BCB League
Derby Trailblazers 73 (15, 38, 53)
Reading Rockets 74 (22, 34, 58)
Derby Trailblazers produced their best performance of the season as they came incredibly close to
delaying Reading Rockets attempts to lift the BCB league title with a game to spare. After a slow
start, they took the second quarter 23-12 to open up a four-point lead at half-time, before a strong
third quarter helped Reading secure a nail-biting 74-73 win along with the league title.
American guard Jax Bouknight was the star of the show for Reading, surviving early foul trouble to
finish with 23 points, three assists and four steals. The 6’1” guard from Roswell in Georgia has had
an impressive first season in the country and it was him who fittingly secured the title with a three-
point play to seal the win.
Despite there being just eight seconds remaining, Derby still had two further chances to win the
game, but an off-balance shot from Malcolm Smith was off-target and despite Mo Walker grabbing
the offensive rebound, his attempted put-back was swatted away by Cooper Creek to hand
Reading the inaugural BCB league title.
Mo Walker shot 69.2% from the field, as he led the Trailblazers with a double-double of 20 points
and fourteen rebounds, adding four assists and one blocked shot. Jai Pathmarajah finished with 14
points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Malcolm Smith had 13 points, two
rebounds, three assists and three steals.
It was an impressive performance from Derby, who are now consistently producing their best
basketball at the business end of the season, according to Head Coach Kyle Henderson:
“I think it’s the toughest we’ve played and the most locked in we’ve been across an entire match
this season. The confidence of winning four games in a row has given us a new trajectory to reach
higher levels, but it’s really only a reflection of what I’ve always known this team is capable of doing
and we should be doing that more often.
“It was nice to see how hard we fought and how tough we played for the majority of the game. We
were both tough and physical to play against and It was frustrating to play like that and not come
away with the win, but in the closing moments, those fine margins hurt us.
“A few less turnovers or a few more free-throws made and it’s a different story, but it was still an
excellent performance against the best team in the league.
“We had a good look at the basket in the final possession and didn’t execute and I shoulder some
of that blame because it came straight out of a time-out. The guys worked their socks off and did
everything which was asked of them and they went out there and fought.
“I was delighted with the way we held Victor Olarerin to just five points because teams just don’t do
that normally. We made it really tough for him to get going and it was nice to see us playing such a
significant amount of defence against the best team in the league.
“With the play-offs locked in, that gives us the confidence to keep that locked in and keep getting
better over the final two league games and into the post-season.
“I thought Mo was tremendous for us and Jai’s scoring in the first half was impressive and he really
set the tempo and knocked down a couple of three-pointers, but counter that Bouknight was
excellent for them and there’s no surprise that the ball was in his hands for what turned out to be
one of the most crucial plays of the game.
“Credit to Reading for winning the league, but that game has shown us that if we meet them in the
play-offs, we’ll be ready for them,” he said.
Despite losing the tip, Walker opened the scoring with a jump-shot, but Rockets responded with six
straight points to state their title intentions. A steal by Connor Washington led to an impressive
dunk from Walker, before a triple from Washington and a lay-up from Pathmarajah helped Derby
open up an early 9-6 lead.
Three-pointers from Bouknight and Simon Chamberlain helped the visitors to close the first quarter
with a 16-6 run which even a Derby time-out after the seven unanswered points could do little to
help, as Reading took a 22-15 lead into the first break.
They stretched their lead to nine points early in the second, but back-to-back triples from
Pathmarajah had Rockets needing a time-out at 26-23 and 5’53” on the clock. It had little effect as
an offensive put-back from Walker, a basket from Smith and a steal from Pathmarajah led to a
dunk for Casey Burr and had Reading needing a second time out at 29-26 two minutes later.
The Rockets briefly regained the lead before Smith sank a pair of free-throws and Pathmarajah
converted his third triple of the game to give Derby a 38-34 half-time lead, which turned out to be
their biggest of the game.
At that stage, Pathmarajah was leading the Blazers with 13 points, but adjustments made by
Reading during the break meant he would only add one more point as the Rockets focussed on
limiting his effect.
The visitors started the third with a pair of free-throws from Victor Olarerin and consecutive scores
from Bouknight to retake the lead, but Derby responded as Raheem May-Thompson went one of
two from the line and Washing added a second three-pointer.
Four points from Reading were followed by six unanswered from the Blazers, as they took the
score to 48-45, prompting another time-out from the visitors, at 48-45 with 4’36” on the clock. This
time, the break in play worked in their favour and they closed the quarter with a 13-5 run to lead
58-53 ahead of the final quarter.
The Rockets lead peaked at 63-53 early in the fourth, but Derby weren’t in any mood to give up the
fight. They put together an 11-2 run which included a second three-pointer for Charlie Brown and a
dunk from May-Thompson, to cut the gap to a single point.
Eventually a pair of free-throws from Smith were followed by a three-pointer from Walker and the
Trailblazers were back in front at 71-69. Reading tied the game through Bouknight only for Zane
Poorman to foul Smith, who sank one of two at the line to restore a one-point lead.
A steal by Smith led to Poorman giving up his fifth foul and prompted Rockets to call for a time-out
with 54 seconds left. Agonisingly, May-Thompson missed both resulting free-throws. In the final
few seconds, Reading turned the ball over twice and Derby once, before May-Thompson was
fouled again.
This time he made one out of two, taking the score to 73-71 in the Blazers favour with 28 seconds
remaining, but that three-point play from Bouknight, followed by the block from Creek ended
Derby’s four gaming winning streak and handed Reading the title with a game to spare.
Derby: Walker 20, Pathmarajah 14, Smith 13, Washington 10, Brown 6, May-Thompson 6, Marsden 2,
Burr 2, Norman 0, Tallon DNP.
Reading: Bouknight 23, Creek 11, Poorman 11, Bryant 9, Nsangu 6, Salih 6, Olarerin 5, Chamberlin 3,
Sayles 0, Daines DNP, Hassan-Taylor DNP.
The Trailblazers round the regular season off with a trip to Hemel Storm next Saturday, followed by
a home game against London Cavaliers next Sunday afternoon.
Written by Nigel Cash.
Photo credit – Michael Taylor.
