarter Devils were down by four points but a series of three pointers from Steve Hardy gave them the edge in the second period, up by eight points 40-32 at half time. On the resumption Butler hit 11 straight points but Aaron Hope traded basket for basket keeping Devils in the lead at the end of the third quarter, 58-54. It was left to national league player to hit 14 points in the final ten minutes of play to push Thornaby into a winning position as Devils points dried up with only eight scored in that final period.

Although defeated, Devils put in a spirited performance as Hope hit 25 big 44 points in his sides 79-66 win.

Middlesbrough Mavericks showed their intent to winning titles with a solid home win over league cup holders Tigers by 74 points to 51. An opening first quarter saw Mavericks blitz the visitors by a margin of 28-8 as Eamon Urtone hit three pointers and the power play of Pawlak proved too much for Tigers.

A good third session by Tigers as they pulled the score back to 48-31 but that was the end of their resistance as Mavericks ended comfortable victors by a 23-point margin. Urtone top scored with 18 points and Steve Cowell hitting 16 for Tigers.

Norton began their campaign against a five-man Mariners squad on home court with Paul Jenkins and Glen Urban giving them a 20-point lead in the first quarter 39-15. The game slowed somewhat in the second period but after leading 58-29 at the break Norton stepped up a gear with Chris Ellis and Mark Whiter hitting die target. To rub salt into Mariners' wounds Graham Bennett hit 12 points in the last quarter on his debut to give the home side a more than comfortable lead, 97-44. Top scorers were Jenkins 23 and Urban 24 for North and in reply for Mariners Edwin Swain hit 18 points and Lee Tovoy 13.

In the first round of the junior Girls Championship tournaments Nunthorpe were too strong for St Patrick's Thornaby side who failed to convert their chances going down 36-4. LJS Guisborough in their first competitive game just held out against an equally new team from Egglescliffe winning by 28-20 as Sally Brown top scored for LJS with ten points with Claire Fryer leading Egglescliffe with 12 points. There were also wins for Brierton Hartlepool and Norton in the opening round. The second round games continue at the Rainbow Leisure Centre on Sunday

October 22