Bristol Basketball boys secure promotion in thrilling showdown with Southampton

Bristol entered Wednesday’s showdown with Southampton requiring a victory by 8 points or more to secure promotion to Western 1A. Both teams appreciated the significance of the game and the intensity from the warm-ups was carried over into the game.

After a dose of leadership and inspiration from Captain Paddy Lloyd, which coach Roy Owen later confessed gave him goosebumps, Bristol roared out of the gates to a quick 6-0 lead.

Point Guard Theo Spyrides, aka ‘Billy the Kid’, led the early charge with four free throws and facilitating an acrobatic lay-up from James Throup. Refusing to get mired in an overly defensive and excessively tactical battle, Bristol looked to run in transition and were rewarded with early, easy baskets.

Appreciating that the game would be won defensively, however, the defense was executed with aggression, precision and intensity. Bristol forced midrange jumpers and heavily contested shots at the rim while employing both man and zone schemes.

The result was best described as organised chaos, with precise rotations and effective close outs frustrating Southampton by minimising their capacity to shoot three pointers.

Behemoths Mihnea Cătuţi and Tom Lawrence patrolled the painted area, swatting shots and grabbing rebounds to initiate the high octane offense that has become a Bristol trademark.

Spurred on by the largest crowd of the season, Bristol ended the first quarter with valuable defensive input from sixth man Hamish Russell and the sharpshooter Rojin Philips to keep the lead at six. Southampton rallied early in the second quarter with two big three point shots by their point guard and forced a Bristol timeout.

The reaction was improved ball movement in an increasingly stagnant offense which was flourishing against a Southampton zone which had seemed impregnable in the last meeting between these two teams. Bristol entered half time strongly with a nine point lead and fully in control of the game.

Phil Jackson once said that games are won and lost at the beginning of the third quarter: Bristol appeared to have taken this to heart and started the quarter with a run of made shots and trips to the free throw line. Young point guard Theo Spyrides was relentless in attack and facilitated excellently for his teammates.

James Throup filled up the scoresheet in the third quarter too, with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Unfortunately for Bristol, Southampton also heeded Phil Jackson’s advice and matched Bristol’s ferocity. Playing to keep themselves in the game, a run of made shots and balletic post play ensured that the lead fluctuated between 4 and 11.

The Bristol zone was working with mixed success: some possessions Southampton struggled to find an entry pass to the post or achieve any penetration; others they were penetrating seemingly effortlessly and finding their way to the free throw line. Southampton had managed to strip the lead to four with five seconds left in the quarter when Paddy Lloyd hit a running three pointer to expand the lead to seven heading into the last period. ‘Intensity’ and ‘chaos’ are the words I would choose to describe the fourth quarter.

The crowd sensed that the best was perhaps yet to come when Theodoulos Rodosthenous finished a spinning reverse layup that left the Southampton team incredulous and deflated after the lead bounced back to nine. Baskets were traded and rebounds grabbed and with six minutes to go, Bristol were only up six.

At this point, Theo Spyrides, displaying the poise and composure that characterises his game, saw his defender go under a screen and attempted and made two three pointers and a long jumpshot out of the pick and roll.

The result was eight points in a little over a minute. Once again Southampton rallied, getting a huge and one play and a pair of free throws. James Throup, defying gravity and threatening to jump out of the building, countered with one of his own and Spyrides drew and made free throws.

The lead was only at seven, however, with a minute left. On a crucial defensive possession Davide De Mola swiped an invaluable steal. Spyrides again drew a foul, and with his usual distaste for missing free throws, converted both. One defensive stop was all that was required to seal the game. Passes to the point guard and the main scoring threat in the post were denied and an unsophisticated play was disrupted by precise rotations from Hamish Russell and Theodoulos.

Seeing a bewildering absence of Southampton transition defense, the ball was swung up the court to Lloyd, who sealed the fourteen point victory with a lay-up and subsequent free throw. With promotion having been secured, the team was quick to thank Coach Roy Owen, whose leadership and creative play calling has been responsible for the huge success enjoyed by the team this season. Next stop, Western 1A and a return to the big time.