TRENCH warfare was the best way to describe the final regular season instalment of the north west derby between the Cheshire Jets and Mersey Tigers in the BBL Championship.
Tony Garbelotto's Tigers arrived at the Northgate Arena just seven strong and looking to drag the game into the mire and that is what they achieved for long periods, forcing the Jets to go toe-to-toe and get involved in brutal physical battle.
There were casualties – we will not know until tomorrow the extent of the ankle injury which ruled out Bill Cole for almost the entire second half – but the Jets played the Tigers at their own game and came out on top in a solid and mature performance which ensured the Jets take a potentially vital head-to-head win record in their difficult play-off quest.
The Tigers took the early advantage but the momentum swung the Jets' way after a bizaare exchange between Sam Criccelli and one of the match referees.
Having committed a foul, on his way to the bench he seemed to ask the official if he was threatening him, resulting in a technical foul for the Tigers bench.
It was the first of a number of strange incidents in the game but none of it fazed the Jets, who while a little defensively frail in the first half, made up for it with a tough performance in the second.
The Tigers have good players and despite maintaining pace with the Jets in the opening half to go into the interval at 36-36, they were already getting involved in silly physical confrontations.
Early in the third quarter however, the Jets suffered a blow which could have ruined their night and may still impact their season.
Bill Cole turned his ankle while defending and the tough forward crumpled into a heap on the floor. Helped from the court, neither he or the Jets physio were seen for the remainder of the game and he may face a spell on the sidelines.
After the match Lavery highlighted the importance of Cole to the team.
“He's the best defensive player in the league,” he said. “It was tough but Nathan (Schall) came in and did a fantastic job, everything I asked of him he did, I can't thank him any more.”
Nathan and the rest of the Jets did rise to the challenge after that incident. Matt Schneck made 20 points and 12 rebounds, seven of those defensive while Adam Brown made a double-double 17 points and 10 assists as he found his gear at point.
It was an all around good performance marred at the end when with seven seconds to go a Devan Bailey free throw was counted as two points leaving the Jets playing to defend a two-point lead when in fact they led by three.
The mistake was rectified after the game but there was a second incident at the same time, when for the final seconds Morakinyo Williams was allowed to return to the court after being signalled for five fouls.
These discrepancies did not affect the final result however as the Jets landed a crucial victory which they hope will kick-start their campaign to reach the play-offs.
“There was a lot of confusion but you've just got to put that to one side. What's pleasing for me is that a few weeks ago a close game like that we would have probably come out with a loss.
“We stayed hard and focussed and came out with a W. We did all the right things, Colin O'Reilly made it a little tense at the end missing two free throws but Matt came up with a big board, we went to the line and made the free throws so I'm pretty pleased with that.
“You've got to be aggressive in a derby and we knew before the game it wasn't going to be pretty which it wasn't. It was really scrappy and we had to come out with some heart and desire and play some defence.
“I thought our defence was a little bit lacklustre in the first half but in the second we made a couple of adjustments which helped us really well and I think the guys overall played pretty hard.
“It gives us the head-to-head but more importantly it takes us up the table. I think we've got eight games left, we've got teams that are around us, Guildford have got to come here, we have to go to Milton Keynes, all head-to-head games.
“Sharks have got to come here as well, Worcester aren't going to like coming here next week so we're pretty confident we can put a good run together and hopefully this will kick-start that run.”
