Bexhill and Sussex Giants

Eric Douglin of Bexhill sent us his account of a great tournament.

Bexhill and Sussex Giants U20’s basketball team narrowly missed out on reaching the semi finals of the World Youth Friendships Games in Holland last week, where they lost one of their eight matches during the tournament. With the teams increased from the 32 of last year to 40 this time around, the Giants knew they would face a tough task if they were to win the basketball tournament.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 49 Club 2000 Netherlands 38

The first match of the tournament saw the Giants face Club 2000 of the Netherlands, who the Giants faced in last years competition. With only the top two teams of each five team group qualifying for the Elite A group, the Giants knew a good start was important to calm the nerves and show their intent to the other teams in the Games. The match started well for the Giants as they opened up a 4-0 lead with their fast break as Lewis Grant and Ian Berry finished off good moves. Club 2000 came back strong as their star player Worthy De Young, who will be playing basketball in Texas this year found his range and scored four three pointers without reply to leave the Giants trailing 4-12 within 6 minutes of the start of the match. The Giants settled into the game and used their zone press to good effect as they doubled team Club 2000 into making mistakes and lose the ball. Craig Douglin and the Giants Forwards Liam Williams and Martyn Akehurst were able to capitalise to make easy scores as the Giants run out comfortable winners 49-38 in their first match.

Bexhill Giants 52 Hang Time USA 46

The Giants second match was against USA Sporting Ambassador team Hang Time, who had also won their first game. The Giants came out strongly and opened up an early 6-2 lead. But Hang Time used their excellent team play get themselves back into the game and score on their own fast break. The Giants Matthew Watson calmed the English team’s nerves scoring two long range three pointers and Tom McGregor came into the game working hard in the Giants defence to ensure the Giants kept in control. With 2 minutes of the game remaining the Giants had opened up a 52-40 lead, but two consecutive three pointers from the Americans made the final score a lot closer than was reflected in a dominant 52-46 win for the Giants.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 38 Boomers USA 32

After two wins of the previous day the Giants looked to continue their good form when they faced the strongest USA team of the tournament the Boomers. The Giants knew it would be a tough game as the Boomers were coached by a top USA college coach. Both teams started the game cautiously but the Boomers edged into the lead passing the ball effectively and driving to the basket. The Giants were getting increasingly frustrated as their 6ft 9’ Forward Darren Hughes was continually penalised by the officials for using his superior strength and height advantage on the Americans. The Boomers coach also got involved by challenging every decision made by the officials. But the Giants kept their composure as Guards Ross Pudsey, Dan West and Ian Berry controlled the tempo of the game as the Giants won the game 38-32 to go 3-0 in their group.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 44 BC Maasmechelen , Belgium 28

With qualification to the Elite A Group almost assured the Giants were looking to consolidate top spot and maintain their 100% record against the other unbeaten team in the Group BC Maasmechelen from Belgium. The Giants would not only have to contend with playing tough opponents, but also deal with their large and vocal support.

This was by far the Giants best display of the tournament as they played with high intensity from the start pressurising BCM into making errors with tough full court press. When in possession the impressive ball movement of the Giants was turned into points as Douglin, Grant and Williams piled on the points and Watson, Pudsey and West restricted the Belgians to long range shots. The Giants continued their intensity until the end of the game, by which time they had attracted the attention of the other teams as one to watch and went into Group A with a 4-0 100% record, winning 44-28.

Friday saw the Giants start their Elite Group A stage where they were placed in an all European group of Stuttgart Titans of Germany, and the Sea Devils, Just Blaze and Racing Beverwijk all of the Netherlands. With only one game of the day against Stuttgart Titans who had also won their Group with a 100% record the Giants knew a good start was imperative. There was also the added incentive that only the first placed team in each of the four groups would progress to the semi finals and the other teams would be eliminated.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 40 Stuttgart Titans Germany 44

Giants Coach Eric Douglin decided to rest two of his starting five for the game as Craig Douglin and Grant started the game on the bench. Stuttgart started the stronger as they worked the ball well inside the Giants zone for easy baskets. The Giants could not get into their rhythm as Stuttgart opened a 6-0 lead, until Dan West got the Giants on the scoresheet. The sides traded baskets knowing the victory would probably see the winners’ progress to the semi finals. The Giants brought Douglin and Grant into the game as Stuttgart had no reply to their surging drives to the basket. With seven minutes of the match remaining the Giants opened a lead of 33-24, but the Giants were hit by controversial decisions as Hughes and then Douglin were called for charging fouls after they had scored baskets, and lost the chance to extend their lead. The Giants lost their composure and the German side grew in confidence as they whittled away at the lead. With 30 seconds remaining the Giants trailed 37-42, when Berry scored a three pointer to reduce the deficit to two points. Stuttgart had the ball but lost possession and the Giants went for the drive to level the scores, but they lost control of the ball and the Germans scored on the buzzer to defeat the Giants 40-44.

Saturday saw the Giants needing to won their remaining three games and hope that Stuttgart would be defeated in the process for any chance of progressing to the semi finals.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 40 Sea Devils, Netherlands 38

The Giants first match was against the Sea Devils who had their own sights on the semi finals after winning their first match of the tournament. The Giants started strongly and went into a 6-4 lead with Dan West and Matt Watson getting on the scoreboard. But the Sea Devils, who were defeated by the Giants in last year’s competition, came back strongly. Both teams were playing cautiously, but the Giants used their height advantage as Forwards Darren Hughes and Martyn Akehurst scored inside to ensure the Giants got off to a winning start for the day with a hard fought 40-38 win.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 20 Just Blaze Netherlands 0 (Awarded to Giants)

The Giants were scheduled to Dutch team Just Blaze, but only four of their players had turned up within 20 minutes of the allotted start time. This game the Giants a 20-0 victory. In order to keep themselves motivated for their final game the Giants played National League team Brentwood Fire in a friendly and won convincingly 53-26.

Bexhill & Sussex Giants 56 Racing Beverwijk, Netherlands 50

The Giants final game of the tournament was slightly subdued as they were aware that Stuttgart Titans had topped the group with four wins and had progressed to the semi finals. But the Giants were intent on finishing the tournament on a high with 7 wins out of 8. Dutch side Racing Beverwijk were the opponents, but a slow start saw the Giants trail 0-6, before Tom McGregor and Ross Pudsey opened the scoring. Dan West marshalled the defence well , but the Dutch side were also intent on finishing their tournament on a high and took the game to the Giants extending their lead to 28-20 at half time. The Giants came out fired up at the start of the second half and reduced the deficit with Berry, Grant and Douglin turning the possession into points. Both sides traded baskets in the final minutes and although they were out of the tournament the Giants won their third match of the day 56-50.

To cap an excellent tournament for the Sussex team , Giants Guard Ian Berry was selected to play for the European All-stars against their USA counterparts in the final game of the tournament. Giants coach Eric Douglin was also chosen to coach the European team with the tournament winning coach from Toulouse. Ian Berry put in an MVP performance as Europe defeated the USA 52-50 in overtime in front of over two thousand spectators.

European All-Star Team

Giants Coach Eric Douglin said “Although the players were disappointed not to win the tournament, they have shown that they can compete at the highest level against teams where basketball is their second sport after football. I am very proud of their achievements and was privileged to be asked to coach the European All Star Tea, this was due to the hard work and excellent performances put in by the team. We will be back next year to try and win the event.”

The Giants would like to thank the Bexhill Lions Club and the Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance Services for their support.

Anyone interested in sponsoring the Bexhill Giants for the new season please call Eric Douglin on 07971821457 or email eric.douglin@ rbs.co.uk