St Mirren West College Scotland 85-39 Glasgow Rens THE first game of the season saw the St Mirren cadet men show their determination to succeed against the newly promoted Glasgow Rens.

As the game tipped off the tension was palpable, the spectators eager to see how this season’s cadets would fare.

Saints started strongly with the first basket of the game being a three point shot scored from Chris Feeney, who kept up his form during this quarter, scoring a further three baskets.

Andrew Deighan, Cal Low, Jack Thompson and Eden Duff also started the game and showed great flair and teamwork to finish the quarter with an impressive 19 point lead, the scoreboard showing 27-8 as they left the court.

In the second quarter Glasgow Rens found their form, as they attempted to close the gap, scoring 15 points to Saints’ eight.

A crowd pleaser in this quarter was Cal Low’s reverse lay-up which was scored with great style. This quarter also saw the debut of one of the new cadets, Mikey Irvine, who was impressive on rebounds and scored his first basket in the national league. The quarter finished 32-23 to Saint Mirren.

After the break, Saints pushed forward with the baskets coming thick and fast.

Three point shots from Lewis Toal and Robbie Stevenson, consistent shooting from Andrew Deighan and Cal Low and robust defence from Ross Pigott and Alastair Harris meant that Saint Mirren dominated the third quarter, scoring a total of 34 points to Ren’s four.

We also saw debut performances from Charlie Hay, who secured two steals and Marcin Zarnowski, who showed his skill under the basket.

The final quarter was more evenly matched although the St Mirren boys still managed to increase their lead, scoring 16 points to Ren’s 12. Saints defensive play throughout the game showed great promise and the number of steals and rebounds was impressive. Andrew Deighan won a total of 17 rebounds with Jack Thompson’s tenacity winning six. The squad was supported, from the bench, by their team mates Scot Esplin, Craig Fraser, Ben Mitchell and Jason Carr, who cheered them on to their 85-39 victory.

The young Saints top scorers were Andrew Deighan with 27 points, Cal Low on 17 points and Robbie Stevenson on 16 points.

The squad’s next game will also be one to watch against last year’s league winners, St Mirren West College Scotland 52-49 SWL SAINTS faced off against last season’s close rivals SWL in their first game of SNBL.

Coming into the game new coach Rebecca Cumming stressed the importance of the pre-season series the weekend before; “Our wins against Lady Rocks and Barrow Thorns last week were invaluable in our preparation for this game.

“Over the past month we have been implementing brand new plays and defensive principles and executed them brilliantly last weekend.” St Mirren started the game positively, gaining a 18-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Saints high intensity defence and killer instinct on offence was proving too much to handle. Unfortunately the second quarter proved to be a different story with SWL clawing back into the game after a drop of intensity from the St Mirren girls, who held onto a slender four point lead at the half way stage.

The second half played out in a similar manner to the first with Saints taking a seven point lead into the fourth and final quarter. A great start to the fourth quarter saw Saints up by 15 point. Unfortunately poor execution during the last four minutes caused a late resurgence for SWL, closing the gap to only three points. Coach Cumming had the following to say after the game; “What a fantastic performance today.

“I am so thrilled to have taken the win but disappointed for it to only be by three points.

“We were dominate throughout and let ourselves down with silly turnovers and fouls during the final moments of the game. We now know exactly what we need to work on, which plays worked and which didn’t.

“We also had great individual performances by Heather Fraser and Iona Ross today, offensively and defensively. Both missed out on places in the Scotland U14 National team last season and showed up today fighting to prove their worth.” Top scorers for Saints were Heather Fraser with 14 and Iona Ross with 13.

Their next game is home league match at the Lagoon Arena against East Lothian Dragons on Saturday, October 4. Tip-off 11.20am St Mirren West College Scotland 77-66 Glasgow Storm WEST College Scotland Saints returned to business on Friday night hosting their near neighbours Glasgow Storm in the first home fixture of the new season.

Fraser Glass returned to the fold along with young Colin Jackson hoping to make an impact on the national league.

The first quarter was steady enough with Saints experienced line up making their mark, Cleary, Collins, Johnston and Fraser Glass collecting the early 19 points with Matt Cochrane coming off the bench for his three pointer with almost his first touch. 22-17 ahead at the break was almost a repeat of the week before.

A run away second quarter would be most welcome, however not to be. Saints maintained their momentum but could not shake off the visitors who edged the period 15-14. Former Saint Kyle Haldane kept Storm in the game with his six points in the period.

A 36-32 half time lead for Saints left it with all to play for. Those in the spectator seating are always entertained when the score is close as Saints players got their half time wake up call with a demand for better defence.

The third quarter certainly produced some better defence from Saints, as they kept the Storm down to 11 points as they ran out of ideas, and Saints extended to a double figure lead for the first time in the game. An opening three point shot from Euan Glass and a further nine points from on form Chris Cleary carried Saints into the final period with a ten point lead at 53-43.

The home team by this time were happy to run the bench and maintain the lead to secure the win, which they did quite successfully. The defensive intensity from the third period disappeared as baskets were traded for the last ten minutes for a narrow Saints advantage at 24-23. A win in what was not the Saints best performance with hopefully much better to come.

Saints scorers were led by Chris Cleary with his season high 25 points. Nick Collins 13, Fraser Glass 12 and Scott Rooney with his two three pointers on the way to 8 points were the other big scorers.

SWL 57-68 St Mirren West College Scotland

The start of the game was dominated by SWL, which gave them a first quarter lead. However, saints managed to stay in touching distance through strong moves to the basket drawing fouls and scoring their free throws. Nina Gilbert contributed an impressive five points and five rebounds in the quarter, to help get the first quarter score at 14-13 in favour of the home team.

Saints’ defence lacked focus and structure, and was easily exploited by the SWL side. Although a number of switches on the defensive end were put in place by Saints, in an attempt to unsettle their opponents, they were unable to lift their game. This left saints trailing by 19 at the half.

The third quarter saw Saints cadette player Iona Ross introduced to the game for the first time, igniting a spark in the team. Her outstanding defence and no fear attitude, played such a vital part of the girls narrowing the SWL lead to a mere nine points.

Although going in to the final quarter looked promising, SWL kept up the fight and managed to hang on to the lead and get the win. Despite this loss, the Saints girls showed great resilience and gave it their all in the second half.

Saints top scorers were Nina Gilbert on 13 points, Anna Mitchell and Fiona Harris on 12 points, and Iona Ross on nine points.

Their next game is home league match at the Lagoon Arena against Lady Rocks on Sunday, October 18. Tip-off 12.15pm.