MATCH REPORT:
Bury Bulldogs III v's Clacton Cannons

by Daniel Tight
Senior Coach

Date: Sunday 19th March 2017
Venue: Bury Leisure Centre
Attendance: 60
Score: Cannons win 58 to 52.

Last Sunday night Cannons overcame a difficult opponent, in the shape of The Bury Bulldogs, in order to book their place in The Suffolk Plate Semi-Finals. This is the third time (out of three) that the Cannons have defeated The Bulldogs this season but this was by far the best team performance.

In the fourth period in particular the entire team demonstrated the determination, ball pressure and ruthless scoring efficiency which has been vital in all eight of The Cannons wins so far this season.  


Bulldogs lead by as many as 13 in the game, and were up by 9 with nine minutes to go. It was then when Cannons went on a 15-5 run and put themselves back in the driving seat. After that the Cannons refused to give The Bulldogs another sniff; the intensity raised, the pace quickened, which suited the younger Cannons team (Nathan Moss and Nick Moodey did not stop sprinting end-to-end), and the

Cannons went on to outscore their opponents 28-11 in the final period. This emphatic final period display saw Peter Ellis registered another block, both starting point guards (Rhys Tight and Riley Taylor) got themselves to the foul line and Daniel Tight registered three steals, one assist and 7 points in two minute spell before being substituted dead on his feet. Ben Wilkins also came off the bench to steal, assist and score. 


Cannons will now face Div 1 opponents in the semi-final, as they come up against Meru; the Suffolk based team with support noisier than their own. 




Cannons Team v Bury Bulldogs 19/03/17 - R.Tight, M.Newman, W.Price, B.Wilkins, N.Moss, D.Tight, P.Taylor, N.Moodey, P.Ellis, R.Taylor, S.McFarlane, C.McFarlane


Scoring Breakdown: Period 1 - 14-15 (Cannons). Period 2 - 11-11 (Draw). Period 3 - 16-6 (Bulldogs). Period 4 - 11-28 (Cannons)

MATCH REPORT:
Brightlingsea Nomads v's Clacton Cannons

by Daniel Tight
Senior Coach

Date: Friday 3rd March 2017
Venue: Brightlingsea Leisure Centre
Attendance: 20
Score: Nomads win 59 to 44.

Cannons ended their most winningest ever league season with a disappointing defeat away in Brightlingsea. Even with this result though Cannons can be justly proud of what they've achieved this season with such a young team. Cannons look set to finish fifth and only 9 points off the league champions.

This game was really competitive, and both teams were prepared to battle it out, toe-to-toe, for the win. The first half was very close and the lead changed hands a number of times, however it was Nomads who held an 8 point advantage by the break. Despite the best efforts of Cannons shooting guard Riley Taylor and his father Paul Taylor, who combined for more than 20 of Cannons overall points, the team just couldn't recover the lead that they had afforded their counterparts from Brightlingsea and never got within 5 points for the remainder of the game.

The season isn't over yet for the Cannons though, as they now have two weeks to prepare for their Suffolk Plate quarter final on Sunday 19th March away to Bury Bulldogs (a team they have beaten home and away during the regular season).

Good luck and #GoCannons 

MATCH REPORT:
Clacton Cannons v's Braintree Blue Devil

by Chris Tight
Director & Senior Coach

Date: Friday 17th February 2017
Venue: Braintree
Attendance: 20
Score: Blue Devils win 59 to 55.

Cannons traveled to Braintree on Friday full of confidence after a string of good performances.

Knowing they had a tough task ahead of them cannons started slowly on a court that was very slippery and struggled to play at the tempo they wanted to, slowly getting used to the conditions they started to find their form knocking down some great shots with their usual fluent style to finish the half 5 points adrift and still very much in the game.

The second half cannons started very strongly and was soon in a 1 point lead, unfortunately they could not keep the lead and missed a few chances to score. That started to see the blue devils pull ahead again.Cannons took a time out with coach Chris Tight asking for cannons to show the team spirit we have to get us back into the game, this began Cannons fight back which saw cannons play a full court press, players rotating from the bench coming on showing lots of energy to make the game close. With 2 minutes left cannons tactically used there fouls well to send blue devils players to the foul line, when they missed some of there chances and with Rhys tight and Riley Taylor knocking down 2,3point shots in the final minute lead to a real close finale flurry on the court with blue devils just hanging on for the win. Coach Chris tight said This was another great game to be involved in it really shows how far this young team have come this season

 Reece Tight

 Nick Moody, Senior Player & Under 15's Coach

 Rhys Tight

Paul Taylor

KS2 Basketball returns

by Daniel Tight
Director & Senior Coach

DOUBLE THE COMPETITION 

Date: Tuesday 31st January 2017
Attendance: 125 parents/guardians
Venue: Clacton County High School PE Department

JANUARY PROVIDES SOME BASKETBALL FIRSTS TENDRING AREA

St Osyth Scorpions won the Cannons KS2 Basketball League @ Clacton this month, Grabbing the title back from Holland Park Panthers in a closely thought contest. This month also saw with Two Village Titans record their first ever tournament victory in the Cannons KS2 Basketball League @ Harwich, they defeated both Mayflower Mavericks and Harwich Primary Hawks en-route to their victory. 

As ever both tournaments were played in a great atmosphere, and all participants showed determination, sportsmanship and bundles of ability. The standard is really improving month by month. We would like to thank all schools, parents and tournament sponsors for their continued support to this programme. It has already started to have an impact on our community; in January, for the first time ever, a school from Tendring (St Osyth) made it through to the final eight in the Essex School Games competition, they were only a couple of points away from a semi-final spot too. Together we are making great strides, and long may it continue. 

KS2 Basketball returns

by Daniel Tight
Director & Senior Coach

DOUBLE THE COMPETITION 

Date: Tuesday 13th December 2016
Attendance: 130 parents/guardians 

Panthers v All stars

2-2

A slow start to the tournament saw each team register just the one basket, however chances were a plenty and the score did not reflect the flow of the game. Defending was good from both sides, but as both struggled to make the most of their chances the draw was probably a fair outcome.

Panthers v Heat

22-10

The panthers really put the last game behind them as they found their scoring ft ouch against the Heat. However they did not have it all their own way as the Heat mounted a positive response to going 12-4 behind in order to finish the half on down by 4 points. The Panthers turned the screw in the second half though and hit four baskets in a row to end up winning by 22-10, however it was far from the comfortable win that the scoreline might suggest.

Heat v All-Stars

4-6

An exciting game saw All-Stars come back from a half-time deficit to eventually win by by two points. Again some top quality defending was on show to limit the amount of clear cut chances that both teams could create.

Panthers v All-Stars

10-6

Panthers continued their free scoring as they registered double figures for the second game in a row. However they were taken all the way by All-Stars who were up by four at half time, and remained ahead until the last 90 seconds. A depleted All-Stars team didn't have enough players to allow them to make substitutions, and you could see that this affected their energy levels and they just couldn't hold onto their lead, despite fighting hard to do try and do so.

Panthers v Heat

23-3

Panthers guaranteed that they would be going home with the trophy today as they again scored in excess of 20 points against Heat. The Panthers really did dominate from start to finish in this game and they stopped the Heat getting into any kind of rhythm. Heat did score the basket of the game hitting a nice three-pointer after a couple of quick passes around the perimeter got the ball from the right hand side of the court to the free player on the left.

Heat v All-Stars

4-13

A close first half saw Heat up by two after a great finish of the dribble from one of the Heat players. Immediately after half time All-Stars scored a similar basket to draw level, before breaking twice and scoring twice to take a four point lead. The last minute saw teams exchange baskets as All-Stars held on to record a well earned victory.

MATCH REPORT:
Clacton Cannons v's Colchester Leopards

by Daniel Tight
Director & Senior Coach

Date: Friday 27th January 2017
Venue: Tendring District Council's Clacton Leisure Centre, Clacton
Attendance: 35
Score: Cannons win 56 to 55.

DEFENCE KEY IN BACK-TO-BACK WINS

CANNONS are really turning this season into one to remember, they have once again earned back to back victories over the past two weeks (away vs Bulldogs and home vs Leopards).

A combination of teamwork, determined and hustle helped to ensure Cannons' defence was on solid throughout both games. Cannons conceeded just 95 points in both games combined.

Away versus Bulldogs, Cannons played extremely well to snatch a last gasp one-point win (55-56) from under the noses of their hosts. Daniel Tight top scored in this game with 21 points, but it was his brother Rhys that stole the show in the 40 seconds when he came to life and held his nerve to sink three out of his four foul shots that he was rewarded with after determined offence and defensive hustle. These foul shots put Cannons two points up with 8 seconds left yo play, this meant that The Bulldogs had one last chance to win. The Bulldogs in bounded the ball cleverly and managed to break the Cannons press in order to get to the hoop where their ball handler was met with a hard block from Peter Ellis; the officials decided that Ellis had committed a foul and this meant that the Bulldogs player had a chance to force overtime if they scored both of the resulting free throws. However, the player missed the first one and that queued scenes of celebration on the Cannons bench!

Cannons then returned for a home game last Friday where they recorded a much more controlled victory over The Leopards (58-40). Cannons raced into a relatively early 18 point lead, during the first half, and they never looked back. Riley Taylor topped scored in this game with a season-high 24 points. However once again it was the team effort and defensive organisation from all the Cannons players that secured this win. This was Cannons' fifth W of the season so far, and the first time that the club has recorded back-to-back home and away league wins.

These recent results have taken Cannons 2016/17 record to 5W:6L and they are still competing in the Suffolk Plate, in fact Cannons welcome Brightlingsea Nomads to Clacton Leisure on Friday 3rd February, 19.40 tip off. Entry is free so why not come along and support your local basketball club.

MATCH REPORT:
Clacton Cannons v's Colchester Bulls

by Daniel Tight
Director & Senior Coach

Date: Friday 9th December 2016
Venue: Tendring District Council's Clacton Leisure Centre, Clacton
Attendance: 35
Score: Bulls win 65 to 59.

LOW ATTENDANCE

Last Friday night Cannons showed just how far they've already come as a team this season. This was their second match up against Bulls 3, after they went down by 12 on game day one, but a solid and committed performance tonight meant that the loss second time round was only in single digits. It's also worth noting that Cannons were ahead for large periods of the game, and never trailed by greater than 8 points.

Despite the loss Coach Chris Tight described it as "one of the best performances so far this season", telling his players "to make no mistake about the high standard of team they were up against".

The theme of this game was defence, and to a high standard. Both teams really were outstanding when they didn't have possession. The defiance, effort, desire and teamwork were there for all to see. When it did come to the offensive end the teams had two very different approaches. The experienced Bulls team attempted to control the game,  and they moved the ball,  and themselves, around very well and very deliberately in order to create most of their scores. Whereas the Cannons were always looking to score fast and push the ball up court.  When they did manage to really increase the tempo of the game they scored on almost every possession, and often two or three times without reply, as the Bulls struggled to keep up with the Cannons' young legs.

Riley Taylor and Peter Ellis combined to score almost 30 points between them. Whilst Ben Wilkins scored with his first shot of the game, after sitting patiently waiting for his time to come on and impress.

All in all Cannons can head into the Christmas break very pleased with themselves, after securing 3 victories and putting on a run of  quality performances during the first half of the season.