Derby Trailblazers penultimate home game of the regular season brings Champions elect, Reading
Rockets to the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre for a 7.30 PM tip off on Saturday. The Rockets are
two points clear of second-placed Newcastle and have the head-to-head over their northeast rivals,
meaning they could seal the BCB League title with a win over Derby this weekend.
However, the Trailblazers will be keen to prevent that as they look to bolster their own play-off
credentials. Currently sitting joint seventh, Derby could finish as high as fifth if their own results and
those of other clubs work in their favour.
The Blazers won all four games in March, the first time this season they’ve strung such a healthy
run of results together. Their final three games see them at home to Reading, away to Hemel and
home to London Cavaliers and Head Coach Kyle Henderson knows all three games will be tough:
“Reading are top of the league right now and they’ve got some very good players and Coach Samit
Nuruzade is very experienced too. He’s been around the league for a long time, and he was named
Coach of the Month for March.
“We’ve got Hemel away the following Saturday, who are below us but they’ve still a lot of game
under the strung together a couple of wins recently and they’re another team full of players who’ve
got a lot of experience in this league.
“The final game is a rearranged fixture against London Cavaliers and they’re just above us in the
league, so if we want to finish as high as we can, we’ve got to try and bring the energy and make sure
we try and beat all three of them.
When the two sides met in January, the Rockets produced a 103-82 win against a Derby side who
were missing Connor Washington through a back injury. Consequently, Jai Pathmarajah, Malcolm
Smith and Raheem May-Thompson all played more than thirty-five minutes, leading the team with
28, 22 and 13 points respectively.
The full-strength Rockets side simply had too much fire power for the Blazers depleted roster on
the day, with Victor Olarerin leading the way on 28 points, with Jax Bouknight and Yusuf Salih both
adding 18, Malik Bryant a further 17 and Cooper Creek 15.
Coach Henderson is hoping for a better showing this time around:
“Everyone strives for this time of the season. We’ve not lost a game in March and that comes down
to guys knowing what’s on the line and we want to keep that winning run going as long as possible.
The intensity the players have bought into the last few games has been great and just shows really
what we’re capable of as a team,” he said.
Seventeen-year-old Casey Burr is excited by the way he’s broken into the senior men’s team this
season and hopes he can play a role in helping the Trailblazers climb the table over the final three
games:
“I joined [the Senior Men’s team] towards the end of last season when one of the players got hurt
and although I filled a role, I was more on the bench but it was great to experience it and hopefully
I can use some of that in the remainder of this season and through into my first playoff run proper
after preparing with the team all year,” he said.
Saturday’s game is a 7:30 PM tip off at the Clarence Wiggins Sports Centre, Kids go free this weekend, and for those who aren’t able to attend, LiveStats will be available via CLICK ME!
