Ipswich
Basketball Club
'The Bobcats
& Tomcats'
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ENGLAND BASKETBALL
EAST MIDLANDS CONFERENCE -'CHAMPIONS!' The Ipswich Tomcats, formed only two years earlier embarked on their first year at Junior Men’s level of the England Basketball National League last September with almost an identical squad that finished in 5th. place in the South Conference of the U16 National League the previous season. With the step up from U16’s to U18’s the team were expecting a much tougher season than the previous year. Trials were held in June, in Ipswich, Beccles and Mildenhall in an effort to find any hidden talent within the county. In Beccles Matt Harber was recruited, while in Mildenhall the trials were poorly attended and we didn’t find anything new. However, it was at the Ipswich trial that we came across four new players that would all be involved throughout the season. Athlete’s Ross Wing and Shane D’ Allesandro were joined by three point specialist Johnathan Parodi but our most exciting prospect of the summer was 6’7” Michael Holbrook, who could run and jump like a track athlete. We selected twenty-five players from the trials, and that squad was cut down to sixteen after a three week training camp. The five new players joined Sam Saggers, Aaron Moseley, Christian Daley, Adam Burrows, Sam Calver, Brad Potter, James Fairs as a supporting cast for the team’s three leading players, Scotland International Jacob Swift, Most Valuable Player Luke Fry and 6’10 England International Leigh Greenan. In wasn’t only players that we were very active in recruiting. Two new assistant coaches were brought in. Nick Newman and Rich Godfrey would both bring very specific skills and expertise into the programme. Pavel Kricka would again be the team manager. Throughout the pre-season the team trained three times a week for twelve weeks, and played eight games. This allowed the coaching staff to have a far greater knowledge and understanding of the squad than most other teams playing in their first season at junior men level. The one blemish on our pre-season was the fact that point guard, and best player from the pervious season Luke Fry, had developed a condition in his back that would seriously hinder his ability to train and play at 100%. It was obvious from the previous season that without Luke in the line up his expertise would be missed and that we would not be the same team. The first competitive game of the season was at Westbourne Sports College against the favourites for the division, the West Herts Warriors. Over two hundred people were crammed into the sports hall at Westbourne to see a thrilling game that the Tomcats eventually lost by three points. From there the team visited Cambridge Cats in the National Cup, recording their first competitive victory at this level by twenty points. Wickford where next and the Tomcats recorded their first league win of the season by a record ninety-six points. Top scorers on the day were Leigh Greenan with fifty one points and Jacob Swift collected forty-nine. The second league fixture at home to Nene Valley Venom resulted in another convincing victory by fifty-one points. Leigh Greenan once again dominated, and James Fairs recorded a career best point total of fifteen points off the bench. Next to visit Westbourne were the Cambridge Cats to but this time in the league and although a different venue the outcome was the same as the Tomcats won by more than twenty points. Next we travelled to the famous Brixton Topcats arena for a second round National Cup fixture who were one of the competition favourites. The team did not perform to its best consequently we were beaten, but unsung hero’s Sam Saggers and Aaron Moseley both had great individual games. However our team’s attitude and commitment had the Brixton Coach singing our praises after the game and he felt that the team had a great future.. Next we travelled to Lincoln for our last game of 2006. The Cougars had surprisingly beaten the undefeated West Herts the previous week so it meant that victory here would see us top of the league at Christmas. After a shaky start we held our opponents to just nine points in three quarters and ended up winning buy more than fifty. First game of the New Year was to Lynx Lincoln at home where we achieved another comfortable win. Wickford Knights came to visit and we once again put in a strong performance as Michael Holbrook stole the show with an excellent all-round display. Unfortunately it was at this time that the Tomcat’s season suffered a severe blow when Michael Holbrook sustained a horrific injury while playing in a local league game. He had broken his neck in two places while diving for a lose ball and was obviously not going to play any part in the rest of the season. Rather worryingly there were question marks as to whether he would ever play again. The next game was on the road to play the Nene Valley Venom and to make matters worse a key player was suspended for two games. Being the next game emotions were high as we were missing two important players and when Leigh Greenan was harshly ejected at the start of the second half we were without our most dominant player. We scrapped out a superb result, winning by nine points behind a phenomenal performance from Aaron Moseley. Leicester Dynamite were the next road trip and they were an unknown quantity having not played a number of their fixtures. Leicester were a very good team and in an entertaining game held a three point lead with just one second to go. Up stepped Luke Fry to hit the biggest shot of the season and probably his life as it was a three pointer as the buzzer sounded to tie the game. More importantly Luke was fouled in that attempt and had a free-throw with no time on the clock to win the game. Luke calmly made the shot which meant we had won by a single point, in the most dramatic way possible. With key players still missing it was again Aaron Moseley who stepped up to give Leigh Greenan the support he needed as the pair combined for more than fifty points. The Tomcats travelled to Cambridge Cats next knowing that a win would secure our pre-season goal of a place in the National Championship Play-Offs. The Tomcats showed how far they had come since their previous meeting as they were leading by over thirty points by half time, allowing the less experienced players to enjoy some extended court time. Brad Potter in particular shone. The final league game of the season was away to West Herts, with the winner not only taking the East Midlands title but also avoiding a trip to Doncaster in the first round of the play-offs. The Tomcats lead from start to finish and behind the play of the now devastating Greenan/Moseley combination was the all-round play of Jacob Swift with the team winning by fourteen points. The Tomcats had won the league, in their first ever season at U18 level which was a major achievement in itself. The Tomcats had drawn Premier Division side Coventry Crusaders at home in the first round of the Play-Offs. The Play-Off game with Coventry was heavily promoted in the local press. The result of which was that over three-hundred people squeezed into Westbourne to watch what turned out to be the game of the season. For three quarters of the match the Tomcats looked to have the game under control but in the fourth things started to go wrong and with five minutes to go Coventry had taken a seven point lead. Up stepped Leigh Greenan, Jacob Swift and Aaron Moseley to pull the game close again. However, it was the three pointer from Johnny Parodi, a fringe player for much of the season, that secured a famous win. Not only had we qualified for the play-offs, but we had beaten a strong premier division team, in front of three hundred people in Ipswich. The teams’ reward for this famous win was a trip to Sheffield, and a game against a team that many people fancied to win the National Championship. We lost, but we didn’t quit – It had taken one of the true powers of English National League Basketball to end the season. However, this team of boys, that only a year earlier had finished fourth place in the Southern Conference of the U16 National League, had now won their division at U18 level, qualified for the National Play-Offs, and now established themselves as one of the top sixteen teams in the country. With the squad all returning again next season, the possibility of the Ipswich Tomcats being a potential National Champion is a realistic one. Head Coach Nick Drane Reporting May 2007
Junior Men FINAL Table
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