U16s

2nd Feb
Leopards 84
Plymouth Marjon Cannons 53

In what was one of the most exciting games of the season, victory was very sweet with a superb score of Leopards 84 Plymouth 53.

After a defeat against Plymouth away earlier in the season, this game really meant a lot to the Leopards team. They played with an unstoppable offence and outstanding defence throughout the game. The home crowd were treated to some fantastic basketball. Chuky Omo delighting the fans with three dunks. One double handed jam, through traffic, with a foul. This got the coaches, players and spectators out of their seats! Then making his foul shot to give a three point play was the icing on the cake.

Coaches Renshaw and Connell were “extremely happy with the game”; they praised the “great defence played by the whole team”.

Leopards: C.Omo 16, R.Connell 14, A.Hinds 14, T.Higton 11, J.Ashley 10, C.watts 7, J.Lofum 6, B.Jackson 6, L.Davis, G.Meyer, L.Renshaw.

9th/10th Feb
The less said the better. Not a very good weekend for the Leopards. Two defeats in two days. Coach Renshaw said “We will not dwell on this weekend, but hopefully learn and grow from our mistakes”. Saturday 16th sees the U16s travel to Reading…….. watch this space!

U18s

Leopards 78 (22, 41, 58)
Ipswich 72 (19, 34, 46)


Leopards: Mike Jarvis 20, Adam Edwards 15, Ben Warden 13, Lukas Volskis 11, Omar Mohamed 9, Nathan Wilson 8, Ryan Westley 2, Russell Stonehouse, Charlie graves, Stephen Edwards.

U14s

Herts/Essex League

Leopards 41 (10, 18, 32)
North Herts Knights 26 (6, 14, 20)

The first game of the day pitted a much improved Knights against the team to beat – Essex & Herts Leopards. With many players on both teams knowing each other well it was always going to be hard getting on top and then staying there. Switches in momentum would once again be key.

In a very tight first two quarters Knights worked hard to stay with Leopards and their efforts were rewarded with some good baskets of their own and baskets not dropping for Leopards. Many teams would have become frustrated by this and panicked – not Leopards, they knew that eventually the pressure would tell and the baskets would soon start to drop.

This proved to be the case in the second half of the game as their superior team play resulted in some excellent defence and fast break offence that Knights could not find solutions to. The result was a comfortable score-line at the end of a very entertaining game in which both teams played some very pleasing basketball.

Leopards: Joe Graves (V.Capt.)4, Nathan Crossman (Capt.) 4, Tom Bryan 6, Neil Addison 4, Omar Ibrahim 6, George Keys 2, George Crosby 5 , Roman Lososovskij 6, Michael Darlow 4

Coaches: Terry Graves/Steve Darlow

‘Champagne Moments’: Joe Graves’ six assists and Nathan’s 30m assist to Neil

Leopards 51 (16, 26, 40)
North Essex 31 (6, 16, 26)

The second game of the day was the eagerly awaited ‘clash’ between the two teams with the best league records to date. In addition many of the players train and play together for Leopards U.14s and know each other well. Consequently the light-hearted banter before, during and after the game was especially lively.

With two quality teams on show the audience were in for a treat with some excellent basketball in a very competitive but fair match. The first two quarters were, as expected, very tight affairs with both teams scoring some good baskets and Leopards impressing on defence as they worked hard to stop the North Essex team from successfully cutting into the danger area.

The second half was controlled by Leopards as Essex tired with this back-to-back match for them. Leopards were able to move the ball well on offence and showed some impressive fast break skills. They also made Essex work hard for every space and shot in a very pleasing and highly effective team performance where every player made a significant contribution with court time and impact.

Leopards: Joe Graves (V.Capt.)2, Nathan Crossman (Capt.) 6, Tom Bryan 4, Neil Addison 8, Omar Ibrahim 8, George Keys 2, George Crosby 9, Roman Lososovskij 8, Michael Darlow 4

Coaches: Terry Graves/Steve Darlow

‘Champagne Moments’: Team defence and fast break

Leopards 52 (16, 26, 42)
Harlow Hawks 16 (0, 4, 10)

The third match of the day saw the very fit and fast Leopards take on the courageous Harlow Hawks who were looking to play well against Leopards.

Leopards were quickly into their stride and Hawks looked tired after their intense struggle earlier against North Herts Knights. The Hawks found the Leopards defence unforgiving and could not stem the flow of the Leopards offence as they scored at will with good passing and movement.

The second a third periods followed the same pattern as the Hawks tried valiantly to slow down the Leopards offence and penetrate their defence. Leopards were able to move the ball well and continued to look fore the perfect ‘team basket’.

The final quarter was dominated by Leopards who were able to use all their deep bench throughout the match and the superior individual and team skills were clear for all to see.

Leopards: Joe Graves (V.Capt.)4, Nathan Crossman (Capt.) 8, Tom Bryan 4, Neil Addison 6, Omar Ibrahim 6, George Keys 6, George Crosby 6, Roman Lososovskij 6, Michael Darlow 6

Coaches: Terry Graves/Steve Darlow

‘Champagne Moments’: Roman’s reverse inside pass to Michael for a score

Game Stats