BCB League
Derby Trailblazers 104 (24, 50, 70)
Bristol Hurricanes 82 (15, 34, 57)
After completing a series double over Essex Rebels last weekend, Derby Trailblazers did the same
again by securing a 104-82 home win over Bristol Hurricanes.
Jai Pathamarajah led the way with 27 points, three rebounds, five assists and not a single turnover
in a performance which should put him in contention of the BCB Team of the Week and the
magnitude of his contribution wasn’t lost on his back-court partner, Charlie Brown:
“You know what you’re going to get with Jai because he’s always going to score. Sometimes, it
might not be the best shot, but when he’s shooting, you’re pretty confident it’s going to drop.
“He’s having a good year moving the ball, each week he is getting better and better and more
comfortable. It’s nice to see him go from strength to strength; last season he wasn’t in the team
straight away and didn’t really get the minutes he does this year, so to make the jump and do it at
such a high level, I’m really happy to see it,” he said.
Connor Washington converted five out of eight three-pointers on his way to 19 points, adding four
rebounds and one assists, while Malcolm Smith had 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two
steals. Academy star Casey Burr impressed with 8 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two
steals, while his U18 teammate Elias Norman had nine points, one rebound and three assists.
Bristol were led by Jules Dang-Akano, who shot the lights out from long range, sinking seven out of
his twelve attempts from beyond the arc as he finished on 23 points. Elvisi Dusha had 19 points
and six assists, while captain Daniel Edozie came to life in the second half as he completed a
double-double of 18 points and ten rebounds.
Derby won the tip and were quickly off the mark through Mo Walker, but the Hurricanes replied
with a three-pointer from Dusha and a lay-up from David Forsyth. Pathmarajah then stated his
intent with a three-point play and a lay-up, before Washington struck from long-range to give the
Blazers and early 10-5 advantage.
Derby continued to flourish over the remainder of the first quarter, with another three-point play
from Pathmarajah, a pair of baskets from Smith, a drive to the hoop from Washington and a pair of
free-throws from Charlie Brown all contributing to a 14-8 run which put them 24-15 ahead at the
first break.
Edozie opened the scoring in the second before a bucket from Pathmarajah was followed by a
triple from Washington and a lay-up from Burr as the lead was stretched to 31-17 before a third
three-pointer from Dang-Akano prompted a Derby time-out with 6’20” on the clock.
The Blazers got the perfect response as Pathmarajah converted from long range via an offensive
rebound and assist from Burr, but the Hurricanes replied with yet another triple from Dang-Akano
and long-range shooting quickly became the theme over the remainder of the second quarter.
For Derby, Raheem May-Thompson struck first, before Washington added two more and Walker
added a fourth, before Dusha bagged a consolation three-pointer for the visitors as the Trailblazers
took a 50-34 lead into the half-time break.
Bristol opened the third quarter with a steal and another three-pointer from Dusha. May-Thompson
replied with a reverse lay-up before the visitors’ offensive rhythm finally began to click. Both Edozie
and Denzil Ubiaro began to find routes through to the hoop and all of a sudden, Derby’s sixteen-
point half-time lead had been halved to just eight points.
The Blazers took a time-out to refocus their efforts and quickly concluded the period with a 10-5
run to lead 70-57 as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Bristol trimmed the gap to eleven
points, but a coach Technical on Kestutis Trakellis sparked an 18-7 run from the Blazers which
effectively sealed the outcome.
Within that run, a second coach Technical saw the Hurricanes’ Head Coach ejected from the game
with 5’23” left and the Blazers leading 83-64. Pathmarajah sank the resulting free-throw and then
added two more from the line, before Burr went coast to coast for a fast-breaking lay-up.
The Hurricanes called a time-out but it had little effect as Derby continued to dominate. Burr was
joined on court by fellow Academy players Elias Norman and Will Tallon and over the closing five
minutes, the crowd was treated to dunks from Smith and Pathmarajah, a pair of triples from
Norman and an alley-oop which was initiated by Smith and completed by Burr.
It was a much-needed win for the Blazers, whose record improved to 9-8 with nine games to go
and Head Coach Kyle Henderson says the improvement in form is coming at a good time:
“It was good to secure back-to-back wins against Essex and Bristol because its something we very
much needed after losing four on the bounce. We played pretty solid for thirty minutes or so, but
we took our foot off the gas a little in the third quarte which allowed them to come back on a run.
“It showed once again that any team can turn up and compete and Bristol have a squad full of
talented players and even some guys missing, other players stepped up. For instance, Dusha is a
ten or eleven points a game player, but he finished with 19.
“Dang-Akano went seven from twelve from behind the arc, despite only just being back from injury
and the fact they’re a poor three-point shooting team. Now if he hadn’t done that, it would have
been a completely different game.
“It was really good for us to get our young guys on and earning some well-deserved minutes at this
level. Elias was fantastic in the thirteen or fourteen minutes that he got he played solid defence and
really locked in on his match ups as well as shooting the ball well as he knocked down a couple of
threes and had a three-point play as he attacked the basket.
“I can’t fault the standards Casey is constantly producing either. He was the team’s top rebounder
which shows whether he’s scoring or not, his game is multi-faceted and Jai was fantastic too. He’s
playing really aggressively, he’s shooting ball well and getting to the basket well and he deserves
the recognition he’s getting right now,” he said.
Derby: Pathmarajah 27, Washington 19, Smith 14, Norman 9, Burr 8, Marsden 8, Walker 7, May-
Thompson 6, Brown 6, Marsden 8, Tallon 0, Lawrence DNP, Pastor DNP.
Bristol: Dang-Akano 23, Dusha 19, Edozie 18, Ubiaro 9, Samuels 6, Taylor 5, Forsyth 2, Pearce 0.
The Trailblazers have a double-header next weekend as they travel to Birmingham Rockets for a
7:30 PM tip-off on Friday night, before welcoming Loughborough Riders to the Clarence Wiggins
Sports Centre for an unusual 1:00 PM tip-off on Sunday lunchtime.
Photo credit – Nick Higgins & Michael Taylor.
Here are other results from around the club…
TRAILBLAZERS U14NL DOMINATE THE A52 DERBY
It was a short journey across the A52 for the Derby Trailblazers U14NL boys, but they made sure it was a productive one, coming away with a solid win to complete the double-header against the Nottingham Hoods.
The game didn’t exactly start with the clinical precision the Blazers are capable of. It was a proper scrap in the opening period, and the boys really struggled to find their rhythm or get a firm hold of the contest. However, showing the kind of resilience you want to see at this stage of the season, they managed to weather that initial storm. After a difficult first five minutes, the squad settled down, found their composure, and once they grabbed control of the game, they never truly looked back.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the afternoon was the ability to share the minutes across the entire squad once again. Getting everyone involved not only keeps the legs fresh but reinforces the depth we’re going to need as the season reaches its climax. With the final whistle blowing at 62-74 in favour of the Blazers, the focus now shifts immediately to the business end of the calendar. We’ve got to prepare ourselves for a couple of demanding double-headers to finish the season strong and carry this momentum forward.
