Solent Stars - The History
Basketball is one of the world's major sports and, yet, in England the game only has minority status. As such, the public's awareness of the basketball teams, coaches, players and administrators is limited.
This website is a small step taken to redress the balance for the thousands of spectators, players, coaches and officials who have contributed to the account of the Solent Stars Basketball club.
Our story starts with the vision of one man, Harry Smith. He had earlier funded a Solent women's team to play on the national scene before assembling a men's team to join Division Two of the National League in the 1980-81 season.
From then on the story of the club is one of a rollercoaster ride from national champions and European contenders to falling from Division One to regional Division Four in 1990. Subsequently, Solent Stars rose again to become Division One league winners at the end of the 1998-99 season. Along the way there have been many dramas, personalities and incidents. In the following web pages you will find accounts of all of these events including descriptions of over 900 games played during that period.
I dedicate this website to all those who have been involved - in whatever capacity - with Solent Stars Basketball Club.
Jim Rumsey
The website contains the following sections.
Seasons - Detailed accounts of each season, containing photographs when available. This is a comprehensive review of approximately 120,000 words.
Players - A list of all the players that are known to have played for the Senior Men's First Team and a list of the Player of the Year Awards
Coaches - A list of all the coaches with win / loss records
Statistics - Player statistics for a number of seasons
League Tables - A full set of league tables which show at which level Solent were competing each season
Trophies - All major trophies won by the club
Images - Programme covers and some programme articles. A selection of team photos. Some action photos.
Articles - Articles about or by members of the Solent Stars club
Support - Information regarding the Supporters Club, mascot and fans
Women - a brief overview of the women's team
Youth - a brief overview of the early days of the youth programme
Book - details of the book written by Jim Rumsey in 2007
Labels: introduction
Solent Stars 2006/07 Season
Following several seasons without on-court success, owner Bob Paulley widened his net in his search for a new coach once Steve Chant had announced his resignation both as a coach and a club director.
Inevitably there were protracted long-distance negotiations before, late in the summer, the club announced the appointment of Kerry Kirby from Alabama, USA. His job also would encompass a role at Southampton Solent University in an effort to demonstrate Solent Stars commitment to building its Academy credentials.
Nationally a new policy concerning club franchises was relaxed - despite the protestations by several club owners - with the result that two new clubs within a short radius of Fleming Park entered the national league. One of the teams, playing in Division Four, eventually comprised most of the English players from the recent teams of Solent Stars plus the previous season's Assistant Coach, Sylvain Donneaud.
Coach Kerry Kirby, fresh from a successful USA representative team tour of China, thus found he had to build virtually a new team in a very short time with most of the experienced local talent - including Solent's Academy players - not available.
Kerry Kirby (coach)
The first fixture was an away National Trophy game at West Herts Warriors. Kirby had only arrived in the country four days before the game and it had been Mick Byrne who had had the job of finding and training the new English players. The coach brought with him Earl Moore who had played in the team that had visited China. Moore made an immediate impact in this game. With youngster Craig Teesdale and also Liam Wyatt having to play a lot of court time, Solent were always going to be hard-pressed against a more experienced and bigger Herts team. The result was close, Solent losing by just eight points, 84 - 92 (Moore 44).
A friendly was arranged for a fortnight later at Fleming Park, to allow all the Academy players to be seen. Solent Stars won 93 - 64. This was one of only four occasions that Solent had a home game before Christmas in an example of poor programming by the national body.
A further lack of imagination by England Basketball sent Solent back to West Herts for the first league game. The game followed a similar pattern to the first with Solent losing 97 - 104 (Moore 45) despite a late comeback. For Solent, Sebastian Zwolak made an impressive debut.
Earl Moore
A trip to Cardiff Celts followed for a National Cup game. The match went to overtime when Cardiff scored a three pointer - one of their 14 in the game - on the final buzzer. Solent exited the National Cup with a 101 - 107 loss (Moore 37, Milner 28, Zwolak 20).
Mick Byrne, aided by injured player Ryan Payne, took over the coaching role for the visit to London Leopards. This was because of a viral illness to coach Kirby. John Wilkins worked hard at both ends for Solent but could not prevent another league loss, 78 - 92 (Moore 26, Zwolak 21).
With Kirby fit again, amazingly Solent Stars were programmed for two away games on consecutive days, in the following weekend. A long trip to Sheffield Arrows came first. With Milner carrying an injury and Moore under the weather with a cold, it was left to youngsters Rob Bawden, Liam Mitchell and Darren Mason to help the more experienced players. The result was no surprise, Solent losing 73 - 109 (Moore 28).
A comparatively short trip to London Capitals followed the next day. The result, a 58 - 82 loss (Moore 28) was not expected after such a hectic weekend.
Clayton Milner
At last, on November 11th, a home game had been arranged by the league. With clubs sometime dependent on gate receipts, there seemed little support for Solent from the league management in denying any possibility until this date. For the home fans it also provided the first victory for Solent in the league, although they were denied an opportunity to ever see Zwolak who had left to return to Poland. Solent led after the first quarter with Ryan Payne returning from injury and won 73 - 66 (Moore 29, Milner 20).
Away next to Coventry Crusaders in the league, Solent saw the debut of Antonio Bright, a second American brought in by coach Kirby. Solent led at half time and at the three-quarter mark, but fell away at the end despite late scoring by Ben Stanley and Liam Mitchell to lose narrowly 96 - 101 (Bright 33, Moore 25).
Ryan Payne
Solent paid heavily for lack of big men and Bright's fouling out with 8 minutes left in their second home league game against Worthing Thunder. A comprehensive defeat 85 - 112 (Moore 38, Bright 21) was the outcome.
A visit to league leaders Reading Rockets was never going to be easy. In the game both Payne and Moore were injured, effectively ending any challenge as Solent lost 76 - 111 (Bright 21, Moore 20).
Coach Kirby missed the home game against Manchester Magic with another illness bout. With Moore still injured and no Payne, Mick Byrne was left to take a very inexperienced team to a National Trophy crushing defeat 78 - 126 (Bright 33).
Back in league action on the road to Kings Lynn Fury, Solent missed club captain Ryan Payne who strangely chose to coach the Solent Under 18 team for the second consecutive week. When Darren Mason fouled out early in the second half, Solent had no big men left to counter the Kings Lynn attacks and lost 99 - 112 (Moore 41, Bright 25, Milner 23).
Antonio Bright
Two National Trophy games began the new year. Solent put up a good performance at Worthing before losing 95 - 106 (Bright 33, Moore 20). Paul Young made an impressive debut as Solent's new centre.
More height and aggression was added to the Solent squad as Nick O'Harabe returned to the team. His and Young's presence were instrumental in restricting Coventry to 60 points in this home game played at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. Solent's very rare National Trophy win, 87 - 60 (Moore 28, Bright 24) meant that they did not occupy the final place in the pool.
It was Solent's turn to feel the effect of good defence in the next league match, home to West Herts Warriors. As with Coventry in the previous game, Solent could only manage 60 points as they stumbled to a 60 - 75 loss.
A daunting trip to Manchester Magic saw Solent put up a good fight in an entertaining game that they lost 80 - 106 (Bright 26, Moore 21).
The next home game, against London Leopards, proved the most exciting of the season. Only one point separated the teams at the end of each quarter. O'Harabe's cool shooting of two final free throws gave Solent the victory, although with one second to go they contrived to throw the ball away and give London a last chance. Solent's win 89 - 87 (Moore 26, Bright 23) was only their second of the league season.
This total was doubled over the next weekend with consecutive home games on Saturday and Sunday. First up were Sheffield Arrows who would have been expected to win. Solent's confidence had been boosted by their last win and despite falling behind for the majority of the game, a last quarter in which they outscored Sheffield 38 - 19 gave Solent a famous victory, 112 - 107 (Bright 43, Moore 30, O'Harabe 22).
A first ever visit by Northampton Neptunes saw Solent complete a double victory weekend by the score 98 - 90 (O'Harabe 30, Bright 27).
With Bright not available for the next game, Solent were unable to match the scoring of London Capitals at home and lost 75 - 113 (Moore 21).
Bright was back for the trip to Teesside Mohawks in a game that marked the first away win for the Solent team - as well as a double over the Teesside club. Solent led throughout much of the game but needed to keep their composure at the end before edging the game 87 - 80 (Moore 26, Bright 25).
Coventry Crusaders were Solent's next visitors - ironically once again at the Mountbatten Centre. Solent had travelled back from Teesside the night before and it may have affected their game. With the scores close throughout, it was Coventry that nailed the final points to give Solent a narrow loss, 87 - 90 (Bright 25).
Needing at least two wins from their remaining five matches, Solent could expect no favours from the visit of Manchester Magic. Despite their best performance against their opponents, Solent's missed free throws would have helped narrow the 85 - 96 gap (Bright 28).
Nick O'Harabe
League contenders Reading Rockets were also in no mood to help Solent in their play-off quest when they came to Fleming Park and Solent fell to their superior power 65 - 88 (Bright 29).
It was yet another game at the Mountbatten Centre for the vital fixture against Kings Lynn Fury. Solent did not disappoint the few fans that made the trip. A stirring display saw them run out winners in a high scoring game, 118 - 111 (Moore 36, Bright 28).
The next game - away to Northampton Neptunes - was equally vital for Solent who blotted their copybook by arriving late for the game, which began 35 minutes late. Northampton led for most of the match until Solent levelled at the start of the final quarter. Northampton did not help their cause by losing several players who were fouled out, which left them just five players for the final six minutes. Solent finished stronger to record a second away win, 100 - 94 (Moore 29, O'Harabe 21, Bright 20). This victory assured Solent of eighth place in the league and therefore a play-off spot.
The final league game was away to the league champions Worthing Thunder with the knowledge that the two teams would meet again the following week on the same court. The final league game went to form eventually, but Worthing were shocked when Solent led at the first quarter 26 - 21 after Worthing had taken a long time to get into their stride. With the scores level at half time (55 all) an amazing 50 points by Worthing in the third quarter deflated the visitors and Solent eventually lost 108 - 129 (Moore 44, Bright 29).
One week later, the teams met again. The league champions had only lost one game in the season and Solent's effort in the play-off game was a tribute to the fighting spirit of the whole squad. Although the American duo of Earl Moore and Antonio Bright had taken the scoring plaudits, they were backed by a group of fairly inexperienced players who had been thrust into League Division One action. The play-off game performance was typical of the squad who had given their all throughout the season and although Solent lost 102 - 115 (Moore 36, Bright 27) they won much respect from basketball fans.
Little did those travelling Solent fans realise that they were watching the end of an era as Solent Stars began a summer of unrest that would mean that for the first time since 1980 no Solent Stars name would be seen in the fixture list.| 2006/07 (Division 1) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Worthing Thunder | 22 | 21 | 1 | 2267 | 1850 | +417 | 42 |
| 2 | Reading Rockets | 22 | 19 | 3 | 2013 | 1623 | +390 | 38 |
| 3 | Manchester Magic | 22 | 17 | 5 | 2138 | 1868 | +270 | 34 |
| 4 | London Leopards | 22 | 13 | 9 | 1991 | 1929 | +62 | 26 |
| 5 | PAWS London Capitals | 22 | 13 | 9 | 2019 | 1825 | +194 | 26 |
| 6 | UH West Herts Warriors | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1954 | 1902 | +52 | 22 |
| 7 | Sheffield Arrows | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1914 | 1914 | +0 | 22 |
| 8 | Solent Stars | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1899 | 2151 | -252 | 14 |
| 9 | Coventry Crusaders | 22 | 6 | 16 | 1667 | 1927 | -260 | 12 |
| 10 | Kings Lynn Fury | 22 | 5 | 17 | 1936 | 2231 | -295 | 10 |
| 11 | Tees Valley Mohawks | 22 | 5 | 17 | 1686 | 1888 | -202 | 10 |
| 12 | Northampton Neptunes | 22 | 4 | 18 | 1831 | 2207 | -376 | 8 |
Labels: 2006/07
Solent Stars 2005/06 Season
Back row (left to right): Will Zoppellini, Imran Shafiq, David Butterworth, Clayton Milner, Graham Hunter, Mark Steutel, Chris Sheldrick, Steve Chant
Front row: Anthony Rutter, Ryan Payne, Mark Jackson, Ollie Marsh, Marcus Ch'ng
A new coach, Steve Chant, and a clutch of new players formed the basis of the team that travelled to Worcester Wolves on September 17th, 2005 to play in the first of four National Trophy games. Three players from the successful Solent second team of the previous season had stepped up - Ryan Payne, Clayton Milner and Mike Peel. Chris Sheldrick had returned to the club along with David Butterworth. Mark Jackson and Ollie Marsh were the only two who had played in the corresponding fixture from the previous season. Marc Steutel (pronounced Stootel) and Will Zoppellini had come from the East Durham club to study at Southampton Solent University. Marcus Ch'ng had been recruited on video and statistical evidence from Australia. Solent could only score 45 points in the game, continuing Solent's poor National Trophy record as they lost 45 - 72 (Milner 17).
Another away game followed at Coventry in which Solent played much better but lost 91 - 100 (Jackson 20). The next day the team travelled again, this time to Eastside Eagles for a National Cup game which they won 83 - 55 (Milner 21). The team included Anthony Rutter for his first game.
It was back to National Trophy action for two home games next. A close defeat by Coventry Crusaders 69 - 75 (Butterworth 24) - Imran Shafiq's first game - was followed by a more convincing loss to Worcester 55 - 78 (Butterworth 31) with Solent finding it hard to score again. This left Solent bottom of its National Trophy Pool - and an unenviable record of only having won one of their last 22 National Trophy games.
Marcus Ch'ng
The league Division One season started with an away visit to London Capitals. Marcus Ch'ng was out with injury, but the team pulled off a famous victory coming from behind in the last five minutes to win 75 - 69 (Butterworth 27).
More success - again without Ch'ng - followed the next day on a visit to Taunton Tigers for a National Cup match. This tricky fixture was won 95 - 79 (Butterworth 24, Marsh 23) by outscoring the home team 34 - 16 in the final quarter. Ollie Marsh was in good shooting form for this game.
Teesside Mohawks provided Solent with their third consecutive win 76 - 65 (Butterworth 25) and gave an opportunity for 6' 8" Paul Davis to play his first home game for the club. He was injured in that game and could not take part in the next day's cup quarter final at Essex and Herts Leopards. Solent had a fantastic first quarter and led 27 - 17 before losing momentum and the game 75 - 101. Essex went on to win the National cup beating Reading Rockets in the final.
Marc Steutel
By chance, Reading were Solent's next visitors. They were the first of four teams to play Solent having been unbeaten in the league. Reading won 107 - 80 (Payne 23).
Worcester at Worcester proved too strong again for Solent (93 - 76) in a game that marked Ch'ng's return.
London United were too strong for Solent at Fleming Park. The home team lost 71 - 121 (Butterworth 25).
Solent gave Worthing Thunder a fright after trailing by 27 points when they pulled level later in the game only to lose it in the last minute 82 - 88 (Jackson 24).
Coventry Crusaders won at Solent 84 - 88 (Butterworth 21) to make it a five game losing streak for Solent and leave them in ninth position in the league with nearly a third of the league season gone and just two wins to their credit.
The final home match of the year, against Manchester Magic, was yet another defeat for Solent 85 - 106 (Butterworth 25). It will be remembered for a fired-up display from Ollie Marsh who - at one point - scored seven consecutive points, including a free throw and a three pointer, after picking up a technical foul. Marsh's passion demonstrated the whole-hearted approach of all the team to the games they played.
David Butterworth continued to be Solent's main points scorer right up to the last away game of 2005. Solent went to high-riding Sheffield Arrows but could make little impression on a team boasting several ex-BBL players. The year ended with an 84 - 117 (Butterworth 33) defeat.
The new calendar year started with the heartening news that a sponsor in the form of Kuti Miah had come to the club's aid. With his help, the club had brought in 24-year-old, 6' 8" American player, John Smith. Problems with a Clearance Certificate meant that he could not play against Essex and Herts Leopards to whom Solent lost the first home game of the new year 72 - 94.
The next 'home' game was played at River Park, Winchester and proved a low point as Solent went down to basement club, Nottingham Knights 97 - 104 (Butterworth 28). Bizarre circumstances brought about by a malfunctioning scoreboard saw club owner, Bob Paulley, brought into action with a flipchart as a visible timing feature. Smith scored 20 points on his debut.
He was near that total again when Solent visited Kingston Wildcats. A close game was lost 87 - 91 (Butterworth 22) because of a poor first quarter performance that allowed the home team to build a 14 point lead.
Reading Rockets came as league leaders to Fleming Park and demonstrated the gulf between a higher and lower placed team with a ruthless display that saw them win 63 - 92. Leading scorer Butterworth - having passed the 400-point mark for the season - could make little impression in the game, picking up four early fouls and only scoring five points.
Height played a big factor in Solent's next defeat at Teesside Mohawks. 7' 6" Fingleton did a lot of early scoring for the home team and the Solent players were unable to raise their game at all, losing 70 - 106 (Smith 26).
Imran Shafiq
Seven games faced Solent in the four February weekends. First up were PAWS London Capitals - or they should have been. Whilst the home team and crowd waited, various messages were received about the location and situation of the visiting team. Eventually they arrived, but too late to begin the game until after 9.00pm. This meant that Solent were awarded the win by default.
The next day found Solent in Brentwood to face Essex and Herts Leopards. A crushing 64 - 107 loss ensued (Smith 24). On the way home Solent suffered a similar fate to PAWS the previous evening, and spent part of it waiting for a puncture repair on the M25. All of this may have proved too much for Butterworth who signalled, through a telephone call to Steve Chant, his intention to quit for reasons of 'non-enjoyment'. Marc Steutel, by chance, also left the club in the week, but this was for personal reasons which necessitated a move to the north of England.
It was with some trepidation that the squad awaited their next visitors, league leading Worcester Wolves. Having kept in the game at 18 - 21, the game was lost as Worcester scored the next 26 points without reply. The eventual score was 77 - 103 (Smith 24) as Solent went down again.
Graham Hunter
Without the two starting five players who had left the club, Solent went - the next day - to face Kings Lynn Fury in a must-win bottom of the league struggle. And win Solent did thanks to a fine all-round performance in which Rutter excelled with 21 points. It was close throughout, but Solent held on 87 - 81 (Jackson 21).
Away to London United, the team came up against three-point accuracy which left them chasing the game. Milner along with Jackson top-scored with 22 points each in the 91 - 126 (Smith 21) defeat.
The following afternoon saw vociferous visiting Worthing Thunder fans enjoying a win (89 - 108) by their team against a tired Solent squad. Smith's 32 points was the highlight for the home supporters.
The busy month was ended with a visit to Coventry Crusaders to receive yet another masterclass in three point shooting by an opposing team. Solent could only manage 2 three-point successes in the final quarter against 14 by Coventry in the game. Solent were defeated on the road trip 61 - 86.
Just five matches remained for Solent and first up were first time visitors to Fleming Park, Kings Lynn Fury. Solent squandered a twelve point last quarter lead and when Milner missed a final free throw at the end of the game, overtime was needed with the scores at 84 all. Kings Lynn were stronger at the end and won 90 - 95 (Smith 31) although that meant Solent's earlier six point win at Kings Lynn would be important if league points were level at the season's end.
The next day a depleted Solent squad travelled north to play Manchester Magic. Despite an encouraging start which gave Solent an early lead and meant that they were still in the game at half time (37 - 45), Solent eventually fell away to lose 68 - 106 (Smith 30).
Steve Chant (coach)
Sheffield Arrows were Solent's next visitors. In an ill-tempered game - that saw Sheffield's Danny Richards ejected for two 'unsportsmanlike' fouls - Solent could not match the consistent scoring of the visitors and lost 84 - 96 (Smith 24).
Basement club Nottingham Knights were already relegated when Solent came to play them. Solent led for three quarters of the game. However, coach Steve Chant's decision to give all his players a run on court backfired when Will Zoppellini gave the ball away twice under pressure to give Nottingham hope. They built on this and Solent fell away in the final quarter to be defeated yet again by the bottom team, 78 - 85 (Smith 23).
Sylvain Donneaud (assistant coach)
In the final home game of the season, visitors Kingston Wildcats demonstrated the value of successful three point shooting. Their six scores in the third quarter was the difference between the teams as Solent slumped to a final defeat in the season, 83 - 106 (Smith 30).
Clayton Milner
| 2005/06 (Division 1) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Worthing Thunder | 26 | 23 | 3 | 2741 | 2349 | +392 | 46 |
| 2 | Reading Rockets | 26 | 22 | 4 | 2392 | 2004 | +388 | 44 |
| 3 | City of Sheffield Arrows | 26 | 20 | 6 | 2453 | 2179 | +274 | 40 |
| 4 | Manchester Magic | 26 | 19 | 7 | 2275 | 1981 | +294 | 38 |
| 5 | Worcester Wolves | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2348 | 2152 | +196 | 34 |
| 6 | Essex & Herts Leopards | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2283 | 2098 | +185 | 34 |
| 7 | London United | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2407 | 2156 | +251 | 28 |
| 8 | Coventry Crusaders | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2377 | 2318 | +59 | 28 |
| 9 | Kingston Wildcats | 26 | 11 | 15 | 2294 | 2370 | -76 | 22 |
| 10 | Teesside Mohawks | 26 | 8 | 18 | 2124 | 2261 | -137 | 16 |
| 11 | London Capitals | 26 | 6 | 20 | 1973 | 2227 | -254 | 12 |
| 12 | Solent Stars | 26 | 4 | 22 | 1994 | 2440 | -446 | 8 |
| 13 | Kings Lynn Fury | 26 | 4 | 22 | 1846 | 2374 | -528 | 8 |
| 14 | Nottingham Knights | 26 | 3 | 23 | 1840 | 2438 | -598 | 6 |
Labels: 2005/06
Solent Stars 2004/05 Season
Back row: Larry Parker, Mike Akemon, Alan Cunningham, Steve Chant, Phil Long, Marlin Capers
Front row: Mike McGregor, Paul Silcox, Mark Jackson, Ollie Marsh, Chris St. Omer, Mike Peel
After several seasons of limited success and the last season only supplying four league wins, the directors decided to dispense with the services of coach, Mark Scott. Overtures were made to several basketball coaches, including flying in a Spanish candidate over the summer months.
Meanwhile the club's strong basketball programme was acknowledged by England Basketball, the parent body, with the granting of a Four Star status and ClubMark accreditation. This success was further augmented when a Basketball Academy title was conferred on the club through its connection with Southampton Institute (soon to become Southampton Solent University).
Recognising that many of the Solent Stars youth programme was creating a pool of local talented players, the club decided - for the first time in its history - to run a second men's team. The appointed coach was Mick Byrne, who was returning to the club for yet another period. The team gained admission to Division Three (East) of the National League.
After a summer of searching, the club coaching set-up was confirmed with Alan Cunningham taking the chief coach role, to be assisted by Steve Chant, who had moved up from coaching in the youth programme. In turn, Cunningham also brought in a second assistant (Mike Akemon) to help out with practice drills.
This coaching team was present as Solent opened their season with the home leg of the Southern Invitation Challenge Trophy game against Reading Rockets. Of the players on display, Marlin Capers had only recently arrived from America to begin his second stint with Solent. Nick O'Harabe was back and he and Capers were Solent's only scorers in the first half! Newcomers Phil Long, Melvin Ojadi, Paul Silcox and Karl Mroch could only muster nine points between them. With older hands Mark Jackson, Chris St. Omer and Ollie Marsh also unable to make much of a scoring impression, it was no surprise that Solent lost 60 - 82 (Capers 25, O'Harabe 20).
The newcomers were able to make more of an impact in the season's second home game, a friendly against USAF Mildenhall. It took two quick three pointers from Ollie Marsh just before halftime, as he came off the bench, to level the scores at 38 all at halftime. Three more of the same from Mark Jackson at the start of the second half sealed the visitors' fate, which might have been more accentuated had Solent not missed nineteen free throws in their 83 - 68 victory.
Ryan Payne, having come through the youth programme, made a first team debut for the return away leg of the Southern Invitation Challenge at Reading. The Rockets were a strongly fancied team for the upcoming season and must have had their pride dented as Solent romped to a ten point win 82 - 72 (O'Harabe 23, Jackson 20). Reading, by way of their earlier 22-point win at Solent, lifted the trophy.
Solent Stars had played 14 National Trophy matches over the recent seasons without a win. The first visitors for this season's tournament were Coventry Crusaders. At halftime it looked as if the losing streak would continue as Solent failed to make any impression against the bigger Coventry team in a dour struggle. Early Chris St. Omer points had given Solent a bright start and an eight point uninterrupted flow in the second half made it look as if Solent might pull away, but with 90 seconds remaining Solent led by just one point (71 - 70). The cool head of Mark Jackson added two more points just as the 24 second buzzer was sounding and resolute defence took Solent to a 76 - 70 victory (Capers 25).
A National Cup game against Taunton Tigers followed. The home Solent fans were dismayed by the slow start made by Solent as three consecutive 24-second plays were used. Third Division Taunton took an early 2 - 9 lead as Solent struggled to make any impact. However, once Marlin Capers had found his scoring touch, Solent moved quickly ahead and ten players got on the scoring chart in their 95 - 57 (Capers 29) win. Encouragingly for coach Alan Cunningham, newcomers John Salmon and Dave McKay both figured in the scoring.
Solent then travelled to Worcester Wolves for another National Trophy fixture. Coach Cunningham arrived as the match began and watched in horror as his players gave away the ball on repeated occasions to a grateful Worcester team. The result was that by halftime Solent trailed by seventeen points! The halftime talk proved valuable as Solent won the third quarter 31 - 16 with a dazzling display of attacking basketball combined with effective defence. In the end, Worcester just held out to snatch a 78 - 84 win (Capers 27) potentially setting up an exciting prospect for the return leg.
To start their 25th league season, Solent had to travel to Teesside Mohawks to play their 557th league game. The team left at its usual time for the Sunday afternoon game (4pm) at Teesside. Unfortunately an accident closed the M1 and the journey, normally five and a half hours, took seven hours, with the team only arriving five minutes before tip-off! Second team players Andy Aung and Ryan Payne stepped into the team to replace Nick O'Harabe (injured) and Chris St. Omer (work). Solent played some good early defence to restrict the home team to just 14 first quarter points, but they found scoring themselves difficult, with only Paul Silcox having any early success. Phil Long picked up his fourth foul quite early, which left debutante Aung with much to do trying to hold the middle of defence. In the end, Solent lost 71 - 84 (Capers 29).
Two new players were on display for the Solent Stars in their next home game, a National League game against Coventry Crusaders. Both players came through Solent's link with the Academy partner, Southampton Solent University. Graham Hunter had previous experience in playing for his country, Scotland, at junior level, whilst fellow countryman, Mike McGregor, also made his debut. Having played their opponents a couple of weeks before, Solent were hoping to make it a double triumph in short time. A lack of physical presence meant that Coventry were able to dominate the boards at both ends and that proved the difference between the teams as Coventry denied Solent second chance opportunities whilst picking up several themselves. Mark Jackson stepped up the level of Solent's game to bring them within three points with just 90 seconds remaining (57 - 60) but poor shooting meant that they were unable to add any more points and finally lost 57 - 64 (Capers 24).
A day later, Solent took the home court for a second time, this time a National Cup game against Reading Rockets. Once again Solent's new players were on show. However, neither player could prevent Solent from a second round exit, despite Hunter's last minute three point shot in the first half that gave them a 34 - 32 lead at the interval. Six minutes without scoring in the third quarter proved Solent's undoing, along with no player other than Marlin Capers able to reach double figures in scoring. Solent's cup interest ended with their 64 - 73 defeat (Capers 26) to complete a miserable home weekend.
A two week break followed and by the time the team took the court again, for a home league game with Kingston Wildcats, they had another American player in the form of 6' 4" Chris Bevin. Bevin had been playing in the Irish league prior to his arrival at Solent. Birthday boy Marlin Capers - who with 166 points was Solent's leading scorer, followed by Mark Jackson on 79 points - again led the way with early points. Bevin became the 17th player to be tried by coach Alan Cunningham. He made a quiet start, scoring just two points. With Nick O'Harabe again in the points, Solent opened up an eleven point first half lead. Anxious not to disappoint the home fans again, Solent kept up the momentum and eventually ran out winners, 77 - 62 (O'Harabe 27, Capers 24).
The next visitors were Essex and Herts Leopards. After previous existence in the Basketball League, the Essex team were in a rebuilding phase and had begun the season with five defeats and were propping up the league. Whether it was complacency or lack of confidence, the Stars soon found themselves trailing the numerically small Essex team. Mike McGregor briefly put Solent ahead at the start of the second quarter, but Solent were then left chasing the game as a series of three point successes for the visitors took the wind out of Solent's sails. After an encouraging home debut against Kingston, Chris Bevin's performance fell far short of what Solent expected from an overseas player. Solent lost 65 - 88 (Capers 24).
Having faced a team without a win, Solent's next game was a visit to an unbeaten London United. Paul Silcox joined the starting five for the first time for this game and rewarded his coach with a couple of well-taken baskets early on. However, once London had launched a successful series of three point shots, their extra height meant that Solent had little possession of the ball. The final quarter saw Solent shaded 32 - 33 in an extremely high scoring affair as both teams forsook defence. Solent were outplayed by the league leaders and went down 88 - 110 (Capers 27, Jackson 26).
Visitors PAWS London Capitals found the home supporters in strong voice as Solent opened with Phil Long and Nick O'Harabe playing enterprising basketball to overcome the fact that leading scorers Marlin Capers and Mark Jackson were unable to hit the mark in the first quarter. Despite leading throughout most of the game, Solent suddenly stopped playing and allowed London to get back in. "We had London where we wanted them," said coach Cunningham, "they'd had to play to our game for the whole match, until then." 'Mind-melt' was how Cunningham described Solent's loss of a healthy nine-point lead nearing the end. Solent's turnovers proved costly as London won 72 - 82 (Capers 24).
The defeat proved too much for Nick O'Harabe whose subsequent outburst in the changing room resulted in coach Alan Cunningham suspending him indefinitely.
Ironically, O'Harabe's departure came just before a match against one of his former clubs, Worthing Thunder. This south coast derby game played at the Worthing Leisure Centre was from Solent's point of view, 'a game of two halves'. Solent produced a tremendous second half performance, but it wasn't quite enough to avoid a fourth successive league defeat. That's because the first half was as bad as it gets as Solent were overwhelmed as errors, mistakes and poor play left them trailing by as many as 31 - 57. After being out rebounded on first, second and sometimes third occasions, Solent badly needed to step up their game, and to their credit, they did. Solent closed to within four points as the match entered its final minute. Despite a huge effort to try and set up a basket, Solent were unable to score again as Worthing held on to inflict a 94 - 100 (Capers 37, Silcox 26) defeat on Solent.
With a third of the season gone and Solent lying in eleventh (out of twelve) place in the league, the club moved to bring in a second American to play alongside Marlin Capers. Discussions with ex-Solent Star and England international, Karl Tatham, resulted in the signing of 6' 7" Larry Parker.
Larry Parker
Parker, however, only arrived on the morning of Solent's next home game - against third-placed Manchester Magic. Unsurprisingly, Parker was not able to make much impact in his opening game, despite showing some deft touches early on. He scored twelve points in the game. Solent kept in close touch with the Magic team but when the visitors outscored Solent 12 - 23 in the third quarter the game was as good as over. Solent eventually lost 69 - 85 (Capers 27). Coach Alan Cunningham expressed concern at the lack of fitness of his team members against a team that trained four times a week.
Having played against the third-placed team in the league, Larry Parker then travelled to Sheffield Arrows, who were heading the league table. After a week practising with his new team-mates, and not suffering from jet lag, Parker was able to make a full contribution to the game. Marlin Capers, travelling separately from the team, arrived with minutes to spare and never seemed to gain any composure. Solent were further hampered in the first half when Mark Jackson was forced out of the game with a pulled calf muscle. Despite these setbacks, a three pointer from Ollie Marsh helped Solent draw level at 57 all in the third quarter. Unfortunately, Stars couldn't sustain the level of scoring needed against an experienced Sheffield team and lost 76 - 85 (Parker 27).
A double header weekend of National Trophy action followed for Solent who would need to win both of their games if they wanted to progress in the tournament. First up was a trip to Coventry Crusaders. Solent were without the team captain, Mark Jackson, who was still recovering from a pulled muscle injury. After scoring from the first move of the game, Solent quickly surrendered a lead that they were never to retake. Three point shots from Larry Parker and Ollie Marsh in the third quarter brought Solent to within a point, but then three consecutive turnovers allowed Coventry to increase their lead. Coach Alan Cunningham was so incensed with his team that he substituted all five players immediately. Later, Marlin Capers picked up his fifth foul, but by then the game was already lost and Solent's cup progress ended with a 72 - 99 (Capers 20) defeat.
Fleming Park's unavailability meant that the following day's game against Worcester Wolves took place at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. Solent started off in sparkling form, despite their previous night's humiliation. This was thanks to some good shooting from Paul Silcox and Marlin Capers and successful rebounding by Phil Long and Larry Parker. Solent led 29 - 17 at the end of the first quarter. Occasional lapses in defence allowed Worcester some easy scoring opportunities to stay in touch with Solent. Foul trouble for Long and Parker reduced their impact on court and Worcester came through to take a three-point lead with eight seconds remaining and Solent to put the ball in. Coach Alan Cunningham may have regretted leaving the on-court responsibility to inexperienced Mike Peel - playing more court time because of Jackson's injury. Peel fumbled the inbound ball and possession was lost to Worcester who played out the remaining time by keeping possession to win 91 - 94 (Capers 31, Parker 21, Silcox 21).
Having exited the National Trophy in the last weekend before Christmas, coach Alan Cunningham opened the Christmas edition of the Hampshire Chronicle to see he had been quoted in an article entitled 'Come on Chaps….Say What you Really Mean'. In Cunningham's case the quote used was said to be 'after watching his team fall to their umpteenth defeat' - "This was possibly our best team performance of the season so far".
Worcester Wolves were, by chance, Solent's first opponents for a league game in 2005, this time at Fleming Park. Solent were boosted by the return of Mark Jackson for this game. As if to justify their coach's comments, which had been picked up by the Hampshire Chronicle, Solent destroyed the opposition in the first quarter to take a 34 - 19 lead. Notable contributions came from Paul Silcox (rebounding), Marlin Capers (fast break scoring) and Ollie Marsh (steals). Worcester, having twice beaten Solent, had the confidence to fight back and the last minute began with Solent leading by just two points courtesy of a naïve Larry Parker foul that had gifted three free throws to the visitors. Parker then missed two free throws of his own, but all was forgiven when he gained a vital rebound and scored the final two points himself. Worcester were unable to overcome the deficit and Solent started the calendar year with a second league victory, 103 - 101 (Parker 35, Silcox 23).
Teesside Mohawks were the next visitors to Fleming Park. This was proving a transitional season for the Mohawks who had carried all before them in the previous seasons. Frequent substitutions by the Teesside coach, Tony Hanson, kept relentless pressure on the in-form Solent team, so much so that with two minutes remaining of the first half, Solent found themselves 16 points adrift (33 - 49). Last minute points from Marlin Capers (29 in the first half) and Larry Parker helped Solent reduce the deficit to eight points by the interval. A stormy third quarter followed with unsportsmanlike fouls by both teams, but Solent eventually drew level at 61 all. Teesside pulled away to an eight-point lead in the final quarter, but Solent clawed the points back and a Larry Parker score saw them take the lead for the first time with five minutes remaining. A crucial three point shot took Solent ahead 16 seconds from time. The tension was too much for the Teesside coach who was charged with a technical foul. A further foul on Mark Jackson gave Solent two more free throws just three seconds from time and the home team celebrated a second consecutive league win, 86 - 81 (Capers 39, Parker 27).
An away trip to Coventry Crusaders was the next fixture for Solent. Coventry were lying in eleventh place in the table, just below Solent. The confident American pair of Solent players, having scored a combined total of 66 points in the previous game, were responsible for all the first quarter Solent points (21) as they took a four point lead into the first interval. Chris St. Omer broke the American monopoly of scoring, but it was a good team performance in the quarter that allowed Solent to increase their lead by halftime (53 - 39). Coach Alan Cunningham gave some of his bench players extended playing time in the final quarter. When Coventry went on a 14 - 2 run, however, the re-introduction of the senior players brought back parity in the scoring to allow Solent to record a third league win in succession, 98 - 89 (Capers 45, Parker 29).
With three straight wins and having moved into the play-off group for the first time, confidence was high for the home game against fifth-placed Reading Rockets. Reading, equally, were full of confidence having just won the National Cup for the first time. After a poor start, Solent recovered with a 14 - 2 spell to level the scores at halftime at 36 all. But in that period coach Alan Cunningham had picked up a technical foul after expressing discontent at the refereeing. The fact that Reading picked up only one foul, at that late in the half, before halftime had been the root cause of Cunningham's discontent. Things came to a head when Solent disappointingly gave the ball away too often at the end of the third quarter to allow Reading to take command in the game. Finally, a second technical foul was called on Cunningham, who therefore was not present to see his team go down 70 - 89 (Parker 32, Capers 29).
The Solent Stars arranged a friendly match, prior to their next important league game, in aid of the Tsunami Appeal. The visitors were USAF Mildenhall. Alan Cunningham - having just passed his 50th birthday - turned out for the home team and also gave playing time to the squad members who had less court time experience than the starting five. In the event, Solent lost 63 - 66 but the main cause of the evening was to raise funds.
The next day, Solent travelled to Essex and Herts Leopards to try and get back to their winning ways. Chris Bevin had suddenly left the club. Despite being an American player, he had an Irish passport, which allowed him to play alongside Marlin Capers and Larry Parker. Bevin had only contributed 20 points in his thirteen matches for the club, and had been a huge disappointment to coach Cunningham who had signed him. Having also axed Nick O'Harabe for disciplinary reasons, it meant the team was short of players for the run-in of the season. This became apparent in the game at Essex. Larry Parker was unable to score in the first quarter having been given close attention by the home defence. It took a late rally in the quarter by Paul Silcox, Phil Long and Marlin Capers to bring Solent back into the game. The second quarter was all Solent as they outscored the home team 30 - 17 with Parker in full flow. Solent entered the final quarter three points ahead (54 - 51) but once they lost Long, who had an outstanding game, the lack of a replacement was instrumental in Solent's final close defeat, 74 - 77 (Parker 28).
A visit to bottom of the table Kingston Wildcats was the next test for Solent. A convincing first quarter display saw Solent establish a 25 - 17 lead. The visitors then increased their lead by two points in the second quarter. Inexplicably the points from the American players in Solent's squad then dried up as they managed only six between them in the third quarter. When Chris St. Omer fouled out, Solent were actually behind. Ollie Marsh responded with a vital three pointer and steal to help Solent to a five-point advantage at the beginning of the final quarter. Kingston rallied but the trio of Marsh, Paul Silcox and Mark Jackson worked tirelessly to give Solent a 92 - 83 (Parker 25) win.
Alan Cunningham was forced to sit out the next game as punishment for his earlier outburst in the home Reading Rockets match. This gave assistant coach, Steve Chant, his first start as a coach in senior men's basketball. Ironically, the opponents were Reading Rockets! The game was played on a Thursday night at the Rivermead Leisure Centre. Reading had moved to third in the table. In the game, it was only a poor fourth period, when Solent had Marlin Capers and Paul Silcox fouled out and committed a series of elementary errors, that denied them an upset win. At one point in the second quarter Solent had led by 16 points as they tore into the opposition. Mike McGregor played an instrumental part in helping the Solent players find good shooting positions. Reading came back in the second half to reduce the lead to three points before another run of ten points by Solent (five of them from Mark Jackson) took them into another seemingly comfortable lead. Capers, who had been rested for most of the third quarter on four fouls, only lasted a couple of minutes on his return at the start of the final session. Paul Silcox quickly followed and Solent turned the ball over four times in succession to see the game conceded to the opponents, 83 - 87 (Capers 28, Parker 24).
High-riding London United were the next visitors for Solent. This was Solent's third game in a week and the strain showed as the team failed to come to terms with the polished London team. Larry Parker was strangely kept on the bench for most of the second half by coach Alan Cunningham, but he did pass the 300-point mark for the season during the game which Solent lost 93 - 124 (Capers 28, Parker 24).
The new London City Academy was the venue for Solent's next trip to play PAWS London Capitals. With both teams in contention for a play-off place, Solent needed to win by at least ten points if they were to keep their hopes alive. In the event, the fact that it took eight minutes before either of Solent's American players could register a point meant that they were always chasing the game. With just under four minutes remaining, Graham Hunter sank a three pointer that brought Solent to within nine points. Then calamity struck as, in a scramble for possession under the London basket, Marlin Capers fell and hit his head on the ground, which necessitated a visit to the local hospital. Forced to foul to gain possession, Solent were further punished as London scored from all ten visits to the line in the last few minutes. Solent lost this vital game, 82 - 95 (Parker 29).
Just four hours after the Solent Stars Under-18 team beat Doncaster in the national Sureshot Cup Final, the senior men stepped out on the same court at Manchester, to play Manchester Magic. A disastrous opening five minutes, when Solent failed to score, meant that when Paul Silcox scored with his free throw, Solent were already trailing 0 - 17. Coach Alan Cunningham said, "It was a game of two halves. First half we failed to turn up, but when I brought on Graham Hunter, we briefly looked like a team capable of coming back." Solent equalled the Manchester tally of point scoring in the third quarter, but the game had already got away from them and they lost 71 - 95.
With the play-offs almost out of the question for Solent, the next visitors were Sheffield Arrows. Because of a result earlier in the day, when Worthing Thunder beat London United by one point, Sheffield knew that they were league champions as they came on to the court at Fleming Park. Any hope that this may have diverted some of their purpose for the game in hand was quickly dispelled. In the first half they took a 30-point lead, this despite that Solent had led 11 - 2 early on through Paul Silcox netting quick points. Whilst Solent went to the changing room at halftime for an earnest talk, Sheffield remained on court practising their shooting. Solent were unable to make any headway against the league champions who ran out easy winners, 82 - 106 (Parker 31, Capers 27).
Now the headlines had changed from the possibility of reaching the play-offs (finishing in the top eight of the twelve team league) to the possibility of relegation. Kingston Wildcats were the only team that could overhaul Solent. That would not have been possible if Solent could win either of their two final games. The first was a visit to Worcester Wolves. Illness had forced coach for the game, Steve Chant, to reshuffle the team. Luckily Phil Long was on form on the evening as Solent set about their difficult task. Solent took a slender halftime lead, but the third quarter saw them only score nine points (their lowest quarter score of the season). Apart from a couple of Graham Hunter three point successes, Solent could do nothing but look down the barrel of a gun as they slipped to a 74 - 94 (Parker 20) loss.
Solent Stars, however, were reprieved from the indignity of relegation in their twenty-fifth season thanks to a huge win by champions, Sheffield Arrows, at Kingston.
This led the way clear to a more relaxed approach to the season's final game at home to Worthing Thunder. The relaxation seemed to affect Larry Parker more than the rest as he struggled to make any impression in the game. With Solent having relied heavily all season on scoring performances from Parker and Marlin Capers, if one was not on-song, no one seemed capable of taking up the task. Although there were notable performances from Chris St. Omer, Ollie Marsh and Phil Long, the whole did not add up to too much. Trailing 36 - 54 at halftime, Solent's whole-hearted approach began to pay dividends in the second half and with four minutes left they trailed by eight points. They were not able to press home their advantage, however, and eventually went down 81 - 91 (Capers 28) to end a miserable playing season.
Mark Jackson with owner Bob Paulley
Marlin Capers
| 2004/05 (Division 1) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Sheffield Arrows | 22 | 21 | 1 | 2076 | 1637 | +439 | 42 |
| 2 | London United | 22 | 18 | 4 | 2030 | 1747 | +283 | 36 |
| 3 | Reading Rockets | 22 | 16 | 6 | 1943 | 1770 | +173 | 32 |
| 4 | Worcester Wolves | 22 | 13 | 9 | 1904 | 1766 | +138 | 26 |
| 5 | Worthing Thunder | 22 | 13 | 9 | 2123 | 2070 | +53 | 26 |
| 6 | Manchester Magic | 22 | 12 | 10 | 1810 | 1743 | +67 | 24 |
| 7 | Teesside Mohawks | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1746 | 1821 | -75 | 20 |
| 8 | Essex & Herts Leopards | 22 | 9 | 13 | 1689 | 1787 | -98 | 18 |
| 9 | London Capitals | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1685 | 1806 | -121 | 14 |
| 10 | Solent Stars | 22 | 5 | 17 | 1758 | 1972 | -214 | 10 |
| 11 | Kingston Wildcats | 22 | 5 | 17 | 1721 | 2045 | -324 | 10 |
| 12 | Coventry Crusaders | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1600 | 1921 | -321 | 6 |
Labels: 2004/05
Solent Stars 2003/04 Season
Following the disappointment of the previous season, the Solent Stars directors met with the coaching staff over the summer and determined that two American players were required and should be present for the pre-season training. Neither coach, Mark Scott nor his assistant, Steve Fitzsimons, had any particular players under review and it was left to the club to negotiate with an American agent regarding players.
Matt Story, a 6' 4" forward, was the first signing. He came from Florida and was eventually joined by another player fresh from Florida, 6' 10" Matt Crawford. Crawford had not been the first choice of the agent, and it was nearly a month after Story's arrival before Crawford set foot in England.
Meanwhile, the Conference League had changed its name to English League Division One. Gone from the previous season were Oxford Devils and relegated clubs, Hackney White Heat and Coventry Crusaders. In their place came London United, Team Bath Romans and Sheffield Arrows.
Paul Mundy-Castle
Another feature for Solent for the coming season was the resurgence of a women's team for the first time since the 1998/99 season.
On the men's playing front, David Butterworth had moved along the coast to Worthing Thunder, whilst Jon Neale had returned to Nottingham University for a further course. Steve Davison was returning from a year in France. Also trying out for Solent was Nick O'Harabe who had spent the previous season with Worthing Thunder.
A pre-season friendly was arranged against the full Royal Navy team who were having a training weekend at Portsmouth. All twelve of the Solent trial players had their name on the scoresheet by halftime in a game where Solent demonstrated that they were far too good for their opponents. American Matt Story immediately made an impact with a series of long three pointers. Solent won 140 - 61 (Story 25, Jackson 23, O'Harabe 23).
A Southern Challenge Cup was inaugurated for back-to-back games against Reading Rockets. The home game was noticeable for the fact that only Mark Jackson could find the basket in the first three minutes for Solent to take a 2 - 0 lead! Solent led at the end of the first quarter, thanks to some good work on the boards by Nick O'Harabe. The game turned Reading's way in the second quarter as they began to score with some regularity. Matt Story only found his first points at the end of the half, but he also picked up a back injury in the process. Five successive turnovers by Solent in the second half effectively gave the game to Reading as Solent trailed in 93 - 103 (Jackson 24, O'Harabe 22).
Without Matt Story for the return leg, the following day, Solent were hard pressed to find any scoring rhythm. Duane Laight hit several three pointers, but Solent were disappointingly out-gunned 54 - 85 to lose the Cup on aggregate (147 - 188).
Solent's first National Trophy game was away to Worthing Thunder. Joining the Solent team after the pre-season games were Tom Parker (an Army player) and Rob De'Ath (from the local league). Also present was Matt Crawford, who had only trained once with the team. It was Laight who stole the early honours with a couple of steals and three pointers. Worthing recovered to lead 26 - 31 at the quarter but by halftime Solent had taken a 52 - 40 lead aided by Crawford's rebounding and shot blocking. Man marking by Worthing upset the Solent play and the visitors lost their discipline before coach Mark Scott called a timeout. Worthing's new American player scored with a three pointer eight seconds from the end of the final quarter that had begun all-square at 65 all. The teams had traded baskets until the final three pointer which gave Worthing a win, 79 - 82 (Story 31).
Matt Story
The following week the two teams met again at Fleming Park. Worthing had decided to man mark Matt Story and it was left to Matt Crawford, making his home debut, to score Solent's opening five points. Although the game was even in the scoring for the first half, Solent were soon in foul trouble. Crawford had to be used sparingly having picked up his third foul in the first quarter. When he and Nick O'Harabe fouled out in the third quarter, Solent had no height to counter the Worthing attack and fell away to lose 84 - 105 (Story 28).
Less than 24 hours later, Stars were eliminated from the National Trophy competition when they lost to London United, in London. Matt Story gave Solent an early lead, but a series of three pointers edged the first quarter for London (19 - 22). A leg injury forced Mark Jackson out of the game in the second quarter and although Solent closed to 35 - 37 at one point, London still held a ten-point advantage at halftime. Looking a good deal more animated than usual, coach Mark Scott urged his side forward and 18 points from American duo Story and Crawford helped Stars shade the third quarter. Four minutes from time, the scores were level (87 - 87). London scored the next seven points to force Solent to play catch-up. Defeat was confirmed when Solent gave the ball away from their own put-in to gift London two more easy points. The final score was another loss for Solent, 95 - 100 (Story 38, Crawford 28).
With a National Cup match approaching, followed by the start of the league season, Solent Stars moved to strengthen their squad by signing ex-Solent player, Paul Mundy-Castle. He was included in the team for Solent's visit to Loughborough Students for the first round game in the National Cup.
Loughborough, two divisions below Solent, started well in their home game, scoring an early three pointer. Solent could find no rhythm and had to look to Matt Crawford's inside game to keep up a steady rate of scoring. A Solent timeout with the score at 19 all immediately made a difference when afterwards all five on-court players scored for Solent to take a 32 - 22 lead at the end of the first quarter. Mundy-Castle joined the fray at the beginning of the second quarter, but found it difficult to keep up with the pace after nearly a year out of the game. Nick O'Harabe fouled out at the start of the final quarter, but Solent finished the game in showboat style with Crawford dunking the ball nine times overall in the game. Solent moved to the second round with a 102 - 73 (Crawford 34, Story 24) win.
For their final home National Trophy game, Solent started with their best six minutes of the season when the starting five - Matt Story, Matt Crawford, Nick O'Harabe, Duane Laight and Mark Jackson - quickly went into a 20 - 2 lead against visitors London United. However, as the game progressed, Solent seemed to lose confidence and a series of unforced errors and fouls allowed London to take a 57 - 60 lead by midway in the third quarter. From there it was nip and tuck, but Solent ended a second winless season in the National Trophy competition by going down 92 - 96 (Crawford 32, Story 27).
Nick O'Harabe
Kingston Wildcats were the visitors for the second round of the National Cup competition. Solent began the final quarter 76 - 85 behind with Paul Mundy-Castle, on his home debut, already fouled out and both Matt Crawford and Duane Laight on four fouls. Mark Jackson chased and harried the Kingston players and forced errors and his seven successive points brought Solent to 88 - 91 with three minutes remaining. Matt Story stole the ball and scored to take Solent to a 94 - 93 lead. In six minutes of high pressure, Solent had outscored Kingston 18 - 2 and deservedly won 101 - 98 (Story 28, Jackson 26, Crawford 24).
The league season commenced with a visit from newly promoted Team Bath Romans, who included Panji Grainger in their squad. Accurate shooting from Mark Jackson had helped Solent to a 32 - 22 first quarter lead. With Paul Mundy-Castle missing through being stranded on a broken down train from London, Solent had no penetrating defender to vary their attack. Slowly Bath came back into the game, taking 25 second half rebounds to Solent's 2, and with 30 seconds remaining led by one point. With everyone expecting Solent's final shot to come from Matt Story, the ball fell into the hands of Alan McDonald whose unopposed shot had no conviction and rebounded off the ring to leave Solent defeated in their first league game, 88 - 89 (Story 27, O'Harabe 23).
A third round National Cup home tie against Reading Rockets followed. Reading had already beaten Solent twice in pre-season games and had also visited Bath to win by 25 points two weeks earlier. The visitors found plenty of holes in the Solent defence to build up a 6 - 19 lead after six minutes. Reading were then hit when their leading scorer, Jermaine Williams, took no further part in the game after twisting his ankle on a drive for the basket. Ted Smith, Reading's other American player, then took control and Reading increased their lead to 27 - 42 before Solent hit back to trail 40 - 53 at halftime. After the third quarter Solent still trailed by 12 points. In a remarkable start to the final quarter, Solent scored 13 unanswered points to take the lead for the first time. With Solent leading 96 - 92, thanks in part to technical foul against the Reading bench, the influential Ted Smith fouled out, although the Reading team protested that it was only his fourth foul. Solent held on to win 106 - 95 (Story 39, Crawford 23).
A depleted squad travelled north to play Sheffield Arrows. Without Chris Glover and Anthony Rutter (injured) and Duane Laight and Ollie Marsh (work) Solent only had seven players on the bench, one of whom - Paul Mundy-Castle - had a heavily strapped ankle! Although Solent made the early running, with two three pointers from Matt Story, by the third minute of the second half the team trailed by 19 points (49 - 68). Urged on by coaches Mark Scott and Steve Fitzsimons, Solent then staged a magnificent rally to reduce the deficit to just one point by the ninth minute of the third quarter (72 - 73). However, Solent then ran out of steam as the final quarter proved an anticlimax as they slipped to an 83 - 105 (Story 34) defeat.
Duane Laight
The unavailability of Fleming Park meant that Solent's next home fixture - against Ware Rebels - was played at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth. With 36 seconds remaining of what had been a close match throughout, Ware levelled the scores at 97 all. Fifteen seconds later Matt Crawford moved along the baseline to add two more points to the Solent score. Then Ware's 44 point Mike Williamson, despite close marking, put up a three point attempt that hit the ring and Matt Story rebounded the ball. As he was close to stepping out of court as he rebounded the ball, Story instinctively scooped the ball back into play. To the horror of the Solent fans he provided the perfect pass for Williamson to have another three point attempt. Once again the ball hit the ring and this time Story rebounded the ball and held on. A foul on him with two seconds remaining gave a chance to add to the score and Solent won 100 - 97 (Story 36, Jackson 21).
The next day Solent travelled to London United for what proved yet another close game. Nick O'Harabe fouled out after only 12 seconds of the second half. With his defensive strength gone, Solent looked a beaten team as they trailed 56 - 67 at the start of the final quarter. Once again Solent staged a thrilling fight back that saw points from Matt Story, Matt Crawford, Paul Mundy-Castle and Mark Jackson to take an 81 - 75 lead with two minutes left. Mark Jackson then fouled out as London hit back with nine unanswered points. Despite having possession twice at the end of the game, Solent could not score and lost 84 - 86 (Story 32).
For the fifth time in six matches, the result of Solent's next home game was by a margin of four points or less. This time the visitors were Sutton Pumas. Solent led 92 - 85 entering the last five minutes, but then Matt Crawford racked up two quick fouls to join Nick O'Harabe on the bench, having suffered the same fate earlier. This weakened the Solent defence and Sutton took full advantage and despite two late big three pointers from Mark Jackson, Solent lost 103 - 104 (Jackson 29, Story 29).
On the following day, Solent travelled over 300 miles north to play Teesside Mohawks in the semi-final of the National Cup. As might have been expected, Teesside started the fresher but five points from the free scoring Matt Story meant Solent were only 18 - 21 behind at the end of the first quarter, and when Alan McDonald levelled moments later, hopes were raised. But a quiet spell enabled Teesside to build again and Solent were left to rue missed opportunities as they trailed 38 - 49 at halftime. A disjointed game included 48 fouls and Solent were to lose Matt Crawford and Nick O'Harabe in the third minute of the last quarter. Four three pointers from Mark Jackson briefly closed the gap but Solent couldn't get any closer as they suffered their first ever National Cup semi-final defeat, 87 - 102 (Story 32).
Tom Parker
Solent's last home game of the calendar year was against Worthing Thunder. In front of a crowd of over 400, both teams played at a flat-out pace. The result was a game full of incidents and mistakes. Matt Crawford scored his first three pointer of the season, whilst valuable assists from Paul Mundy-Castle gave scoring opportunities to his colleagues when it looked as if Worthing were gaining the upper hand. After the lead changing hands ten times in the first five minutes of the third quarter, Worthing did forge ahead by 11 points (74 - 85) at the start of the final quarter. Inspirational captain, Mark Jackson, brought Solent right back into the game with eight consecutive points to leave Solent trailing by three points with two minutes remaining. Ex-Solent Star David Butterworth then added a three pointer to Worthing's total, which was cancelled out by another Jackson three pointer. Matt Crawford added two more points. Solent were given a controversial out-of-bounds possession with nine seconds remaining, but in that time they could not get off a shot and lost 93 - 94 (Crawford 26, Jackson 23, Story 22).
A trip to Teesside Mohawks followed. Solent led throughout most of the game, only going behind when turnovers at the start of the third quarter allowed Teesside to briefly take advantage. Eventually the game hinged on a controversial referees' decision at the beginning of the final minute of the game. One referee called a jump ball situation (which with the alternate possession rule would have given Solent possession), but he was overruled by the second official who called a foul on Paul Mundy-Castle. This gave Teesside two free throws to level the scores. Solent then committed hara-kiri by turning the ball over in the last minute to allow Teesside to score two more points to win 88 - 90 (Story 30, Crawford 24).
After so many close games against table-topping teams, the final game of the year at Manchester Magic proved an anti-climax. Matt Crawford was too ill to travel and the onus of defence fell on Tom Parker. Parker was disadvantaged in having forgotten to pack his basketball boots and having to play in trainers! He was then given a baptism of fire as Manchester blitzed 33 points in the first quarter. Matt Story gamely kept on scoring to help Solent put up a respectable fight. However, their cause was not helped when Nick O'Harabe picked up three fouls in one incident for him to leave the game with five fouls. Solent were no match for Manchester on the night and lost 99 - 117 (Story 47).
Over the Christmas break, Solent secured the signing of ex-England international and Solent player, Drew Sewell. The numerically weak Solent squad had suffered another blow when Anthony Rutter decided to concentrate on his studies and left the team.
Matt Crawford
Next up for Solent was a visit from Plymouth Raiders who had only one defeat to their name. Solent started badly and Plymouth went 3 - 10 up early on. Drew Sewell showed some nice touches, but it was a spell by Matt Story just after halftime that brought Solent back into the game at 66 all, having outscored their opponents 13 - 0 in two minutes. However, Duane Laight and Drew Sewell found the pace hard to sustain and Solent's limited resources could not prevent Plymouth from recording a 98 - 106 (Story 37, Jackson 22, Crawford 20) win.
Solent travelled to Kingston Wildcats with a much reduced squad. Out were Alan McDonald (ill), Duane Laight and Drew Sewell (work) and Matt Crawford played with a heavy cold. Chris Glover left the game early on with a bloodied nose, but it had been Solent that made the early impact, leading 29 - 24 at the first quarter. Nick O'Harabe was called for a technical foul in the first minute of the second half after he missed an easy lay-up and fouled a three point shooter to increase his frustration. As he left the court he kicked a chair. The referee charged a further foul against the team coach, which O'Harabe thought had been directed at him, making him reach five fouls. Without a word he left the arena, despite the fact that he was on four fouls. This whole incident helped Kingston back into the game. A second more disputed technical foul was charged against the coach when he protested that an out-of-bounds call had been wrongly awarded against Matt Story with seconds remaining and the scores level. Kingston scored the two free throws and took possession of the ball to sink a final basket and condemn Solent to a 100 - 105 (Story 37, Crawford 32) defeat.
Solent were now at the foot of the league table, halfway through the season yet - ironically - were the league's top scorers. They also had the worst defensive record, conceding 150 points more than any other team!
Sheffield Arrows were the next visitors to Fleming Park. Matt Story left the game toward halftime with a severely bruised finger. In an error strewn game with neither side able to dominate or score regularly, the action came down to the last few seconds. In that time Solent turned the ball over three times, forcing them to foul the opposition to try to regain possession. Sheffield scored regularly from the free throw line and despite Solent having the final put-in with nine seconds to go and trailing by two points, the home team managed to turn the ball over one more time to allow Sheffield the opportunity to run the clock down and win 69 - 71 (Crawford 23, Jackson 20).
Reading Rockets - a top four team - were Solent's next home opponents. A close game ensued with fit-again Matt Story playing his full part. With the sides level at 99 all in the last minute, Story fouled out. With him gone and once again a weak Solent bench numerically, Solent were unable to add to their total whilst Reading benefited from two Solent turnovers to add two more scores and leave Solent stranded 99 - 105 (Crawford 26, Story 26).
A third consecutive home game for Solent, this time against Kingston Wildcats, proved to be an exhilarating one for the home fans. Matt Crawford scored several early inside baskets and was complemented by Matt Story's outside shooting. With Crawford also taking the honours on the defensive rebounds - aided by Nick O'Harabe - Solent had amassed 64 points by halftime to the visitor's 50. For once there was no last minute drama for Solent as they romped away with the game, 134 - 116 (Story 42, Crawford 37, Jackson 23, O'Harabe 22).
Back on the road, Solent survived a nightmare journey to Team Bath Romans. After arriving late, the team took a little while to adjust to the pace of the game. Bath were playing a successful inside game that forced coach for the night, Steve Fitzsimons, to call a timeout to change the Solent tactics. So involved was Fitzsimons with the action that, unusually, he picked up a third quarter technical foul. Bath could not take advantage of that and Solent ended the third quarter two points ahead (75 - 73). The final quarter belonged to Matt Story who scored 11 of Solent's opening 15 points. Despite Matt Crawford sitting out most of the last quarter Solent were good enough to hold on to their lead and win 110 - 96 (Story 52, Jackson 22).
Solent's next visitors were London United, who Solent had lost to three times already in the season by margins of five, four and two points respectively. This game was to be as close as any of the others with neither side able to establish any superiority over the other. Solent looked as if they had worn down their opponents when they snatched a 71 - 64 lead in the final quarter. However, at full time the scores were level at 77 all - Solent ruing their 15 missed free throws! In overtime, Solent summoned up a fine team effort to deny London scoring opportunities whilst scoring themselves to finally run out winners, 89 - 83 (Story 34).
Mark Jackson
The fixture list offered Solent few favours as on the next day they travelled to second-placed Reading Rockets. The effort expended in overcoming London the previous evening was evident from the start. They began to lose touch in the second quarter and trailed 33 - 56 at one stage. Ollie Marsh and Tom Parker scored some early baskets after halftime, but Stars could never make up the difference and fell to an 82 - 107 (Story 33) defeat.
It was a similar story when Solent travelled to table-topping Plymouth the following week, in this case without injured players Alan McDonald and Nick O'Harabe. Solent were leading 24 - 23 and the end of the first quarter and only trailed by 41 - 46 at halftime. Once Plymouth started applying the pressure, however, Solent were unable to match them and fell away badly to lose 79 - 110 (Jackson 22, Story 20).
Another road trip, this time to face Ware Rebels at the University of Hertfordshire, followed. Solent needed to win to stand any chance of making the Play-Offs. Ware man-marked Solent's Matt Story so successfully that it was the ninth minute before Story scored, to take his total past 800 points for the season. The first half only brought forth a miserable performance from Solent in an atmosphere-less venue as they reached halftime 26 - 40 in arrears. Story and Matt Crawford did their best at the start of the third quarter to get Solent back into the game. A run of Solent points brought them to within 7 points of Ware. This proved to be Solent's final effort as, when they could only muster two points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, defeat was inevitable. The final score of 67 - 96 (Story 24) virtually ended Solent's Play-Off aspirations.
An exhibition game the following day at Fleming Park against USAF Lakenheath Eagles gave coach Mark Scott an opportunity to prepare his team for one last push to move up the league table. Solent won 99 - 80 (Story 36, Jackson 22) in what was hoped to be a morale boosting game.
For a while at Sutton Pumas, it looked as if Solent had gained from the Lakenheath experience, as they went into a 17 - 6 early lead, during which Mark Jackson scored the first of his three pointers in the quarter. Sutton scored seven points in the last two minutes of the second quarter to come to within two points of Solent at halftime (42 - 40). It was ex-Solent Star, Marlin Capers, who proved their undoing as the game went on. With 21 personal points in the third quarter, he was instrumental in sealing Solent's fate as they sank to another defeat, 77 - 90 (Jackson 24).
Solent travelled to the Worthing Leisure Centre without Matt Crawford and Alan McDonald who were both nursing injuries. Crawford's height was missed as Worthing attacked the Solent board and picked up the majority of rebounds leading to several second chance baskets. Forced to play a lone central role, Nick O'Harabe rose to the occasion against his club of the previous season. At the end of the first quarter Solent trailed 21 - 28. Worthing continued to pile on the pressure and Solent, because of their lack of strength in depth, were never able to get into the game and lost 91 - 115 (O'Harabe 34, Story 22, Jackson 21).
Teesside Mohawks were Solent's penultimate visitors. Solent, for only the seventh time in the league season, were able to field a full bench for the game. The home team started brightly and led 30 - 21 at the end of the first period thanks in part to Matt Crawford tipping in several offensive rebounds. Solent's defence came under huge pressure in the second quarter and the visitors were able to go in at halftime leading by just one point (51 - 52). Worse still, another ankle injury to Crawford meant that Solent had to play the whole of the second half without him. This proved an obstacle too great and despite briefly taking the lead after halftime, Solent fell away to an 88 - 99 (Jackson 23, Story 22) defeat.
Solent Stars' final game in their twenty-fourth season in the National League, marking over 550 league matches in all, was at home to Manchester Magic. A win would ensure that they would not finish in the bottom two and face the prospect of relegation. Without Matt Crawford, Solent were always going to be struggling against a much bigger Manchester squad that included John Amaechi fresh from his 294 games in the NBA. So overawed were Solent by his presence that in no time at all they trailed 2 - 20. A brief flurry of points from Matt Story, Ollie Marsh, Nick O'Harabe and then Alan McDonald trimmed the Manchester lead to 11 - 20, but that was as close as Solent got. Mark Jackson, a victim of over-fussy refereeing, left the game in the third minute of the second half. With O'Harabe, Marsh and Story all on four fouls for the latter part of the game, Solent were no match for their rivals and lost their last home fixture 86 - 113 (Story 31). Other results on the night meant that Solent finished in tenth position in the league, above Kingston Wildcats and Team Bath Romans.
The Player of the Year Awards for the season were presented by John Amaechi after the final league game. Mark Jackson won both the Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year. Runner up in the fans' vote for Player of the Year was Matt Story. A new award, donated by club director Peter Axon, saw Ollie Marsh carry off the Newcomer of the Year award.| 2003/04 (Division 1) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 20 | 2 | 1989 | 1547 | +442 | 40 |
| 2 | Reading Rockets | 22 | 17 | 5 | 2054 | 1745 | +309 | 34 |
| 3 | Teesside Mohawks | 22 | 16 | 6 | 1924 | 1763 | +161 | 32 |
| 4 | Manchester Magic | 22 | 16 | 6 | 1934 | 1783 | +151 | 32 |
| 5 | Worthing Thunder | 22 | 15 | 7 | 2066 | 1866 | +200 | 30 |
| 6 | London United | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1858 | 1780 | +78 | 22 |
| 7 | Sheffield Arrows | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1709 | 1745 | -36 | 20 |
| 8 | Ware Rebels | 22 | 9 | 13 | 1882 | 2002 | -120 | 18 |
| 9 | Sutton Pumas | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1736 | 1945 | -209 | 14 |
| 10 | Solent Stars | 22 | 4 | 18 | 1999 | 2193 | -194 | 8 |
| 11 | Kingston Wildcats | 22 | 4 | 18 | 1866 | 2278 | -412 | 8 |
| 12 | Team Bath Romans | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1675 | 2045 | -370 | 6 |
Labels: 2003/04
Solent Stars 2002/03 Season
Back row: Steve Fitzsimons, Howard Jackson, Mark Vingoe, Dominique Jones, Adam Willis, Chris Sheldrick, Mark Scott, Mark Jackson
Front row: Alan McDonald, David Butterworth, Ollie Marsh, Anthony Rutter, Chris Glover, Trevor Donaldson
Wholesale changes of playing personnel meant that Solent Stars were about to launch a new season with mainly inexperienced players. Gone were Americans John Bynum and Marlin Capers who Solent could no longer afford given the competition from European clubs. Alan Cunningham had also finally stepped down. Steve Davison and Dimitry LaCroix had also departed. Nick O'Harabe had signed for Worthing Thunder. In their places, Solent had turned to several players from the youth development programme - these included Anthony Rutter, Rob McDonald, Adam Willis, Ollie Marsh and Mike Peel. They joined Alan McDonald, Trevor Donaldson and Chris St. Omer. Solent also signed Chris Glover who was living in the area after a spell at university. Jon Neale, who had returned from Nottingham University and who previously had come through the junior programme also signed for Solent.
But it was David Butterworth, previously a Thames Valley Tigers player who caught the eye at Solent's annual pre-season game against newly promoted Oxford Devils in a pre-season friendly. He scored 15 points in a match where coach Mark Scott was determined to give all thirteen triallists a run out. Inevitably the disruption caused Solent to lose their way and eventually the game, 67 - 94. A strong second half performance by Mark Jackson, returning from Basketball League duty with Brighton Bears was another highlight for coach Scott.
Solent visited Sutton Pumas for their first game in the National Trophy. Sutton were bigger and stronger than Solent but it was the Solent team who picked up the early fouls, which helped make the first quarter stretch to thirty minutes as Sutton paid many visits to the free throw line. Points from Ollie Marsh, Anthony Rutter and Mark Jackson took Solent to a 21 - 20 lead, but as the game went on, Sutton were able to impose themselves against the eight-man squad of Solent. When David Butterworth picked up his fifth foul in the second minute of the half, the writing was on the wall for Solent who succumbed to an 82 - 100 loss.
Alan McDonald
Whereas coach Mark Scott was upbeat about the team's performance at Sutton, he could find no words of encouragement after his squad fell to a dismal defeat at the hands of London United, at Fleming Park. "If tonight is an indication of how my team are going to progress, then it will be a long old season", he declared after the game. He had just witnessed a lack-lustre performance that had seen Solent trail throughout to a team one division below them. The final score was 79 - 98.
A visit to Westminster Warriors followed. Like Solent, Westminster were in a re-building phase. From the corresponding match eleven months previously, Solent had three same names on the scoresheet and Westminster just two. But it was the Westminster youngsters (five Under-20's) that tore into the Solent defence at the start of the game to open up a 9 - 16 lead by the fifth minute. A couple of steals from Mark Jackson gave Solent hope as they raised their game to trail by just one point at the quarter (25 - 26). A seven-point advantage in the second quarter for Solent was nullified when they failed to score for six minutes, save for a Chris St. Omer drive. With Solent in foul trouble, the home side took full advantage to win 83 - 104 (Butterworth 22).
The following day Solent were at home to Sutton Pumas. Briefly, it looked as if Solent could finally turn the tables on an opponent as they established a 29 - 25 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks largely to David Butterworth's 16 points. However, in a repetition of the previous game's performance, Solent then went six minutes without scoring and watched Sutton pull away to record another win, 77 - 116 (Butterworth 26). Ex-Solent Star, Paul Mundy-Castle scored 44 points for the visitors.
Trevor Donaldson
Westminster Warriors were the next visitors to Fleming Park. Both teams exhibited nervousness early on and mistakes were commonplace. Mark Jackson combined well with David Butterworth to give Solent an early 14 - 5 lead. Westminster kept plugging away and once again Solent seemed to have no one on court who could rally the team. Once Westminster had established a lead, Solent were unable to make any inroads and went down 66 - 86.
NW London were Solent's next opponents in the National Trophy. The home team had things nearly all their own way as atrocious ball handling and errors galore by the Solent players made things easy for them. Trailing by just eight points as halftime approached, Solent had a three on one break which ended with Chris St. Omer passing the ball out-of-bounds as he attempted to give it to David Butterworth. NW London scored from the possession they had gained and added one more point as Solent needlessly fouled the shooter. Although Mark Scott berated his squad at halftime for their lack of intensity and discipline in attacking plays, he could not prevent yet another defeat (65 - 86).
Having finished third in the league last season, Solent Stars were automatically entered in the National Cup competition that included the Basketball League teams. Solent were drawn at home to Brighton Bears in a match to be played less than 24 hours after the visit to NW London. Having virtually nine Americans in their squad, Brighton took charge of the game from the start. However, with Mark Jackson rising to the occasion against his ex-team members, the Solent squad kept plugging away and took a lot of credit for their performance, despite the 60 - 99 defeat.
Mark Jackson
Back to National Trophy action, Solent visited Worthing Thunder. A tremendous performance by David Butterworth, ably assisted by the other team members of the squad saw Solent show their best form of the season. Worthing were forced to call a timeout as Solent built up an early 24 - 12 lead. Although Worthing came back, late three pointers from Mark Jackson and Butterworth aided by two points from Adam Willis gave Solent a 48 - 44 lead at halftime. The game continued to be close throughout and Solent fell foul of a referee's decision - overruled by the commissioner - that denied them possession at a critical phase. Trevor Donaldson scored a three pointer to bring Solent within reach but efforts from Butterworth and Jon Neale (who stole the ball and attempted a long shot to take the game into overtime) failed. Solent lost 84 - 87 (Butterworth 29).
A visit to London United saw Solent demonstrate their Jekyll and Hyde nature as the previous good performance against Worthing was replaced with a poor showing in London. The game was lost in the first quarter when Solent fell behind 12 - 29. Thereafter Solent almost kept in touch, but eventually went down 67 - 98.
Solent's all-English player policy was rescinded as a result of coach Mark Scott's pleas to the club directors to bring in more experience. As a result, Solent approached the agent who had previously supplied John Bynum and Marlin Capers. His recommendation was Dominique Jones, a 6' 6" forward/centre from Toledo.
Dominique Jones
Jones arrived in the country in time to play in the penultimate National Trophy game against NW London at Fleming Park. Solent led from the start to build up a healthy 21 - 10 lead by the sixth minute. They still held a ten-point lead with about a third of the game remaining, but then Solent ran into foul trouble, losing Dominique Jones in the process. Alan McDonald was forced out with a migraine whilst Trevor Donaldson was having a nightmare shooting performance. Assistant coach Steve Fitzsimons could only tear his hair out as Solent lamely conceded the game to NW London, 88 - 101 (Butterworth 24).
The next day Solent played their final National Trophy game against Worthing Thunder, at home. For the faithful fans this proved to be as disappointing as the day before when Solent again ran into foul trouble (26 fouls as opposed to 14 from Worthing). Often these fouls allowed the visitors to add points at critical stages to keep ahead of any Solent comeback. Solent were kept in the game by a series of successful three pointers by Dominique Jones (3), Trevor Donaldson (2) and Mark Jackson, but it was not enough as Solent lost 82 - 92 (Jackson 22).
Having lost all their National Trophy matches, Solent looked forward with apprehension to the start of the 22-match league season.
The first game was at home to Manchester Magic. The first two quarters were even affairs. Solent opened a six-point gap at one stage, but last minute man-to-man pressure from Manchester saw Solent completely unable to handle the pressure as Manchester closed the half at 51 all. The visitors took an early six point lead in the second half but once David Butterworth and Mark Jackson had scored for Solent it was nip and tuck throughout the rest of the game until a late scoring spree by Butterworth (2), Jackson (4) and Dominique Jones (2) saw Solent home for their first win of the season, 100 - 93 (Butterworth 36, Jackson 30).
Another home game followed, against Oxford Devils. Solent seemed to be in control of this game in the first half, gaining a 51 - 40 lead with four minutes of the first half remaining. They then failed to score for four minutes to allow Oxford back to 51 - 48 at halftime. Mark Jackson sprained his ankle early in the third quarter and his loss had an immediate effect on the home team. Nine match turnovers so far were augmented by 13 in the third quarter alone as Solent conceded possession of the ball and fell behind. Solent were outscored 14 - 37 in the quarter and when Jackson returned, heavily strapped, for the final quarter the task was too big for Solent who lost 89 - 111 (Butterworth 22).
Injured David Butterworth, along with Trevor Donaldson, missed Solent's next home game against Hackney White Heat. Despite a 30 minute delay for the late arrival of Hackney, Solent were still able to catch the visitors cold as they ran up a 25 - 4 lead by the sixth minute. Hackney pulled back the difference to just nine points shortly after halftime, before a timely Mark Jackson three pointer steadied the Solent ship. Despite a further late rally by Hackney, Solent were able to keep them at bay to win 82 - 74 (Jackson 20).
Ollie Marsh
With no David Butterworth, Solent's next task - a visit to league champions Teesside Mohawks - looked formidable. Poor defensive play allowed Teesside almost free access to the Solent basket and forced coach Mark Scott to call an early timeout. Only four points separated the teams at the end of the first quarter but a barren spell between the fifth and ninth minutes of the second quarter let Teesside open up a commanding lead (31 - 57) before points from Mark Jackson helped Solent narrow the gap by halftime. Solent's fighting spirit was demonstrated when they shaded the final quarter (36 - 30) and even included a last second three pointer from the half way line by Ollie Marsh! Solent lost 107 - 123 (Jackson 35).
Sutton Pumas were the next visitors to Solent. David Butterworth returned to the side after injury, but it was the performance of the captain, Mark Jackson, that was the feature of the game. Solent held the edge over Sutton throughout but never by more than a handful of points. With five minutes remaining the lead was just one point (85 - 84) and Solent were under the cosh, but brave defensive play saw Solent deny Sutton any points for four minutes. In that time free throws from Butterworth and Anthony Rutter put the game out of Sutton's reach. Solent Stars won 99 - 89 (Butterworth 34).
A woeful first half performance cost Solent the game when they visited Kingston Wildcats. Having fallen behind by nineteen points midway through the third quarter, Solent suffered the departure of David Butterworth with a twisted ankle. Without their top scorer, Solent redoubled their efforts and came to within one point (81 - 82) in the last minute. After Kingston scored four more points there remained thirty seconds of the game. In that time Anthony Rutter scored one from two at the free throw line, whilst Mark Jackson missed both his chances. Solent went down 82 - 86.
The missing David Butterworth (injury) could only watch helplessly from the bleachers as Solent opened up their home game against Reading Rockets by missing two easy lay-ups and turning the ball over twice in the opening few minutes. Solent's hapless form continued throughout the game which culminated in their largest league defeat of the season (72 - 105).
With just one game remaining before the mid-season break, Solent Stars owner, Bob Paulley, felt the need to strengthen the squad. Two candidates were sought. One was Mark Vingoe, a 6' 5" student at Chichester College, who had playing experience with Worthing Thunder. The other was 6' 4", 250lbs, University of Colorado player, Howard Jackson. He had previously been playing in Ireland.
Within 24 hours of arriving in the country - and after just one training session with the squad - Howard Jackson was on the bench for the start to the home match against Worthing Thunder. It was seven minutes before he came on court, by which time Solent were trailing 11 - 23. The shaven headed American bagged a swift two pointer and then weighed in with a spectacular slam dunk from Mark Jackson's pass. With the other newcomer, Mark Vingoe, adding to Solent's defensive abilities the home team were able to claw their way back into the game. With 90 seconds remaining Vingoe provided Howard Jackson with a perfect pass to allow Solent to take the lead for the first time (86 - 85). Soon after, Worthing needed a three pointer to take the game into overtime. They missed with their final attempt. Solent gained the rebound and Alan McDonald wrapped up the 92 - 87 (H. Jackson 28) victory for Solent with an easy lay-up.
Howard Jackson
The Christmas break was not long enough for the recovering David Butterworth who was declared unfit to travel to Sutton Pumas. Also missing was Jon Neale who probably would miss the rest of the season because of glandular fever. Neale had been ever-present so far in the season, often to be found in the starting five. Also missing was Trevor Donaldson (holiday). Solent started the game slowly, but by halftime they held a slender one-point lead (42 - 41). A high foul count (14 - 5) in the first half, limited Solent's defensive capabilities. When Howard Jackson fouled out - and with no obvious replacement - Solent ran out of ideas and points and fell to a 74 - 96 defeat.
With no home game in January for the fans, Solent arranged a home game with USAF Lakenheath Eagles. The match gave David Butterworth an opportunity to try out his injured ankle. It also provided Howard Jackson with the chance to demonstrate a variety of slam dunks as he enjoyed playing against fellow Americans. Solent won 91 - 71 (H. Jackson 26, M. Jackson 20).
Thirteen away matches and almost a year had passed since Solent Stars had won a game on the road. That had been at Coventry Crusaders, who provided the next opposition for Solent at the Coventry Sports Centre. As a mark of how things had changed, not one of the current Solent squad had played in that fixture of a year ago. Both Alan McDonald and Trevor Donaldson, the only survivors, were absent for this match. Last season it was John Bynum and Marlin Capers who had done the damage at Coventry. This time it was the American pairing of Dominique Jones and Howard Jackson who scored nearly half of Solent's points in the 103 - 73 (Jones 28, H. Jackson 23) win over lowly placed Coventry.
Prior to their visit to Plymouth Raiders, Solent were once again victims of a training night injury. This time it was David Butterfield who dislocated a finger. Nonetheless he travelled with the team and played with two fingers strapped together. Solent took the early honours in front of the 1,000 plus spectators and still held a slender lead just after halftime. However, what followed was a phenomenal ten minutes of basketball that saw Solent score 22 points - a not unusual quarter tally of points - whilst Plymouth racked up 45 points of their own! No matter what Solent did - timeout, tactic changes - Plymouth just kept on scoring to take an 87 - 68 lead into the final quarter. Two minutes into the final quarter Butterworth fouled out to be followed shortly by a disappointing Dominique Jones. Solent battled on gamely with Howard Jackson prominent as Solent closed the gap to a respectable 100 - 109 (H. Jackson 33, M. Jackson 23) defeat.
David Butterworth
The next away game was at Oxford Devils. Solent led throughout most of the game and only trailed twice by one point. Unfortunately for them the second time was at the end of the game! A combination of too many turnovers and too many fouls proved their undoing. With 41 seconds remaining Chris Sheldrick fouled to allow Oxford to close the gap to 87 - 84. Twenty seconds later he fouled again and Oxford closed the gap to 87 - 86. Solent turned the ball over in the remaining 21 seconds and Howard Jackson was then called for a foul. Neil Baker calmly sank both shots to send Solent to an 87 - 88 (M. Jackson 27, H. Jackson 21) defeat.
After six weeks without a home fixture, a double-header home weekend followed for Solent. First up were Ware Rebels. Howard Jackson stole the honours in the game with a series of spectacular baskets. He combined well with namesake Mark, who provided a series of telling passes. Solent had trailed 21 - 29 at the end of the first quarter, but a thrilling second period had taken them to a halftime lead of seven points. Despite a couple of frights, Solent did not surrender the lead in the second half and ran out winners, 100 - 89 (H. Jackson 34, M. Jackson 22, Butterworth 20).
Teesside Mohawks - unbeaten in league and cup - were the visitors on the following day. Solent wasted no time in building up an early lead thanks to three pointers from Mark Jackson (3) and Alan McDonald whilst Howard Jackson worked tirelessly for his first quarter 13 points. Solent's initial 13-point advantage turned to an eight point deficit in the second quarter as the league champions piled on the pressure. David Butterworth raised the home fans' hopes with a quick burst of scoring. Then the Solent coaches were charged with a technical foul for protesting that Teesside's Ralph Bucci was being given too much protection by the referees. Despite a late rally, Solent were beaten 105 - 117 (H. Jackson 29, Butterworth 26, M. Jackson 21).
Injury-hit Solent travelled to Worthing Thunder with only eight fit players. Things did not get any better when Howard Jackson twisted an ankle early in the game that forced him to sit out most of the rest of the match. Even so, Solent were able to hold their own until a series of turnovers gave the advantage to Worthing. Mark Jackson reached his fourth foul in the third quarter and coach Mark Scott was forced to take him to the bench. However, with neither Jackson on court, Solent were unable to contain Worthing and Mark Jackson was put back into the game where he soon picked up his fifth foul. It was left to Dominique Jones, Mark Vingoe and David Butterworth to provide the points for Solent. This they did but the six-man Solent squad was unable to prevent a Worthing win, 85 - 101 (Vingoe 20).
Plymouth Raiders were the next visitors to Solent, who were without Howard Jackson. Plymouth led 10 - 19 in the first quarter before three pointers from Dominique Jones and Mark Jackson closed the gap. The second quarter belonged to Solent who outscored second placed Plymouth 38 - 28. Trevor Donaldson scored three of Solent's nine first half three pointers to help Solent to a 58 - 50 halftime lead. However, the Solent gremlins struck in the third quarter and they were only able to manage 13 points, whilst Plymouth were able to score at will. A determined last quarter rally by Solent thrilled their largest crowd of the season but Solent lost 101 - 114 (M. Jackson 28, Butterworth 23).
Anthony Rutter
More injury worries plagued Solent as they travelled to Manchester Magic. Howard Jackson, Mark Vingoe and Chris Sheldrick were all unavailable for this game. Alan McDonald only managed 12 minutes in the game before he had to leave with the effects of a heavy cold. The remaining seven players, with the exception of Mark Jackson, had a nightmare game. Coach Mark Scott berated the team for 12 of the 15 halftime minutes with the result that Manchester scored the first ten points of the second half! Solent were outplayed to the tune of an 89 - 112 (M. Jackson 36) defeat.
Having slipped to ninth place in the league, Solent needed victories in their remaining games. The first of these was an away fixture at Reading Rockets. Once again, Solent could only raise eight fit players for the game. By the fourth minute of the final quarter, Solent were trailing by 31 points. With one player already fouled out, another (Adam Willis) not able to play for a period because of a cut near his eye, it was a disaster when Dominique Jones and Mark Jackson clashed heads whilst going for a loose ball. The game was halted for five minutes whilst the players were given attention. Jackson was able to continue and it said much for the Solent spirit that the remaining players on-court (Anthony Rutter, Adam Willis, Alan McDonald and Trevor Donaldson) restricted Reading to just six more points whilst scoring 21 themselves. Solent lost the game 95 - 109 (M. Jackson 20).
Solent needed to win the home game against Kingston Wildcats to hold out any hope of reaching the play-offs. Although Howard Jackson returned for the game, it was clear that he was nowhere near his previous form, being restricted in his movements. Solent's other American, Dominique Jones was sidelined for the first time since joining the club with a head injury sustained at Reading. Solent led 23 - 18 at the end of the first quarter and 45 - 44 by halftime. Kingston had the edge in a low scoring third quarter and led 63 - 68. They then opened up a 14-point lead through 40 point Wayne Henry and it was left to a late spirited rally by Solent to bring them within three points, but also to another defeat, 90 - 93 (H. Jackson 26, M. Jackson 23).
Chris Sheldrick
A visit to Hackney White Heat had all the trappings of an end-of-season affair. One referee forgot his whistle (Mark Vingoe came to his rescue) but once obtained, the referees called Solent for fouls that put them in team foul trouble by the 3rd minute of the first, second and fourth periods. This situation allowed Hackney to add points from the free throw line. Solent were being out-hustled and lost possession on many occasions. Most critically Anthony Rutter turned the ball over twice at the start of the final period which allowed Hackney to wipe out Solent's four point lead. Both American players fouled out in the fourth minute of the final quarter. Despite this setback, a couple of three pointers from Alan McDonald allowed Solent to take the lead (78 - 77) before more turnovers gave the game to Hackney, 85 - 92 (H. Jackson 24).
Coventry Crusaders were the final visitors to Solent for the season. Although they started well, the visitors ran out of steam in the second half and were no match for a rampant Solent and especially three point shooting David Butterworth. Solent won 102 - 60 (Butterworth 34, H. Jackson 20) with all ten Solent players getting on the scoresheet.
After the game Mark Jackson received the Player of the Year award, exactly nine years after he had done so originally. He was also the winner of the Players' Player of the Year trophy.
The final game of the season was away to Ware Rebels. Solent were without Howard Jackson, who had returned to America, and Adam Willis (hamstring). The first three quarters were even affairs, with Solent holding a seven-point advantage at one stage. However, the game hinged on the first two minutes of the final quarter when Solent were outscored 2 - 11. Disappointingly, Solent could not pull back against a team that had only previously won three games in the season and lost 76 - 87 (Butterworth 22, Jones 20).| 2002/03 (NBL Conference) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Teesside Mohawks | 22 | 21 | 1 | 2238 | 1801 | +437 | 42 |
| 2 | Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 18 | 4 | 2062 | 1776 | +286 | 36 |
| 3 | Reading Rockets | 22 | 16 | 6 | 2092 | 1876 | +216 | 32 |
| 4 | Worthing Thunder | 22 | 15 | 7 | 2045 | 1868 | +177 | 30 |
| 5 | Manchester Magic | 22 | 12 | 10 | 1979 | 1866 | +113 | 24 |
| 6 | Kingston Wildcats | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1698 | 1797 | -99 | 22 |
| 7 | Sutton Pumas | 22 | 11 | 11 | 2011 | 1949 | +62 | 22 |
| 8 | Oxford Devils | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1889 | 1890 | -1 | 22 |
| 9 | Solent Stars | 22 | 7 | 15 | 1995 | 2108 | -113 | 14 |
| 10 | Ware Rebels | 22 | 4 | 18 | 1696 | 1959 | -263 | 8 |
| 11 | Hackney White Heat | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1652 | 1941 | -289 | 6 |
| 12 | Coventry Crusaders | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1525 | 2051 | -526 | 6 |
Labels: 2002/03
Solent Stars 2001/02 Season
Steve Fitzsimons, an assistant coach under both Tom Wisman and Jim Kelly in Solent's formative years, re-joined the coaching staff over the summer to help Mark Scott. On the playing front, Chris Harper left to join Coventry Crusaders whilst Toby Tripalin had returned to America. Tripalin was still an option for the Stars for the forthcoming season, but negotiations were proving lengthy.
So it was that for the first game of the season, a friendly against newly promoted Oxford Devils, the coaches were to call on mainly local talent plus a few triallists. Among those triallists were Americans Vernon Marshall and Ryan Nolan, and two English players with national league experience, Mark Jackson and Nick O'Harabe plus Alan McDonald, returning after a year in America.
Chris St. Omer
It was the local players who were on court at the beginning of the game as Solent slipped behind 5 - 22 by the fifth minute. The introduction of the more experienced players brought Solent back into the game with Jackson scoring two early three pointers. The game was effectively lost in the second quarter when coach Mark Scott gave the youngsters extended court time and watched Solent fall behind 22 - 40 at the halftime interval. The experienced players once again took the court at the beginning of the second half and a three pointer from Trevor Donaldson briefly put Solent 58 - 56 ahead. In the end Solent lost 76 - 83 (Jackson 23) demonstrating that much work was to be done with the home squad, although the result was considerably better than the previous year when Solent had lost by 49 points!
Solent Stars were hit by a world event just after they had signed an American player, Eric Cheers. Cheers, a New Yorker, was left stranded in New York after the September 11th tragedy at the World Trade Center. This meant that Solent had an all-English team (bar locally based Dimitry LaCroix) for their first weekend of matches, two National Trophy games. To add to their woes, Chris St. Omer was also stranded in America because of the flying restrictions imposed after the terrorist activities.
On Saturday, Solent travelled to Worthing Thunder for their opening game. Solent lacked experience and height and were quickly punished when Worthing went into an early lead, but three pointers from Duane Laight and Alan McDonald levelled the scores at 21 all. The inexperience of the team - containing three Under-20 players - caused the foul count to add up and Worthing's eight free throws in the last two minutes helped them pull away. The same pattern continued throughout the game before Solent finally conceded defeat (86 - 109).
Eric Cheers
In London on the following day, against North London Lords, Solent's plight was even more dire as the previous evening's top scorer, Duane Laight (17points), was unfit to play. Chris Sheldrick led by example for Solent as they battled away against older and bigger opponents. Dave McKay, another temporary signing before going off to college, also gave a brave performance as Solent were out powered 72 - 107.
Solent's first home game coincided with the arrival of Eric Cheers. Westminster Warriors, from Division Two, were the opponents. They set the early pace as Solent looked sluggish and were not playing as a team. It was no surprise that after six minutes of the first quarter, Solent trailed 10 - 20. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. But the man in this case was not the new American player, but an older version in the shape of Alan Cunningham. As co-owner of the club, Cunningham had latterly agreed to be available for home matches, if required. He straightaway scored an audacious three pointer, followed it with a drive through the defence for a lay-up and then swatted away a Westminster goal attempt. By halftime Solent were level at 47 all. The team's confidence grew with Cunningham's influence on the game and the second half saw them draw away to a 97 - 83 (Cunningham 27) win.
Solent announced the signing of a second American player, having failed to agree terms with Toby Tripalin. The new player was 22-year-old, 6' 4", John Bynum from California. His debut would be at Ealing Tornados (sic) the following weekend.
Nick O'Harabe
For the away Ealing Tornados game, Solent were without Trevor Donaldson (ill) but had newcomers Nick O'Harabe and John Bynum in the squad. Solent established a 38 - 26 point lead towards the end of the second quarter with a host of three pointers from Duane Laight and John Bynum. A late surge by Ealing brought them to within three points at halftime (42 - 39). Despite a timeout called by Mark Scott after the team had been outscored 3 - 9 at the beginning of the third quarter, Solent still conceded a further eight points before scoring themselves. Eric Cheers added a couple of baskets to the Solent total at the beginning of the final quarter, but Solent lost Bynum (knee) and Alan McDonald (ankle) before the end of the game. A disappointing defeat, 80 - 87 (Bynum 24, Laight 20) meant Solent had won just one of their opening four National Trophy games and were about to face unbeaten Worthing Thunder in the next game.
Worthing were hot favourites to complete the double over Solent on their visit to Fleming Park. However, they had not reckoned with the accurate shooting of Duane Laight and John Bynum who were mainly responsible for Solent's 35 - 25 lead at the end of the first quarter. However, by the time Laight fouled out with eleven minutes remaining, Solent trailed 68 - 76. Baskets from Alan Cunningham and Chris Sheldrick brought the home team back into the game, before they too fouled out with the score at 99 all. Up stepped Bynum, who earlier had thrilled the crowd with a spectacular first minute dunk. He weaved his way through the Worthing defence to add two more points, and then popped in two from the free throw line. Solent held on to win 105 - 101 (Bynum 35, Cheers 21).
Next at Fleming Park were InterBasket, London, who had an identical playing record to Solent in the National Trophy. By the end of the third quarter, Solent were leading 94 - 74 and Joe White, the visiting coach, was heard to say to his team, "Where's the passion? Don't you want to play? Have you given up?" This had the desired effect and InterBasket harried the Solent team into many errors and nearly took the game, especially when Bynum picked up a knee injury, necessitating a trip to hospital. Solent won 110 - 106 (Bynum 35, Cunningham 24, Cheers 22) but coach Mark Scott held his team in the changing room for a long while after the end of the game.
John Nottley
John Bynum was still nursing his knee injury for the visit of North London Lords the following week. His presence was missed, as in a scrappy first half Solent trailed 40 - 46 at halftime. After the interval, two quick baskets from Dimitry LaCroix set Solent on their way and with regular scoring from Alan Cunningham and Eric Cheers, Solent did enough to take the game 91 - 86 (Cunningham 25, Cheers 25).
Alan Cunningham decided to travel with the Solent team to play the rock-bottom team, Westminster Warriors. Solent looked comfortable at the start of the game, leading 25 - 11 at the end of the first quarter. Coach Mark Scott had persisted with just five players in that time. However, when he rang the changes, Solent's soft underbelly was exposed. The English players in the team had in Scott's words been 'under performing' throughout the opening part of the season. The comments seemed justified as Solent surrendered the lead to Westminster in the third quarter. Solent had some justification in feeling hard done by when, in a game when Westminster were constantly harrying and playing catch up, they went the first fifteen minutes of the second half without a foul call against them. Westminster went ahead 67 - 68 in the fifth minute of the final quarter, but two baskets from Eric Cheers put Solent back into the lead which they never surrendered, winning 83 - 71 (Bynum 35).
By the next weekend, Eric Cheers had been released. Co-owner Alan Cunningham said, "Eric's physique doesn't allow him to play the role we need in the team. This was particularly noticeable last weekend when he was outmuscled at Westminster and lost the ball on several occasions". The replacement for Cheers was 6' 6" Marlin Capers, from Georgia, who flew in on Friday morning, survived a car accident in Bob Paulley's car on the way from the airport, and was about to play in a double-header weekend!
Marlin Capers
It proved to be a baptism of fire for Marlin Capers as Solent faced Ealing Tornados at home. In a rough and tumble match, in which Solent always held the upper hand, Trevor Donaldson was disqualified for retaliation after being fouled and pushed in the back. Capers, who had by this time been receiving treatment for cramp, encroached on the court in an attempt to calm things down and was also disqualified for that action. Five minutes were spent by the officials sorting the situation out, but that did not detract from the earlier Solent salvo of points from John Bynum, Capers and Alan Cunningham that had put Solent in the driving seat, leading to their 121 - 101 (Bynum 29, Capers 21, Cunningham 21) victory.
The next day found Solent in London to play InterBasket, London. Having already qualified for the quarter-final, the pressure was off for the Solent team. The American duo of John Bynum and Marlin Capers scored 61 of Solent's 100 points in the game as Solent steamed to a 100 - 85 (Bynum 35, Capers 26) win.
The first league game was away to Reading Rockets in their first season in top-flight basketball and under the ex-England coach, David Titmuss. Solent drew first blood with four points from Duane Laight to lead 8 - 4. Reading pressure then resulted in Solent only adding six more points in the quarter whilst at one stage the home team scored 18 unanswered points. The second quarter belonged to Solent's two Americans with Marlin Capers scoring 17 consecutive points as Solent pulled back to trail by just one point at the interval. Capers then picked up several fouls, forcing coach Mark Scott to keep him on the bench for most of the even scoring third quarter. It was Bynum's 15 points in the final quarter that proved the difference between the teams as Solent ran out winners, 80 - 76 (Capers 32, Bynum 30).
John Bynum
A visit to reigning league champions, Plymouth Raiders, followed. The Solent team surprised the locals by going in to an early lead before Plymouth were able to pull back to a two-point advantage (22 - 24) at the first interval. However, Solent upped the ante again and by halftime held an 11-point advantage. With Alan Cunningham off court receiving treatment for a hamstring strain, Marlin Capers picked up his fourth foul and restricted Mark Scott's choice of players. Capers fouled out with eight minutes remaining. A great rearguard action by the English players on the team, including a vital three pointer from Trevor Donaldson that drew the scores level with seconds remaining, kept Solent in the game. Unfortunately, Donaldson turned from hero to villain when seconds after scoring his basket, he fouled a Plymouth player. The resultant two points were the margin of victory that Plymouth achieved just three seconds later. The final score was 86 - 88 (Bynum 36, Cunningham 20).
Just one week later Solent were back in the same venue for the semi-final of the National Trophy competition. The game followed a similar pattern to the previous one, with Solent being even more successful in the first half and leading 51 - 35. One down side was the Solent foul tally which included four on John Bynum. Plymouth exploited Solent's limitations in defence, because of the foul count, and reduced their deficit to eight points going into the final quarter. Solent then made several unforced errors - Alan McDonald's easily intercepted pass, a mix-up between Dimitry LaCroix and Trevor Donaldson, and a put-in from out of bounds by Marlin Capers that went straight out of play. Each time Plymouth were able to score and finally edged home 94 - 99 (Capers 26, Bynum 25, Cunningham 22).
After four consecutive away matches Solent returned home for the league match against Teesside Mohawks. Teesside brought with them a side fancied for the league championship. Solent did not seem intimidated in the early proceedings and led 47 - 43 at halftime. In a disastrous third quarter for Solent they were outscored 15 - 32 and the game seemed to have slipped away from them. To their credit Solent battled back to within one point of the visitors in the closing stages. However, a series of fouls gave Teesside several visits to the free throw line to edge the game 93 - 97 (Bynum 31, Capers 28).
Steve Davison
The next visitors to Fleming Park were Sutton Pumas. After three games against top-class opposition, Solent were hoping for an easier ride against Sutton. So it proved with Solent in control throughout, even building a 30-point advantage at one stage. John Bynum was in his element with several spectacular dunks. Although Solent eased up - to coach Mark Scott's frustration - Solent were convincing winners 92 - 74 (Capers 32, Bynum 27).
The final match of the calendar year was a visit to InterBasket London, a team that Solent had already beaten twice in National Trophy matches. But it was a depleted team that Solent could muster on the night. Missing, for a variety of reasons, were Alan Cunningham, Chris St. Omer and Dimitry LaCroix. In addition, Trevor Donaldson was playing whilst under the influence of a heavy cold. Marlin Capers could only manage one scoring shot in a first half that saw Solent trail by 39 - 47 points. An opening burst in the second half saw John Bynum, Nick O'Harabe and Capers reduce the deficit to one point and a timely three pointer by Alan McDonald took Solent into the lead. A dogged defensive performance by Solent, despite O'Harabe's fifth foul dismissal with five minutes remaining, then kept the home team at bay but it was only in the dying seconds that Solent clinched a 95 - 93 (Bynum 35) win.
The first game of the new year was a visit to Worthing Thunder. It marked the return on court of coach Mark Scott, who had surgery to his Achilles tendon over the previous summer and was not expected to play at all in the season. In part his return was as a result of other players' injuries that left Solent with only one guard. A strong first half performance saw Solent lead by eleven points at halftime (50 - 39). Worthing fought back to take the third quarter honours and went one point into the lead at the end of the period. With five minutes remaining and Solent just two points behind, Alan Cunningham was forced to leave the game with a bleeding scalp after he and Paul Mundy-Castle clashed whilst vying for a loose ball. With the top scorer gone, things looked bleak for Solent. However, a three pointer from Steve Davison followed by four points from Cunningham's replacement, Chris St. Omer gave Solent a vital cushion and, in the end, a famous victory, 94 - 86 (Cunningham 26, Capers 23).
With Duane Laight having broken his finger and Alan McDonald his jaw, Solent were hard pressed again to manage numbers for their home game against Kingston Wildcats. Alan Cunningham was still nursing his scalp injury and Mark Scott had suffered after-effects from his first run out after his operation. Nonetheless, despite a poor second half performance, Solent were good enough to beat Kingston 98 - 79 (Capers 33, Bynum 30).
Duane Laight
Nick O'Harabe had his best game of the season against the next visitors, Manchester Magic. Apart from scoring 18 points, O'Harabe pulled down quite a few rebounds to help Solent keep possession of the ball. The teams scored at will in the first quarter (32 - 32) but in the second quarter only managed 29 points between them as both sides concentrated on defence. Solent led 55 - 38 at halftime and were in no mood to concede their winning position, finally coming through 92 - 77 (Bynum 29).
Mark Scott was furious with his team's first half performance on their visit to Coventry Crusaders. Having initially led, he saw some poor defensive play give the advantage to the home team. As Chris St. Omer was having difficulty containing Coventry's experienced Derrick Pope, Scott brought himself into the game. This action, plus a halftime verbal salvo to the team, had the desired effect as Solent pulled back and won the third quarter by 13 points and the match 104 - 90 (Bynum 38, Capers 20).
InterBasket London were the next visitors to Fleming Park. Solent struggled from the start. Mark Scott had said to his team that they must not rely solely on the American duo to get them out of trouble, but the words were not heeded. Although John Bynum and Marlin Capers were in the action throughout, they were poorly supported by the rest of the team. InterBasket, on the other hand, played a very competent team game and, in the end, gained a deserved victory, 80 - 83 (Bynum 29, Capers 20).
Having been beaten by lowly InterBasket, Solent must have felt apprehensive about their next visitors, league leaders Plymouth Raiders. If that was the case, they certainly did not show it as they raced into an early 15 - 2 lead. Solent included young 6' 9" John Nottley in the team for this game and he said he had been overwhelmed by the atmosphere at the game. This was in part because Solent eventually opened up a 30-point lead in the first half that had the 400 plus crowd cheering to the rafters. Plymouth trimmed back the lead to 59 - 40 by halftime. Nottley grabbed some important rebounds and Steve Davison did likewise whilst adding several important three pointers in Solent's 113 - 97 (Capers 34, Bynum 32) win.
Solent travelled to Sutton Pumas to find that the home team had made two late signings, Mark Quashie (from Ealing) and Marcus Knight (from the Basketball League's Milton Keynes). These two dominated the early stages of the game and Solent found themselves 17 - 33 in arrears at the first quarter's end. Mark Scott joined the fray and was able to stem the flow of Sutton's points and gradually Solent clawed their way back into the game and at the start of the final quarter led by three points (79 - 76). Sutton then had a final rally that took them to a seven-point advantage that they did not surrender. Solent lost 91 - 97 (Bynum 34, Capers 26).
Anxious to give the English players more court time, Solent arranged back-to-back matches against USAF Lakenheath Eagles. With neither American in the squad, Solent found it hard to score against the team that had recently won the European championship for the American Forces bases. Steve Davison stole the scoring honours for Solent with 22 points. John Nottley also did well with 14 points, matching those of Duane Laight for whom this was the first match after injury. Solent lost 94 - 96 (Davison 22).
The return match saw Solent at their strongest. The game was played at the River Park Leisure Centre, Winchester. The venue obviously appealed to the Solent American duo as they scored 79 points between them in Solent's 131 - 90 win (Capers 40, Bynum 39, Davison 21).
By way of a diversion, Solent staged the men's and women's All Star Games at Fleming Park. Over 600 fans turned out to see the cream of the English Basketball League. Solent contributed John Bynum, Marlin Capers and Alan Cunningham to the South squad. A poor third quarter contributed to the South losing 117 - 128 with John Bynum scoring 23 points.
All-Star Game team photo including Alan Cunningham (7), John Bynum (10) and Marlin Capers (11)
Solent's next home league fixture was against Reading Rockets. Unusually, all twenty players appeared on the scoresheet in this game, but it was John Bynum's 31 points that led the way. His scoring was matched by Ted Smith who landed a couple of late three pointers. However, Smith's efforts were in vain as Solent posted a 108 - 88 (Bynum 31) victory to guarantee them a place in the end of season play-offs.
Worthing Thunder were the next visitors to Fleming Park. They started brightly and opened up a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter. The opening of the second quarter saw Solent score 14 points without reply. Trevor Donaldson and Alan Cunningham both contributed a three pointer in this period. With John Bynum and Marlin Capers both on three fouls in the first half, coach Mark Scott was forced to rest them. Worthing came back to one point before Scott himself entered the game. Solent held a narrow three-point advantage at halftime (47 - 44). Fourteen points ahead with five minutes to play, Solent looked comfortable until Sean Hampton scored back-to-back three pointers. Marlin Capers then fouled out making Solent's lead look even more suspect. Fittingly, it was Alan Cunningham who had the final say including a last second three pointer to consolidate Solent's 100 - 91 (Bynum 34, Cunningham 23) win.
Solent travelled to Kingston Wildcats for their next game. Kingston, in fifth league place, were two places behind Solent. John Bynum suffered an injury to his toe early on which meant missing part of the first quarter. For the fourth time in the season, Solent held a double-figure lead over their opponents only to let it slip in the final quarter. Kingston had stayed in the game thanks to an unusually successful run of three pointers, mainly from player/coach Solomon Ayinla. In the end Solent could not make up the deficit despite a late rally. The 13-point advantage at the start of the fourth quarter turned into a demoralising 92 - 96 (Bynum 30, Capers 23) defeat.
Alan Cunningham
Teesside Mohawks had clinched the NBL Championship at Sutton Pumas the previous evening before playing host to Solent on the Sunday afternoon. Without Alan Cunningham and Duane Laight, Solent gave the new champions something to think about, once they had settled down. The game had begun with Teesside's Ralph Bucci scoring six quick points. Solent switched to zone defence, but six turnovers saw them trailing 17 - 26 at the end of the first quarter. By halftime, Solent had clawed back to trail by just four points (46 - 50). Trevor Donaldson scored early points in the third quarter and a big three pointer by Nick O'Harabe took Solent to their biggest lead in the game at 69 - 58. Loose play by Alan McDonald and Donaldson undid some of the good work and allowed Teesside to level the scores at the end of the third quarter. Teesside were stronger in the final section of the game and forged ahead to a 95 - 106 (Bynum 36, Capers 23) win.
After playing the league champions, Solent's next game was at home to rock-bottom Coventry Crusaders. The match will be remembered for Alan Cunningham's dismissal after a mere 83 seconds on court. The incident happened toward the end of the third quarter. Cunningham, anxious to protect an Achilles heel problem, had not entered the game until just over three minutes of the third quarter remaining. As he went to collect a rebound, he was pushed by Coventry's Matt Collins. In Cunningham's words, "He shoved me in the back and I flew out-of-bounds. The referee should have seen the incident. I jumped up, went over to the guy, and he took a dive. I stood over him and told him 'Don't be doing that stuff'." The referee, Trevor Funnell, considered that Cunningham's action warranted a dismissal - only the third in his career spanning over 30 years. Solent won the game, in part thanks to an improved performance by Nick O'Harabe, who had so far in the season not reached expectations. Marlin Capers was fouled out in the last minute, but had done enough in his contribution to Solent's 96 - 85 (O'Harabe 21, Capers 21) win. The victory confirmed Solent as third placed in the league.
Mark Scott
A visit to Manchester Magic was the final league game for Solent Stars. Once again a depleted squad took to the road. The game swung Manchester's way when Sergio Lara Berchal hit eight consecutive points in the third quarter to open up a 55 - 63 lead. Earlier John Bynum had sat out a good part of the first half after picking up a technical foul - to take him to three fouls in the game - for backchat to the referee. In the final minute, Bynum's three pointer took Solent to 85 - 88 and a free throw point from Marlin Capers cut the difference to just one shot. But a Steve Davison foul with nine seconds remaining allowed Manchester to sew up the game 86 - 90 (Capers 31, Bynum 24). This set up Solent to meet Worthing Thunder in the home and away legs of the league championship quarter-final.
The away leg of the quarter-final was described as 'edge of the seats' fare. The lead changed hands fifteen times and Solent were in foul trouble throughout the second half - finishing with four players on four fouls. Sean Hampton posted his 1,000th point of the season as Solent allowed him too much leeway at times. Nick O'Harabe once again had a commanding game and with veteran Alan Cunningham playing the whole game, Solent were able to accommodate the injury to Marlin Capers just before halftime when he twisted his knee. In the end just two points separated the teams as Solent went down 96 - 98 (Bynum 32).
With a place in the Final Four tournament at the Coventry Skydome at stake, Solent came roaring out of the starting block in the return leg against Worthing Thunder the following Saturday. Alan Cunningham led the charge with an early three pointer and a controlled team performance saw Solent into a first quarter lead, 28 - 12. A disjointed start to the second quarter gave Worthing a faint hope, but three pointers from Trevor Donaldson, Steve Davison and Alan McDonald helped Solent to their most commanding first half lead of 50 - 28 with just two minutes remaining. Nick O'Harabe stole the scoring honours in the third quarter, which included a three pointer a dunk and a free throw, as Solent denied Worthing a chance to get back into the game. Solent ran out winners on the night 99 - 79 (Cunningham 32, O'Harabe 20) to win 195 - 177 on aggregate.
Before the Finals weekend, Solent visited the Isle of Wight to stage a demonstration game before taking part in a Mayor's Charity Gala game at Fleming Park. The two teams were a pick of Solent Veterans v the present team (without Alan Cunningham). Two last second free throws by John Bynum gave an unusual result, a 117 - 117 tie! John Bynum received the Player of the Year Award, with Alan Cunningham as runner-up. Bynum also was the recipient of the Players' Player of the Year trophy.
The semi-final at the Skydome pitted Solent Stars against Plymouth Raiders. Cruelly, Nick O'Harabe had damaged a cartilage at a final training session before the weekend and could take no part. Solent once again roared into an early 25 - 10 lead at the end of the first quarter, thanks to an outstanding display from Alan Cunningham. Although - as in earlier games against Plymouth - Solent saw their lead cancelled out in the third quarter, Stars never let Plymouth get ahead of them and the match winning trio of John Bynum, Marlin Capers and Cunningham scored 29 points in the final quarter to record a 109 - 89 (Cunningham 30, Bynum 27, Capers 24) convincing win. The result set up a repeat of the final of two years previously against Teesside Mohawks.
With only eight fit players for the final, coach Mark Scott called on Jon Rumsey, who had signed earlier in the season, to join the team for the final. It was the current league, cup and championship squad from Teesside who dictated the early phases of the game and Solent faced a 14 - 37 deficit in the second quarter. With Marlin Capers playing like a man possessed, Solent clawed their way back into the game and by halftime the difference was just ten points (49 - 59). An anxious error-strewn third quarter saw Solent trim another seven points off the lead (70 - 73) to set up an amazing final quarter that saw fortunes wildly fluctuate one way and then the other. John Bynum - with two dunks - finally put Solent ahead for the first time, but an 89 - 86 lead soon turned to a 91 - 96 deficit with time running out. Hope was restored as Alan Cunningham scored a three pointer and then gave the pass to Bynum who skipped through the Teesside defence to level the scores (96 - 96) on the final buzzer. Solent went ahead three times in the last ninety seconds of overtime only for Teesside to draw back level each time. With seven seconds to go, Bynum received the ball from an out-of-bounds situation. Once again he eluded the Teesside defence and soared high to finish the season with a spectacular dunk. Unfortunately the ball rebounded off the ring, high into the air, to take the game into a second overtime period (109 - 109). Teesside gained an early lead in the second overtime period and when Bynum, Capers and Steve Davison all fouled out, Solent had little left to offer as they fell to a 117 - 127 (Bynum 35, Capers 35, Cunningham 29) defeat.| 2001/02 (NBL Conference) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Teesside Mohawks | 18 | 17 | 1 | 1920 | 1564 | +356 | 34 |
| 2 | Plymouth Raiders | 18 | 14 | 4 | 1680 | 1561 | +119 | 28 |
| 3 | Solent Stars | 18 | 11 | 7 | 1695 | 1583 | +112 | 22 |
| 4 | Kingston Wildcats | 18 | 10 | 8 | 1464 | 1542 | -78 | 20 |
| 5 | Manchester Magic | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1637 | 1548 | +89 | 18 |
| 6 | Worthing Thunder | 18 | 9 | 9 | 1718 | 1680 | +38 | 18 |
| 7 | Reading Rockets | 18 | 7 | 11 | 1603 | 1590 | +13 | 14 |
| 8 | InterBasket London | 18 | 5 | 13 | 1352 | 1592 | -240 | 10 |
| 9 | Coventry Crusaders | 18 | 4 | 14 | 1483 | 1584 | -101 | 8 |
| 10 | Sutton Pumas | 18 | 4 | 14 | 1465 | 1773 | -308 | 8 |
Labels: 2001/02
Solent Stars 2000/01 Season
With the retirement of existing coach, Alan Cunningham, and senior players Colin Irish and Panji Grainger, Solent Stars had the heart ripped out of their successful team of the past two seasons. The newly appointed coach, Mark Scott, was untested at this level of coaching and would need to recruit several new players.
For the first pre-season friendly, against Oxford Devils, Mark Scott had a mix of experience and newcomers. It was the experienced players that served him well early on in the game with Mike Griffiths scoring ten of Solent's first twelve points. However, once the newcomers were given a chance on court, the experienced Oxford team - a league below, but three years together as a squad - took over the game. Solent's 72 - 121 defeat demonstrated to Scott the enormity of his task.
Mark Scott
A second pre-season game gave Solent a first victory, over Reading Rockets (85 - 75). For this game Solent had a guest American triallist, John Randazzo. He scored 42 points in the game, but subsequently was snapped up by a French team. Other members of the squad on that occasion were Mike Griffiths, Mark Scott, Ben Peacock, and Chris Blunt, all of whom had played in the previous season. Newcomers for the game were Chris St. Omer (a local player), Joe Charles (from Bournemouth Blitz) and Nosa Obadigie (Solent Juniors). After a two year break from the game, Jon Rumsey also returned to the court for Solent Stars.
For the first home league game of the season, coach Mark Scott was without two key players - Chris Harper, who had flown to America to see his sick mother, and Mike Griffiths, who had injured his ankle in the Reading match. However, they were able to welcome back Toby Tripalin. Last minute negotiations by club owner, Bob Paulley, persuaded Alan Cunningham to help the club out for this opening fixture of the Conference League. The title for the new league had been proposed by Jim Rumsey as the result of an appeal by the national body who were told that their proposed titles - The Elite League or Superleague - could not be used. Only eight teams were in the league as a result of a tightening of standards and quality to make the Conference League a showcase for England Basketball. Teams would meet three times in the season.
Joe Charles
Sutton Pumas were the first visitors to Fleming Park in the first match where the games would be played in four ten minute quarters, with two minutes between the first/second and third/fourth quarters and just one timeout per quarter allowed, except for the final quarter when two could be used. Solent were shell-shocked at the end of the first quarter when they found themselves trailing 15 - 30. Enter Cunningham and Scott to help Solent win all the remaining three quarters, but still fall short at the end despite Jon Rumsey's three pointer on the buzzer. Solent's defeat (97 - 100) was in a game that they never led (Scott 24, Cunningham 23, Tripalin 21).
Recognising that 46-year-old Alan Cunningham could not be seen as Solent's big man throughout the season, Solent Stars were able to sign 6' 6" Chris Sheldrick who had just returned from a four year spell in America. Sheldrick had learned his basketball in the Solent Stars Junior programme prior to leaving for America. Coach Mark Scott also announced that Paul Philp would be brought on board to help out with training and, when possible, match coaching.
The opening game in the National Trophy took Solent to play at Cardiff Clippers. Once again, the team was plagued by injuries. Mike Griffiths was still unfit and Chris Harper - returning for this game - was carrying a niggling knee injury. When Mark Scott limped out of the game early on with a torn tendon, Solent were really up against it. Alex Byrne turned the ball over twice to gift Cardiff four early points and, after that, Solent were always chasing the game. Only able to score one three pointer through Jon Rumsey at the end of the game - against the eleven successful threes by Cardiff - Solent fell away to a 78 - 88 loss (Rumsey 20).
Eddie Owusu
A league visit to the current league champions, Teesside Mohawks, followed. Solent were once again beset by injuries with Mike Griffiths and Chris Harper both unavailable through injury. With Chris Blunt and Alex Byrne conceding too many turnovers to the vastly more experienced home players, Solent were never in the hunt. Jon Rumsey, one of only seven players to make the trip north, sat out the first quarter, having received a knock two days before in a scrimmage match against Brighton Cougars. His introduction helped Solent score a few more points, but with Mark Scott also hampered by injury, it was a process of damage limitation that Solent undertook. The final score, 73 - 110 (Scott 20, Rumsey 20) reflected the superiority of the home team just a few months after they had dashed Solent's hopes at Wembley.
Before the next game, a home National Trophy pool fixture against Plymouth Raiders, Solent re-signed Eddie Owusu from near neighbours Worthing Thunder. With Mike Griffiths available, Solent were pleased also to welcome the return of Chris Harper. However, despite initial promise when Solent led 22 - 16 in the first quarter, it was Plymouth who set the pace eventually. A second defeat in the National Trophy for Solent, 68 - 91 (Tripalin 22, Harper 21) meant that qualification was going to be difficult.
An even more daunting task faced Solent the next day when they had to travel to the Aston Villa Leisure centre to play Basketball League's Birmingham Bullets in the National Cup. In the competition on the strength of the previous season's results, the present Solent squad was always going to be struggling. This proved to be the case as Birmingham rode all over the visitors to record a 61 - 109 victory.
Chris St Omer
A return to home National Trophy action followed. Solent had to beat Cardiff Clippers by at least eleven points to stand a chance of qualification from the pool, as runners up. Until the disastrous final quarter, Solent were well on their way to achieving their goal. From a position of 65 - 48 authority they completely lost their way. Coach Mark Scott blamed himself. He sat out the entire third quarter and only rejoined the action when Solent were sinking fast in the final quarter. By the time he reappeared Solent led by just four points (75 - 71) and he was unable to pick up the scoring rate he had achieved in the first half. In the end, Solent won their first game of the season, but by only six points, 78 - 72 (Tripalin 26).
Yet another signing for Solent took place before the next game. Chris Harper had recommended Welshman Gareth Keene, a 6' 8" centre from his previous club in Cardiff. Keane made his debut in Solent's home game against Worthing Thunder. Also playing in the game was Paul Mundy-Castle who had transferred to Worthing over the summer. In this season of injuries, Solent were without American Toby Tripalin who had turned an ankle. A high-scoring first quarter saw Solent trailing 21 - 36. A better second quarter saw them reduce the deficit at halftime to just ten points. However, in the end Solent had no answer to Mundy-Castle (42 points) who was ably supported by Worthing's American Vandale Thomas who also scored 42 points. Solent lost yet another league fixture, 85 - 120 (Harper 21, Owusu 21) with only Eddie Owusu's performance giving them some hope for the future.
Dave McKay
Solent's National Trophy interests ended with a 65 - 88 away defeat at the hands of Plymouth Raiders. For Solent, two encouraging performances were put in by Junior players, Dave McKay and Alan McDonald. Gareth Keene took some important rebounds and added eleven points to the Solent total, but the senior players put in disappointing performances.
Fixture vagaries meant that Solent had five weeks without a league fixture and so arranged an exhibition game against USAF Lakenheath, an American air force team that had a good pedigree in European American base competitions. It gave Dave McKay a chance to further demonstrate that he was ready to step up from the Solent Juniors. McKay top-scored with eighteen points for Solent in their 81 - 79 win.
Next up at Fleming Park were current league leaders, Plymouth Raiders. Form did not favour the home team who had lost by 23 points both home and away to Plymouth in cup competition. Mark Scott used the game to further blood his younger players and he was not let down by Clayton Milner, Dave McKay and Alan McDonald, especially in the early part of the game when Solent matched Plymouth basket for basket. Gareth Keene continued to improve and man-of-the match Chris Harper helped Solent be competitive right until the final quarter. Solent's eventual defeat, 86 - 97 (Harper 31) was no disgrace against the table-topping team.
Chris Sheldrick
An incident unrelated to basketball involving Eddie Owusu meant that Solent would have to do without him for the rest of the season, which was yet another blow to rookie coach, Mark Scott. Owusu was just one of the experienced players missing when Solent travelled to Coventry Crusaders. Despite some fine individual touches at times by Chris Harper, Toby Tripalin and Gareth Keene, Solent could not prevent themselves from yet another defeat 71 - 86 (Tripalin 27).
Desperate to plug the gap left by Owusu, Solent Stars swooped to sign Duane Laight from Thames Valley Tigers. A Southampton lad, Laight had been in America on a scholarship prior to returning and joining the Tigers. His first game was a home fixture against fellow strugglers in the Conference League, InterBasket London. It was to be no dream debut as - although he scored 18 points - Laight could not prevent the home team from going down 81 - 87 (Tripalin 24, Harper 24) after a poor third period.
The final game of the year was at Sutton Pumas. Still the only team in the league without a league win, Solent Stars never suggested that they were about to cash in that record as they struggled to make any impression. Ten points behind after three dreadful minutes, Solent never really recovered as the team was given the run-around. Chris Harper only arrived as the match was getting underway, and the wrong turning he took on the way to Sutton mirrored the blind alleys Solent drove down all too often. Solent lost 77 - 102 (Tripalin 27).
Alex Byrne
A visit to high-riding Manchester Magic at the Manchester Velodrome was not what Solent wanted next. However, they got off to a flying 7 - 0 start with points from Toby Tripalin and Mark Scott. When, in the second period, shots started to miss, the Solent heads went down and the Manchester team that had won by 30 points on the previous evening gained in confidence. Soon Solent were trailing by 30 points of their own (40 - 70) and could not do anything about it as they sank 65 - 100 (Harper 26).
With average home attendances now 200-300 compared with the 800 plus regular turnout for the previous successful seasons, Solent were in need of success. An abortive attempt was made to sign a third American player, Dwayne Lewis, a friend of Toby Tripalin. This player could rotate with Tripalin and Chris Harper, who had a niggling knee injury that was hampering him. However, the authorities would not sanction a work permit for Lewis since he had not been playing in a bona-fide competition in America that would be able to supply suitable statistics. They were more fortunate with another import, Frenchman Dimitry LaCroix, who had come to work in the area.
LaCroix made his debut in Solent's home fixture against Worthing Thunder. Although his appearance was restricted to one minute, he did manage to score as well as pick up a foul! The fact that Worthing's top four scorers all scored more than the Solent main scorer, Toby Tripalin, indicates the gulf that existed in the game between the teams. Solent's loss to the second placed league table team was 86 - 120 (Tripalin 21).
Toby Tripalin
Only two weeks after returning from a 35 point hammering at Manchester the Solent team was in opposition to Manchester again at Fleming Park. One difference, however, this time was Solent's inclusion of Alan Cunningham. The ex-coach and club co-owner had been persuaded to play once again. Ahead throughout most of the match, Solent were eleven points clear approaching the end of the third quarter. That was the biggest lead they had enjoyed all season - yet somehow they managed to give this up in barely a couple of minutes. Even so, they were in there fighting and with Cunningham limping with a badly bruised ankle and Scott having to go to hospital to have stitches after a clash of heads, no one could doubt their commitment. Solent eventually lost 103 - 109 (Harper 24, Tripalin 22).
Still without a win halfway through the season, a visit of the current league leaders did not present Solent with the easiest of ways to relieve the gloom. The teams had already met three times in cup and league fixtures with Plymouth Raiders winning them all and having a 57-point aggregate advantage also. But bottom-of-the-league Solent nearly supplied the surprise of the season when they went into a fifteen-point halftime lead. However, an all-too-familiar second half saw Solent only manage 16 points in the third quarter and 11 in the final one. This was not enough to protect their earlier hard won lead and they lost 74 - 84 (Harper 24, Tripalin 22).
Chris Harper
Just before the final signing deadline, Solent swooped for Trevor Donaldson, a forward who had played with Southampton Trailblazers, and local player 6' 4" Mike Bryan, a left-hander, who had played for Portsmouth Pirates.
Both new players made their debut in the next home game, against Coventry Crusaders, who were fourth in the league. With Chris Harper and Toby Tripalin in fine shooting form, Solent opened up an early advantage to take a 28 - 17 lead at the end of the first quarter. By restricting the visitors to just six points in the second quarter Solent found themselves, as in the last game, comfortably ahead (47 - 23) at halftime. This time there was to be no easing off, and despite a late rally by the visitors, Solent won their first game of the season 85 - 72 (Tripalin 26). One outcome from the result was that coach Mark Scott could now have a haircut, having earlier vowed not to cut his hair until the first victory!
A visit from fellow strugglers InterBasket, London followed. Solent's confidence was high and new boy Trevor Donaldson's in particular. Donaldson fired in five three pointers in the game to complement the shooting of Chris Harper. The effect was to give Solent a good lead early on. This, however, they squandered and with two minutes remaining the scores were tied at 78 all. Mark Scott then fired in a three pointer, Harper added two more but InterBasket fought back to 83 - 81 before Harper made the game safe for Solent from the free throw line. The win was 85 - 83 (Harper 31, Donaldson 21).
Mike Griffiths
The following day Solent travelled north to Manchester, without Alan Cunningham, Mark Scott or Trevor Donaldson. Chris Harper took charge of the side and he used just six of the seven Solent players for the whole game. Apart from the first quarter, when they fell 18 - 27 behind, the team performed admirably and only lost by seven points, 69 - 76 (Tripalin 29) to high-riding Manchester Magic.
Coach Mark Scott, who had missed the Manchester trip to be at the birth of his daughter Omara, was back for the home fixture against Sutton Pumas. He was joined by the other two players who had also missed the trip north. It was encouraging to see Solent's refusal to back down against some rough treatment handed out by the visitors under the basket. For the most part they handled it well apart from one moment early in the second quarter when frustration with some bizarre refereeing decisions spilled over into an on-court brawl involving Duane Laight and Sutton's Roger Lloyd. Both were duly sent off. Solent were leading 21 - 18 at the time and quickly gathered their composure with Trevor Donaldson scoring a couple of three pointers. The fans' man of the match, Dimitry LaCroix, harried Sutton into many turnovers and Toby Tripalin barely missed a shot throughout the second half to lead Solent to a 94 - 78 win (Tripalin 32).
Chris Blunt
Five of Solent's six remaining fixtures were away from home, beginning with a trip to Teesside Mohawks. Unavailability of players - not uncommon for the Teesside trip over the years - meant that Solent only had seven players at the beginning of the game. A snow blizzard had started as Solent drove the last few miles north. The same blizzard kept Chris Harper - who had been staying even further north for the night before - from arriving before halftime, by which time Solent were trailing 25 - 48. Although Solent kept battling away, the league leaders were in a mean mood and Solent lost 66 - 92 (Tripalin 25).
The third league meeting between the teams took place just one week later at Fleming Park. It was Solent's last home league game of the season in which they played each team three times. It had not gone unnoticed that in the case of both Solent's furthest flung opponents, Teesside and Manchester, the Solent team had been given two away matches. For Teesside's first visit south, Solent were anxious to avoid another 26 point drubbing. Even so, coach Mark Scott left out Chris Harper because of his late arrival at last week's game. With Alan Cunningham and Toby Tripalin both firing on all cylinders, Solent once again - as in previous home games - built up an early lead. At one point they led by as many as 18 points and although they endured a few anxious moments in the closing stages - they led by one point with four seconds remaining when Cunningham was awarded two free throws - they came through to win 106 - 103 (Cunningham 26, Tripalin 25, Scott 22) against the league leaders.
The next match was away to InterBasket, London. Solent were slow out of the blocks and trailed 14 - 24 at one point in the first quarter. Stars continued to struggle in the second quarter until a Chris Harper three pointer started a run of twelve unanswered points for Solent to take them to a 32 - 31 lead. InterBasket stretched away again in the third quarter to lead 44 - 57, but Solent then outscored them 15 - 2 to level at 59 all. The game was nip and tuck after that and both teams ran into foul trouble as the clock wound down. Chris Harper missed two free throws with little time left and the score standing at 83 - 81. Alan Cunningham collected the rebound from the second shot and was immediately fouled. He stepped up to the free throw line to sink both shots and give Solent a 85 - 81 win (Cunningham 24, Harper 22, Scott 21). This first away win moved Solent off the bottom place in the league.
A friendly against USAF Lakenheath Eagles allowed coach Mark Scott to give court time to some of the bench players. Trevor Donaldson benefited from this and scored 30 points in Solent's 96 - 87 point win.
Duane Laight
Solent's next away game was at league leaders Plymouth Raiders in front of a sell-out 1,400 crowd. Solent were not overawed as they raced to a 9 - 0 opening lead. It took Plymouth four minutes to score from open play, by which time they trailed 15 - 1 to Solent. Gradually, Plymouth's twin American threats, Terrence Durham and Todd Cetnar pulled the home side back into the game. Chris Harper's scoring dried up at the beginning of the second half but Toby Tripalin, Duane Laight and Trevor Donaldson filled the bill to keep Solent in the game. Plymouth could not ease up even when they took the lead. Cunningham's absence was noted as Solent went down 85 - 100 (Harper 21).
An ill-tempered away game at Coventry Crusaders followed. Alan Cunningham was in the centre of the action again when he was called for a technical foul early on for disputing a call. It was soon Coventry's turn to incur the wrath of the officials as they too were charged with a technical foul. Having trailed by 16 points at one stage, Solent fought back to trail by just six points with two minutes remaining. Unfortunately, foul trouble caught up with Solent as Toby Tripalin bowed out, followed by Cunningham and Trevor Donaldson. Solent had nothing left in the tank and lost 105 - 113 (Harper 28, Scott 22, Tripalin 22).
Alan Cunningham
Just one match remained in the league, with Solent once again occupying the foot of the table position. The opponents were Worthing Thunder who had confirmed their second place in the final league table with a win the previous evening. Also, the two previous meetings between the teams had ended with 35 and 34 point wins for the Worthing team. A win was a necessity for Solent if they were to leave Sutton Pumas as wooden spoonists rather than themselves. To cap it all, the match was to be played at the Worthing venue. Worthing very quickly moved ahead in this game also as Solent found themselves under pressure with player/coach Mark Scott reaching three fouls in the first eight minutes. A successful shot from the halfway line by Toby Tripalin right on the first quarter buzzer brought Solent to 22 - 24. Another three pointer at the start of the second quarter saw Solent take the lead for the first time. When Alan Cunningham immediately added another three pointer, Solent's confidence rose as they went on to lead 47 - 39 at halftime. A 19-point streak in the third quarter for Solent started by Chris Sheldrick sealed the game despite a late rally by Worthing. Solent had risen to seventh in the table and rued the fact that just one more win in the season could have taken them to fifth position. Toby Tripalin's 34 points was the highest score by a Solent player in the season, whilst Solent's win 111 - 96 (Tripalin 34, Harper 22) posted their highest score also.
Exactly one week later Solent were back at Worthing Thunder for the one-off quarter-final game in the Championship Play-Offs. Solent were blown apart by a devastating first quarter that saw them trail 18 - 35. Worthing at one stage led by 28 points in a game which Mark Scott described as falling victim to "diabolical refereeing" as two Solent players fouled out whilst two others suffered physical injuries that went unpunished. Toby Tripalin was playing with an injured ankle and was unable to reproduce the form of the previous week as Solent went down 96 - 115 (Tripalin 22).
Jon Rumsey
Having had no home game since the beginning of March a couple of games were arranged at the end of the season The first was for the Mayor of Eastleigh's charity and consisted of Solent and other players who made up two teams, one coached by Paul Philp, the other by Colin Irish. At the end of the game, the season's awards were given out. Toby Tripalin won both Player of the Year and Players' Player trophies, with Chris Harper taking the Runner up Player of the Year award.
The final game of the season was against the victors of Division One, Oxford Devils. Oxford had beaten Solent convincingly at the beginning of the season and coach Mark Scott was hoping that the return game would give some evidence of Solent's progress in the season. In the end he was disappointed as a lacklustre Solent performance saw them lose by an almost identical score, 86 - 116 (Tripalin 31, Cunningham 23).
Solent point scorers:
Toby Tripalin 536, Chris Harper 473, Mark Scott 329, Alan Cunningham 172, Duane Laight 118, Trevor Donaldson 110, Chris St. Omer 106, Jon Rumsey 71, Chris Sheldrick 71, Eddie Owusu 59, Gareth Keene 38, Chris Blunt 32, Nosa Obadigie 23, Dimitry LaCroix 15, Alex Byrne 13, Mike Griffiths 12, Dave McKay 9, Joe Charles 7, Rob McDonald 5
| 2000/01 (NBL Conference) | Played | Won | Lost | Points | |
| 1 | Plymouth Raiders | 21 | 19 | 2 | 38 |
| 2 | Worthing Thunder | 21 | 16 | 5 | 32 |
| 3 | Teesside Mohawks | 21 | 15 | 6 | 30 |
| 4 | Manchester Magic | 21 | 9 | 12 | 16 |
| 5 | Coventry Crusaders | 21 | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| 6 | InterBasket London | 21 | 7 | 14 | 13* |
| 7 | Solent Stars | 21 | 6 | 15 | 12 |
| 8 | Sutton Pumas | 21 | 5 | 16 | 10 |
* One point deducted
Labels: 2000/01
Solent Stars 1999/2000 Season
Solent's pre-season preparation to defend their league title - something that had only been done successfully by two teams in the past - were not as successful as coach Alan Cunningham would have wished. Only one pre-season game was played and this team consisted solely of young players trying out for the team. The trip to play Thames Valley B, although resulting in victory, did not sort out the lack of senior players available to Solent. Paul Mundy-Castle had left the club - a not unusual occurrence with players who won the Player of the Year award - as had Masai Ujiri. Colin Irish and Mark Scott had been unavailable for the pre-season game. Cunningham himself had had a knee operation over the summer but managed to stay on court for the whole of the pre-season game.
For the first away league game, at Coventry Crusaders, Colin Irish and Mark Scott were still not on call. Eddie Owusu signed in the week of the game, as did an ex-Solent Stars regular Mike Griffiths. They were joined by new signing Chris Blunt, a student at Southampton University, and Sasha Singaravaloo and Alan McDonald from the Junior ranks. Solent could only muster five senior players for the game and filled the bench with inexperienced players. Coventry, on the other hand, had played six pre-season games and had the look of a determined side. They quickly led with a series of three pointers, but were reined in when Cunningham replied in kind. Indeed, thanks to him and Panji Grainger, Solent held an unlikely 21 - 20 lead midway through the first half. By halftime Solent trailed 42 - 46 and were still in with a shout, but once the senior players tired there was little to counter the constant Coventry attacks. Eventually Solent lost their opening game 78 - 89 (Cunningham 28, Grainger 21).
Chris Blunt
Solent recruited heavily in the following week, starting with the arrival of American Toby Tripalin from Ohio. The 27-year-old 6' 4" forward came from Marycrest University, Iowa. He was joined in the squad by two local players, Sean Cameron and Kelvin Knight, a guard from the Worthing area.
Solent's first home opponents were another well-organised side, Plymouth Raiders. Inside the final quarter of the game, Solent were trailing by a huge margin, 45 - 74, as they tried to find a rhythm, with the players demonstrating a lack of practice together. Solent gradually got their act together and the final margin of 12 points (70 - 82) gave Alan Cunningham some cause for optimism. He had scored 21 points in the game.
Prior to the next match, Alan Cunningham was severely shaken in a car accident on the M27 and missed the practice sessions. However, he was present for the away game to Oxford Devils. Oxford led early on (9 - 17) before the Solent team began to hit the target and also prevent Oxford from firing off unguarded shots. A rare three pointer from Panji Grainger levelled the scores at 23 all. Trailing 40 - 43 at halftime, Solent hit back with eight unanswered points, six from Tripalin. They then stayed ahead for the whole of the second half to finally win 84 - 80 (Grainger 22) thanks in part to a good second half scoring display from Eddie Owusu.
Because Solent Stars had finished in the top three teams of the National League Division One they were automatically entered in two Basketball League competitions, the National Cup and the UniBall Trophy. Solent's first round National Cup opponents at Fleming Park were London Leopards. With far more Americans at their disposal, London Leopards were obviously going to be a force to be reckoned with. Solent plunged into the transfer market and signed 37-year-old Chris Harper from Cardiff Phoenix prior to the game and also welcomed back Colin Irish. Irish plundered 34 points in the game, but Solent were never going to be able to contain their illustrious opponents. The final score was 88 - 110 (Irish 34, Cunningham 20).
Another cup game followed at Fleming Park, this time a National Trophy game against second division side North London Lords. Alan Cunningham was ruled out through injury and Solent made heavy weather of the first half, leading only 44 - 43 at the interval. Whatever coach Cunningham said at halftime had the desired effect as Solent imposed themselves totally in the second half - denying London any points in the first five minutes - to win the game 95 - 75 (Irish 26, Grainger 23).
Chris Harper
The following Thursday at Fleming Park, Solent entertained Derby Storm from the Basketball League in the first of the UniBall Trophy pool games. At first Derby, with their five American players, looked to be cruising along as they built up an eleven-point lead. But Derby's defence never looked secure and ten late points in the first half by Solent brought them to within one point. In the second half a virus-hit Colin Irish weighed in with some big shots before Chris Harper stole the show with a dazzling array of scoring that brought him a standing ovation from the supporters. In a breathtaking third quarter Solent rattled up 37 points to take them into a lead that a team with their experience would not surrender. This was the case and Solent Stars became the toast of the National League when they beat the team from the Basketball League 100 - 86 (Cunningham 32, Harper 29, Irish 21).
Solent's second UniBall Trophy game followed two days later with a trip to Birmingham Bullets. At first Solent held their own but they were hit by injuries to Colin Irish and Panji Grainger. They then had a disastrous period when seventeen points were conceded without reply. Eddie Owusu and Sasha Singaravaloo helped bring Solent back into the game, but eventually they went down 80 - 103 (Irish 25).
Mark Scott returned for Solent's next home fixture, a second round National Trophy tie with Sutton Pumas. His return was timely since Panji Grainger was out with back trouble. Alan Cunningham suffered both an Achilles heel injury and a chipped tooth in the game. Ten points ahead inside the final minute, Solent should have been coasting. Instead they conceded seven crazy points in almost as many seconds to find themselves only one shot ahead at 93 - 90. Colin Irish was then fouled and his two points from the free throw line steadied Solent and helped them to an eventual 97 - 93 win (Irish 34).
A second home defeat at the hands of London Leopards followed. Alan Cunningham was unable to start the game, troubled with his Achilles injury. Colin Irish and Chris Harper shot well early on to keep Solent in the game. When the Leopards coach was called for a technical foul, Irish's shots put Solent ahead midway through the first half. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Solent as they began to slip behind before bowing out to a 76 - 98 defeat (Irish 24, Harper 20).
The quarter-final home tie in the National Trophy was Solent's next game against Coventry Crusaders. All looked lost for the Solent team when the electronic scoreboard informed them that they had only four minutes left to make up a nine-point deficit. It wasn't the nine points that could prove the problem, it was stopping the Coventry team from scoring. The first inroad into the Coventry lead was made when Chris Harper scored one shot from the free throw line to take the score to 72 - 80. Alan Cunningham was then fouled in an 'unsportsmanlike' way giving Solent two shots and possession of the ball. Twenty seconds later, Colin Irish scored a big three pointer (77 - 80). Meanwhile Solent were successfully stopping Coventry shots and also gaining rebounds. Further baskets from Harper and Cunningham saw Solent edge ahead 81 - 80. Both teams then missed shots before Harper was fouled and scored one from two from the free throw line. Coventry needed a three pointer to win or two points to go to overtime. In the event, they went for the two and Derrick Pope was overjoyed to hit the target. His joy turned to grief, however, when the referees and table officials agreed that the shot had been taken fractionally after the sounding of the buzzer that ended the game. Solent were through to the semi-final, 82 - 80 (Irish 33).
The next game was a mid-week UniBall fixture at Derby Storm. Solent, with no full time players were always going to find it difficult to find players able to travel to Derby for a Wednesday evening fixture. To add to their problems, Alan Cunningham and Colin Irish were coaching at schools in Manchester during the week and Chris Harper was declared unfit with a knee injury. Solent only had six players at the tip-off time. Cunningham and Irish arrived just on 8pm after a mad dash from Manchester and the home team refused to put back the start time to allow them to be ready for the start. Solent's young team had no answer to the early succession of three point shots that rained down on them, and after a short time they trailed 21 - 40. The arrival of the experienced Solent players helped steady the ship, but Solent eventually lost 87 - 117.
The players are introduced to the Fleming Park crowd
The two final away games for Solent in the UniBall Trophy took place over the following weekend. On Saturday the team travelled to high-riding Birmingham Bullets. Chris Harper had recovered for this game and gave a good account of himself. However, the scoring honours were taken by Colin Irish with a haul of 48 points. Almost single-handedly in the scoring department he had kept Solent in touch with Birmingham throughout the game, although it was four consecutive three pointers by Yorrick Williams that gave Birmingham the safety cushion they needed for the second half. Solent's defeat, 98 - 106 (Irish 48, Harper 21) was a creditable performance.
A day later, Solent were in Brentwood, Essex meeting London Leopards. In an ill-tempered encounter Solent's hopes were dashed when coach Alan Cunningham was disqualified for a second technical foul, called for disputing an official's call. Although this match was part of the experiment when three referees were used, it was American official Steve Gottlieb who was the main protagonist. Already in two previous UniBall matches, Solent had complained of Gottleib's 'arrogance' in the official match referees report forms and it seemed that the official was going to have the last word! Cunningham's disqualification came just before halftime. Mark Scott gave a strong performance but could not prevent the team losing 67 - 115. Scott then shocked his colleagues by announcing his retirement.
After eight weeks of cup competitions, Solent could return to league action with a home match against Westminster Warriors. Coach Cunningham reckoned that, "The team has suffered a lot because of our UniBall involvement, not only in terms of injuries and tiredness but we have also fallen behind in our league programme." He himself was banned for the game as an automatic outcome of the London Leopards match. Cunningham had appealed against the original decision but, bizarrely, the appeal would not be heard until after the next game! Because Solent were now six matches behind most clubs, they were second from bottom in the league. Their opponents, Westminster, were at the foot of the table. Alan Cunningham was forced to watch the game from the balcony - because of his ban - and he was joined there by the visiting coach, Steve Alexander, who himself was serving out a one game ban! Solent, through Panji Grainger and Chris Harper, soon imposed themselves on the game and Solent built up an early lead. With Solent leading 71 - 63 at the end of the third quarter, the referees intervened to ask Alison Phillips, the stand-in Warriors coach, to remove an earpiece through which, it appeared, she was receiving instructions from Alexander on the Fleming Park balcony! Solent went on to record a win, 101 - 89 (Grainger 27).
Toby Tripalin
The semi-final draw for the National Trophy took Solent to the Teesside Mohawks' arena in Middlesbrough. Anxious to avenge their earlier home defeat, Solent looked as if they had overreached themselves as they trudged off trailing at the interval 35 - 45. However, a spirited second half started by Tripalin's three pointer and Panji Grainger's inside shooting trimmed the lead to 46 - 49. Stars even chiselled out an eight-point lead before missed shots and turnovers whilst trying to run down the clock allowed Teesside off the hook. At full time the scores were level at 79 all. Chris Harper starred for Solent as three pointers were exchanged at the start of the overtime period. Teesside's better shooting took them to a three point lead with 20 seconds left. Colin Irish missed a free throw, then Harper got tangled in the corner as he attempted a three point shot that fell well short. Solent were defeated 87 - 90 (Cunningham 21).
Solent's next away league game was a very ill-tempered affair against Mid-Sussex Magic. With injuries to the squad reaching crisis point, Solent took along triallist Chris St. Omer to make up the legal minimum required for bench purposes. Magic's JR Alexander received his fifth foul in the last minute but was the cause of further confrontation after the final buzzer. This came after the game had been halted in the second half for Colin Irish to receive treatment for a cut lip in an off-the-ball incident between him and Alexander, following a long running feud between the two players. With no other option, coach Cunningham brought St. Omer onto the court for the two remaining minutes. Solent won the game 120 - 98 (Tripalin 36, Cunningham 20, Irish 20), but Mid-Sussex noted that St. Omer was not a registered player and immediately lodged a protest to the national association.
The Solent Stars club was honoured in the following week when it picked up the BBC South Sports Male Team of the Year award at a broadcast ceremony from the De Vere Hotel in Southampton.
For Solent's next home game, against Islington White Heat, Alan Cunningham was ruled out with 'flu. Mark Scott was a spectator at the game as was Mike Griffiths, who was missing his third game through injury. To add to the team's woes, Chris Harper came off court with the score at 70 all and seven minutes remaining and refused to take any more part in the game, maintaining that he was not satisfied with the attitude of several team members toward him. Luckily for Solent, 18-year-old Alan McDonald decided to come of age basketball-wise in the game and his free throws sparked a Solent revival that was finished off by a series of three pointers from Colin Irish. Solent won 96 - 81 (Grainger 26, Irish 25).
The final match of the calendar year was a trip to table-topping Teesside Mohawks. Teesside had won all ten of their league fixtures whilst Solent had lost two of their six played. Prior to the fixture, Chris Harper had sorted out his differences with the team and Alan Cunningham was able to welcome back Mark Scott, having managed to persuade him out of retirement. Cunningham also returned himself for the game and opened the scoring for Solent. Teesside immediately replied through a Jason Swaine three pointer. Swaine's scoring had been crucial in Teesside's three point cup win over Solent earlier in the season, but Solent were determined that there would be no repeat. Solent were finding it difficult to score themselves before a Tripalin three point attempt kick started the scoring. Colin Irish with another three pointer helped Solent along, but it was the defences that were on top in the first period. Scott retrieved the lead (14 - 13) for Solent in the eighth minute and from then on Solent were never in arrears in the game. Seven points clear approaching the last minute, Solent wrapped up the game when Teesside's Neil Hopper accumulated three penalty calls from one foul as frustration seeped into the home side. Roy Lewis promptly dispatched the free throws before sprinting clear, in an eight point final minute haul. Solent had ended Teesside's unbeaten run with a win, 80 - 66 (Irish 21).
Chris St Omer
Panji Grainger was still on holiday in Zambia when Solent travelled to Cardiff Clippers in early January. However, they were able to welcome back Mike Griffiths whose height and experience came in handy. Solent led almost throughout the whole game and turned a modest 50 - 42 halftime lead into a commanding 110 - 80 final margin (Irish 24, Harper 23, Cunningham 22).
Coventry Crusaders were the next visitors to Fleming Park. With no Mark Scott ('flu) it came as a blow when Alan Cunningham pulled a hamstring after just 23 seconds. With only Panji Grainger under the boards, Solent could have been in trouble from the big Coventry squad. A close game ensued with Solent usually having the upper hand until a series of Coventry three pointers hit the target towards the end of the game. Solent found themselves trailing 80 - 81 as Grainger bundled his way through to give Solent two more points. The large crowd was very noisy, no more so than when Coventry's leading scorer, Matt Donaldson, approached the free throw line with 30 seconds remaining after a foul by Alan Cunningham. Cunningham had, amazingly, brought himself back on - despite his hamstring injury which made movement difficult - to help Grainger with the defensive rebounds. Donaldson, possibly unnerved by the noise, missed one of his throws. It was left to a last dart through the surprised Coventry defence by Chris Harper to seal another famous victory for Solent, 84 - 82 (Harper 26, Irish 25).
Plymouth Raiders were Solent's next opponents. In front of a packed 1,300 supporters at the Pavilions, Plymouth, Solent had difficulty staying with the home team as they scored freely at the beginning of the game. Alan Cunningham decided not to use himself at the start of the game because he was still suffering from the hamstring injury. Instead Panji Grainger played a full part in finally stemming the run of Plymouth points and by halftime Solent trailed only 38 - 44. Grainger scored Solent's opening six points of the second half and Chris Harper then got into the act with eight points of his own. Finally, Cunningham announced his arrival on court with a long three pointer amid a Solent spell where they scored eleven unanswered points to go 77 - 67 up. Eventually, thanks to a last gasp three pointer from Plymouth the margin of their defeat was exactly the same as that of Solent's when Plymouth had been the visitors - twelve points. Solent came away with a 91 - 79 victory (Harper 27, Irish 26).
Solent's next visitors, Oxford Devils, provided a stern test for a Solent team that, on the night, just could not get any fluency in their play. Coach Alan Cunningham was forced, once again, to come into the game in the second half when he would have preferred to rest his injured leg. His presence helped Solent to an 83 - 76 win.
Alan Cunningham
A similar performance followed when Solent visited Taunton Tigers at Millfield School. The team looked disjointed throughout and it wasn't until Chris Harper began demanding the ball in the second half that Solent were able to breathe more easily. Coach Alan Cunningham at least was able to rest his injured leg as he was not required in the game that Solent won 87 - 76 (Irish 27, Harper 20).
Sutton Pumas provided the next action at Fleming Park, including a post match incident that took the news headlines. The game was a close, bruising affair with many fouls called including several off the ball incidents. Sutton had built a 42 - 46 halftime lead in a game where the first half lead had changed hands ten times. Solent then turned the ball over three times in the opening minutes of the second half, prompting an early timeout. Stars responded with their best spell of the match to edge 70 - 69 ahead. It was nip and tuck from there on with important Solent baskets from Mark Scott. Sutton clawed back to 85 - 83 in the 19th minute, but Solent held on to win 88 - 83 (Harper 21, Irish 21). The match headlines came as Sutton's Roger Lloyd kicked through a reinforced glass panel in the corridor outside the visitor's changing room. Lloyd had run on to the court at the end of the game to remonstrate with referee Andrew Carey and only prompt action by Colin Irish, amongst others, prevented the situation from getting out of hand.
A barrage of outside shooting from Birmingham Bullets B made it tough going for Solent Stars at the National Exhibition Centre. The home team sank nine three point shots against just one from Colin Irish and were 26 - 34 ahead by the 16th minute. But Stars, aided by two technical fouls called on Birmingham, rallied to lead 44 - 40 early in the second half. By restricting the home team to just eight points in the last twelve minutes, Solent were able to win comfortably, 75 - 62 (Irish 21).
The next afternoon Solent were back on court at Fleming Park for the return match with Taunton Tigers. Coach Alan Cunningham did not arrive until mid-way through the first half, having mislaid his car keys. By then Solent were eleven points ahead. A Solent triumph was never in doubt once Taunton had been washed away under a torrent of Colin Irish three pointers. His sixth - and best - was unleashed when he was totally off-balance to put Solent 30 - 14 up. Taunton made later inroads, but Solent ran out eventual winners, 96 - 82 (Irish 38).
Birmingham Bullets B were the next visitors to Fleming Park. At one point pre-game it looked as if the game would not take place as Birmingham lodged a protest at the brightness of the Fleming Park TV lights that had been used for the last 19 seasons without complaint! The protest was withdrawn when Birmingham were informed that they would have to lodge a £100 fee. Solent were in no mood to show any mercy to the visitors after this inconvenience and with Alan Cunningham back in the starting five the match outcome was an inevitable 92 - 70 win (Irish 24) for Solent.
Colin Irish
An awkward away trip to Westminster Warriors was next on the cards for Solent. The visitors took charge at the start of the game, but an astonishing display of long range shooting brought Westminster right back into it. Solent led 51 - 46 at the interval. A faulty scoreboard caused disruption at the start of the second half and seemed to affect Solent more than Westminster and the home team closed to within one point (58 - 57). The scoreboard packed up completely before the end of the game, leaving players and spectators completely in the dark as to what was happening. Solent lost Cunningham with a cut lip shortly before the end, but Solent were able to come through 95 - 89 (Irish 25, Grainger 20).
A tough weekend followed for Solent with visits to Worthing and Sutton. The situation was made worse by the fact that Colin Irish had flown off to Trinidad where his father was seriously ill. Worthing, like Solent, were unbeaten in the league since October. The match was delayed for 30 minutes because of the late arrival of referee David Turner. Once the game began, Solent took the early initiative and led 19 - 12 after eight minutes. Worthing Thunder began to fight back and a spell that included three big three pointers took them into a 32 - 39 lead. The second half was one where the lead changed hands many times as the excitement mounted. A last gasp shot by Chris Harper hit the ring but the ever reliable Mike Griffiths popped up to tip the ball in and level the scores (95 all) with just four seconds remaining. The five minutes of overtime to decide the match proved too much for Solent as Panji Grainger, Alan Cunningham and Mark Scott all fouled out. Solent's 15 match unbeaten run came to an end with this 104 - 116 (Harper 42, Grainger 22) defeat. After the game Panji Grainger was taken to hospital for treatment to a back spasm.
Mark Scott
Only a few hours later and now without Grainger as well as Irish, Solent were on court again at Sutton Pumas. It spoke much for their team spirit that despite the previous evening's defeat and lack of key players, the team responded with a victory in this game. Both Tripalin and Alan McDonald showed up strongly in a first half that Solent led 39 - 38. With the score standing at 63 all and five minutes left to play, Alan Cunningham, Chris Harper and Tripalin were responsible for scoring ten unanswered points to all but win the match. In a foul-strewn final minute Eddie Owusu was disqualified for use of an elbow. Solent won 81 - 74 (Tripalin 21).
Solent had Panji Grainger back for the next home game against Mid-Sussex Magic. He managed to last until halftime before succumbing to his shoulder injury. By then Solent had suffered a barrage of successful three point shots from the visitors. Ten on target three point shots had put Mid-Sussex into a 40 - 43 lead, before Solent hit back to take a narrow halftime lead. Solent never trailed in the second half, in part because of the exceptional game played by Alan McDonald, who scored 22 second half points in Solent's 128 - 120 win (McDonald 26, Cunningham 23, Scott 21).
The next day, Solent were in Wales to play Cardiff Phoenix. Alan McDonald was promoted to the starting five after his previous evening's display. After building up a comfortable lead with his experienced squad, Alan Cunningham brought himself into the game with four of the bench players. From being well in control of events, Solent slipped to just a four point lead (87 - 83) with just 30 seconds left. In a hectic finish 12 more points were scored, with Chris Harper, Mike Griffiths and Cunningham all cashing in from the free throw line as Solent eventually won 94 - 88 (Harper 23, Scott 20).
The return match with Worthing Thunder was billed as a must-win game for Solent if they were to have any chance of holding onto their league champions status. What is more, the win would have to be by 13 points or more to overcome the 12-point defeat suffered in the earlier overtime game. An opening six points for Solent augured well, but it proved a false dawn as Worthing began to take charge of events. At one point Solent trailed by 21 points as they failed to contain 44 point Sean Hampton. A late fight back brought Solent to within eight points with just two minutes remaining. Ironically, Solent's second defeat at the hands of Worthing Thunder was by exactly the same margin that they had needed to win by - 13 points! (80 - 93).
Panji Grainger
After the frantic full-house action on the Saturday evening, Solent found themselves at the Hackney Space (sic) Centre on Sunday afternoon in front of a handful of spectators - most of whom had accompanied Solent. Islington White Heat, fifth in the league, were able to take advantage of Solent's earlier disappointment and went into a 13 - 31 lead. That signalled Alan Cunningham's introduction into the match, together with that of Colin Irish. That had the effect of turning the match around. Islington only managed one scoring shot in the last seven minutes of the first half which ended level at 33 all. Solent found it difficult to score at the start of the second half and when Panji Grainger limped off with a twisted ankle, they trailed 46 - 53. Towards the end of this close contest, a Cunningham score edged them to a 71 - 70 lead. Chris Harper then stole the ball twice to break through to the basket. On both occasions he was fouled and he calmly sank all the shots to help Solent to a 75 - 71 win.
Now having no chance of taking the league title, Solent faced the new league champions, Teesside Mohawks, at Fleming Park for their last league match of the season. Solent were below strength with Eddie Owusu (suspended), Colin Irish and Panji Grainger (injured) all missing. That did not seem to affect Solent as they raced into a 22 - 15 lead with Chris Harper plundering 12 of those points. However, by midway through the second half Solent had slipped 13 points into arrears. Alan Cunningham led the revival and his three pointer brought Solent to 78 - 82. Teesside hastily called a timeout but a Mike Griffiths basket brought Stars to within a point before a couple of long range misses by Mark Scott and a controversial foul called on Cunningham handed the advantage to the league champions as Solent went down 89 - 95 (Cunningham 26, Harper 24).
The quarter-final of the League Championship Play-Offs pitted third placed Solent Stars against sixth placed Islington White Heat. White Heat played their usual run and gun game and did not allow Solent to settle at all throughout the game. Solent established an early lead through Tripalin's three pointers and - despite the scrappy, stop-start nature of the encounter, littered with fouls (43) - were ahead throughout the match to win 92 - 84 (Irish 30).
After the game, Chris Harper picked up both the Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year awards, whilst Alan McDonald was the recipient of the Newcomer of the Year award.
Alan McDonald (left, with Chairman Bob Paulley) and Chris Harper receive their awards
The final home game at Fleming Park was an emotional one as Alan Cunningham had announced his retirement at the end of the season from playing full time basketball, whilst it also marked the end of an era as Colin Irish was also bowing out. Panji Grainger would also be leaving the area over the summer for a new job. Worthing Thunder were the fitting opponents on the night, having been one of Cunningham's main clubs with whom, as player/coach, he had won many awards. Worthing already had two comfortable league wins over Solent in the season and started as favourites. The game was close and the Worthing coach called a timeout with just six minutes remaining and his team leading 77 - 78. Whatever his intention - perhaps to remind his team that this was a two leg game with the home leg to come - he could not have foreseen that his team would only score one more point and lose the game by 18 points to a team that thrilled the home crowd with their best six minutes of basketball in the season. Solent won the first leg 97 - 79 (Cunningham 28, Irish 22, Harper 21).
Perhaps too much hung on the return leg at Worthing Leisure Centre the following week for it to be a classic game. Worthing hustled the Solent team, but it was they who suffered most in the discipline department when Paul Mundy-Castle fouled out for dissent. Previously, he had taken Worthing to 42 - 57 lead, just three points short of an aggregate win. Solent weathered that storm and although Chris Harper was having a nightmare game with his floor shooting, he proved accurate enough from the free throw line to help Solent regain the aggregate advantage. In the end Solent, despite playing poorly, only conceded the game by seven points 76 - 83 (Irish 22) to proceed to the final at Wembley against Teesside Mohawks.
Action from the Championship Play-Offs Final at Wembley
| 1999/2000 (Division 1) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Teesside Mohawks | 24 | 22 | 2 | 2259 | 1891 | +368 | 44 |
| 2 | Worthing | 24 | 21 | 3 | 2350 | 2010 | +340 | 42 |
| 3 | Solent Stars | 24 | 18 | 6 | 2061 | 1942 | +119 | 36 |
| 4 | Plymouth Raiders | 24 | 16 | 8 | 2058 | 1905 | +153 | 32 |
| 5 | Sutton Pumas | 24 | 12 | 12 | 1988 | 1922 | +66 | 24 |
| 6 | Islington | 24 | 12 | 12 | 1921 | 1910 | +11 | 24 |
| 7 | Coventry | 24 | 11 | 13 | 1828 | 1886 | -58 | 22 |
| 8 | Taunton | 24 | 9 | 15 | 1853 | 1948 | -95 | 18 |
| 9 | Birmingham Bullets | 24 | 8 | 16 | 1847 | 2025 | -178 | 16 |
| 10 | Westminster | 24 | 7 | 17 | 1797 | 1967 | -170 | 14 |
| 11 | Cardiff Clippers | 24 | 7 | 17 | 1828 | 2023 | -195 | 14 |
| 12 | Oxford Devils | 24 | 7 | 17 | 1924 | 2053 | -129 | 14 |
| 13 | Mid Sussex Magic | 24 | 6 | 18 | 2040 | 2272 | -232 | 12 |
Labels: 1999/00
Solent Stars 1998/99 Season
Standing (left to right): Derek Browning, Jason LeGoff, Masai Ujiri, Mark Scott, Bob Glanville, Ben Peacock, Neil Smith, Alan Cunningham, Joe Morant, Panji Grainger, Tom Mahood
Over the summer period, the club looked to strengthen its squad. Having already lost Jon Rumsey through injury in mid-season, another blow was dealt when Mark Scott also went down with a long-term knee injury. The other losses to the team consisted mainly of bench players, and coach Alan Cunningham and the backroom staff began the process of getting together a squad that could play in Division One of the National League.
The first signing, Roy Lewis, needed no introduction to the fans. Lewis, who already had an illustrious career with Solent behind him, came back to the club after a year with the Southampton Trailblazers. A former England international, 6' 6" Panji Grainger, moved into the area and was quickly sought by Colin Irish with whom Grainger had played at Manchester Giants. Although Grainger was a bit 'ring rusty' - having not played for a couple of seasons whilst completing his Masters degree - his experience and ability was not in question. Two further signings were James Gibbons and Tom Mahood, both students at Southampton Institute and they were joined by local youngster Neil Smith who had impressed in trial matches.
With Colin Irish, Panji Grainger and Jason LeGoff all still absent on holiday, Solent Stars made short shrift of Bournemouth Dolphins in the second annual Radio Solent Trophy game. Eight of the Solent players scored into double figures as Solent overran Bournemouth 104 - 71.
A further player bonus came Solent's way in the week preceding the opening league match, when the return of Masai Ujiri was announced. Ujiri had missed the end of the previous season when he had been snapped up by a Belgian club to help them in their end-of-season league programme. Despite several offers from European clubs, Ujiri felt that he wanted to return to the Solent fold.
Masai Ujiri
The first league game of the season was a home match against Stevenage Rebels. Stevenage had finished third in the league last season and would prove a stern test, especially as Solent were still without Colin Irish, who was away on family business. The lead changed hands several times in the first half and Solent were only one point ahead at the halftime interval. The game continued to be fast, furious and close until a spell where Alan Cunningham and Masai Ujiri were instrumental in outscoring Stevenage 24 - 5 in a searing six-minute second half spell. Solent won their first home league game 91 - 79 (Cunningham 29, Ujiri 27).
With Panji Grainger still feeling his way back into the rough and tumble of top-flight basketball and still no Colin Irish available, it was left to the charismatic Alan Cunningham to hold the team together. This was never better demonstrated than in Solent's second home league fixture, against Cardiff Phoenix. The 44-year-old player/coach had heavy strapping on a knee ligament injury when he took the court for what eventually proved a 40-minute outing. Solent trailed 34 - 46 at halftime and never looked in the game. It was not until six minutes from the end when Cunningham (2) and James Gibbons landed back-to-back three pointers, that Solent went ahead for the first time. They held their nerve and closed the game at 79 - 73 for a second league win (Cunningham 26).
Solent's first road trip was to play Guildford Pumas. Alan Cunningham was still suffering with a knee problem, and there was no Colin Irish. Solent trailed 40 - 50 at halftime but had kept in touch with the home team in the second half before a last minute incident saw Cunningham called for his fifth foul and Solent's impetus was lost. So, too, was their unbeaten record as, for the first time in eleven months, Solent lost a league game, 92 - 106 (Ujiri 23, Cunningham 22, Gibbons 21).
Another away game followed when Solent visited Solihull Chiefs. With Alan Cunningham sidelined - although he did come on for the last four minutes - and captain Joe Morant out injured, Solent found it hard going and quickly fell 10 - 26 in arrears. A determined fight back followed and a three pointer by James Gibbons took Solent to a 33 - 31 lead. However, the team did not have the strength in depth to withstand the Solihull onslaught and eventually went down 56 - 62 in a very low scoring game.
A break from league action followed when Solent played Taunton Tigers in the National Trophy competition. The game marked the return of Colin Irish and a first for new signing, Paul Mundy-Castle. Solent's injury list - including Alan Cunningham - had reached desperate proportions and the acquisition of Mundy-Castle was timely for the club. However, the new players had little time to blend with the rest of the squad and it was particularly noticeable against the well-organised Taunton team, who were to finish runners-up in Division Two later in the season. With no Cunningham nor Bob Glanville to shore up the defence, Solent lost too many boards. This coupled with poor shot selection led to Solent's cup exit as they went down 78 - 85.
"We are missing four of our squad that picked up silverware last season, and it will take time for the new team to gel," explained coach Alan Cunningham prior to Solent's next home fixture, against Mid-Sussex Magic. Cunningham decided to kit-up for the game, despite carrying his knee injury still. He gave himself a ten-minute spell in the first half to help consolidate the early lead that Solent had built up. Subsequently with Colin Irish dictating play all over the court and 'flu stricken Panji Grainger being very effective, he felt he was not needed again as Solent cruised to a welcome 91 - 75 win (Ujiri 24).
A friendly against Thames Valley Tigers B followed, which was used to help several players back to match fitness and to give a trial to Carter Perryman, an American forward. Although Perryman impressed, no move was made to sign him following Solent's 91 - 55 win (Grainger 22).
Panji Grainger (far left) and Masai Ujiri (far right)
Westminster Warriors were the next visitors to Fleming Park for a league game. Solent, despite their efforts, still had a potential seven team players on the injured list. Only eight places were occupied on the home bench for the game, and one of those was Alan Cunningham. Masai Ujiri had turned an ankle in training and it remained to be seen who would take up the scoring mantle. It proved to be Colin Irish, who stole the show with his 34 points and all round court presence. Westminster could not find any answer to the Irish problem and Solent convincingly won 98 - 65.
A visit to Wembley Arena to play the unbeaten London Towers B followed. Already reduced to nine fit players from their seventeen strong squad, Solent were dealt a further crushing blow when Neil Smith limped off with a twisted ankle having started brightly with six points in the first six minutes of the game. Undeterred, Solent built on their early advantage to lead 51 - 34 at halftime. Towers hit back with a flurry of three pointers to narrow the gap to 54 - 44 as Panji Grainger picked up his fourth foul. Paul Mundy-Castle was ejected from the game after some pushing and shoving. From leading 62 - 54, Solent's lead was reduced to four points before Cunningham called a timeout to give his team some much needed breathing space. Solent immediately restored their eight-point cushion before Tom Mahood fell awkwardly and was taken off to hospital, leaving Solent with only Ben Peacock on the bench. The stickiness of the situation brought out the best in Solent when Irish stole the ball and set up Roy Lewis who stretched Solent's lead. Irish joined Grainger on four fouls, but two cleverly used timeouts by coach Cunningham helped Solent pace themselves to their first away league win of the season, 90 - 83 (Cunningham 30).
Brixton Topcats were Solent's next visitors in the league programme. With Tom Mahood and Neil Smith both reckoned to be out of action for some time, it was fortuitous for Solent that the game saw the return of Mark Scott after a 12-week absence with knee problems. Although no match for the fast running Brixton outfit, Mark's experience carried him through a very effective comeback, notching 14 points and many rebounds. With Colin Irish in one of his long shooting moods, Solent built up an unassailable lead early in the game and were in no mood to let the visitors back into the game. Another league win for Solent, 89 - 71 (Irish 27) saw them climb further up the league table.
Another signing was made prior to Solent's next home game against Cardiff Clippers. Eddie Owusu from Brixton joined his compatriot Paul Mundy-Castle in the Solent line up. Cardiff Clippers trailed from the start to the end of the game once Solent had opened up a 21 - 4 early lead but one incident will be remembered long after the game is forgotten. There had been several niggling exchanges between Cardiff's American Todd McNeill and several of the Solent squad. With six minutes remaining, Alan Cunningham took a rebound and sent the ball up court for a fast break. An incident then occurred between Cunningham and McNeill which led to them both being disqualified after an on-court melee that included several bench players from the Solent team - in front of which the incident had happened. The game was held up for five minutes for the situation to be sorted out and on the resumption Panji Grainger was the only player from the bench to be allowed on court. Solent held their nerve to win 106 - 90, but had to think of the consequences of the evening's dispute.
A disastrous opening that saw Solent trailing 8 - 32 by the ninth minute was the feature of the visit to play Plymouth Raiders in mid-December. By then, coach Alan Cunningham had already used both his timeouts as he strove to get more out of his team. For once Colin Irish's outside shooting form deserted him as, in front of 1,000 screaming home fans, Plymouth were able to put away ten three pointers in a first half that saw them into a comfortable 35 - 56 lead. It was a different story in the second half, when Plymouth were only able to add one more three pointer as Solent whittled down the home team's lead to seven points (77 - 84). In the end, Solent lost by nine (80 - 89) having retrieved the situation somewhat, for what was going to prove a vital return game later in the season.
The lesson of the poor start did not seem to have been learned when Solent faced their next opponents, Teesside Mohawks, at Fleming Park for the last match of the 1998 calendar year. Once again, an indifferent first half display saw Solent fall 28 - 38 behind by halftime. When Teeside then opened the second half with three consecutive three pointers to move into a seventeen point lead, Alan Cunningham was quick to call a timeout. The result was better defending, better shot selection and a gradual narrowing of the points difference. A Mark Scott 3 pointer, after a Cunningham block, put Solent into a 66 - 63 lead with a couple of minutes remaining. The last minute began with both teams on 70 points, but two Panji Grainger free throws, a steal by Colin Irish and a basket by Paul Mundy-Castle broke the Teesside resistance. Two coach technical fouls helped Solent to their final winning tally of 79 - 70 (Irish 26), to bring the curtain down on a successful year at Fleming Park.
Alan Cunningham's punishment for his actions in the Cardiff game was a four-match ban, which meant he could not play in the away Coventry fixture that began the new year. Solent were able to win this close game 79 - 75 without unduly exerting themselves. In fact, so disappointed with Paul Mundy-Castle was the coach, that he kept him on the bench for a good proportion of the game.
The return match with Guildford Pumas was Solent's first home game of 1999. A fast paced first half ended 42 all with Solent matching the current league leaders basket for basket. Then, in front of the biggest crowd of the season, a series of misfortunes saw Solent lose Masai Ujiri early in the second half with a twisted ankle. Added to this, Panji Grainger and Colin Irish were both called for their fourth fouls early in the half. Solent trailed by three points with two minutes remaining as Colin Irish picked up his fifth foul. Solent lost their intensity and eventually lost 80 - 90 to drop to third position in the league table, four points behind Guildford Pumas.
A visit to Stevenage Rebels followed with Solent unable to play their two leading point scorers, Alan Cunningham and Masai Ujiri. In an atmosphere-less arena, with a spectator following of less than 100, Solent put on one of their most prolific displays, scoring a season high total in their easy 94 - 70 win (Irish 23, Grainger 22).
Another main player was missing for the next road trip to Cardiff Phoenix. This time is was Eddie Owusu, banned for three games by the National Association, for transfer irregularities, when Owusu had signed in place of the club secretary in the faxed transfer papers. With Panji Grainger winning nearly every loose ball, Solent were given ample opportunity to use the possession gained. Colin Irish was in red-hot shooting form (38 points in all) and Paul Mundy-Castle's pace left Cardiff for dead on several occasions. One feature of the game was that in a five-minute spell, 25 free throws were awarded as foul followed foul. Solent shaded that total 14 - 11, and also won the game 100 - 90 (Irish 38, Mundy-Castle 23, Grainger 23).
Paul Mundy-Castle
Alan Cunningham returned for the next home match, against lowly Solihull Chiefs. Having cruised to a 19 - 8 lead by the sixth minute, they lost their way when they introduced young trio Tom Mahood, Neil Smith and Jason LeGoff. By the time Cunningham introduced himself into the game, Solent trailed 25 - 29. An indifferent start to the second half soon plunged Solent back into arrears and their headache intensified when Panji Grainger bowed out with a knee injury after falling and clattering into the backboard support. Solent gradually edged their way back into the game, but were relieved when, with one second remaining, the final three point attempt from Solihull hit the ring and Solent came home 77 - 75 winners (Irish 23).
A trip to Westminster Warriors could have proved costly bearing in mind Solent were without Colin Irish (knee), Jason LeGoff, Ben Peacock, Neil Smith (all injured) and Eddie Owusu (suspended). When Panji Grainger bowed out with a thumb injury early in the second half, Solent needed all their bench strength to pull through. Fortunately, Bob Glanville, in particular, was up to the task and Solent strolled to a comparatively easy 97 - 73 win.
The next home game turned out to be a gripping fixture against fellow championship hopefuls, London Towers B. The drama was packed into the last seven seconds of the game when Solent - who had led 79 - 73 with 80 seconds remaining - had been pegged back to 79 - 77 and faced two free throws following a foul by Eddie Owusu. Revitalised by a timeout, Solent urged the near capacity crowd to scream the house down as Steve Ogunjimi stepped up to the line. His first shot went in, but the cauldron-like atmosphere got to him with the second and Mark Scott was conveniently fouled as he collected the rebound. Scott himself missed one of his two free throws, Towers broke quickly and Mike Redd's three point rescue attempt failed on the buzzer, ensuring the injury hit Solent Stars the most crucial of victories, 80 - 78 (Cunningham 21).
Pictures from a charity game that included - amongst others - athlete Iwan Thomas, sailor Ben Ainslie and ski-jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards
On the next day Solent travelled to play Mid-Sussex Magic at Haywards Heath. With 53 seconds remaining, the home team player, Ade Orelaja, was charged with a foul on Alan Cunningham. Orelaja, who had fallen to the floor, stood up to reveal a large gash under his eye which he claimed had been caused by Cunningham's elbow. Orelaja had to be restrained and removed from the court, but even then he broke free and made for Alan Cunningham. Luckily the match officials and his own team-mates were able to intervene and he was disqualified from the game. The chaotic scenes marred an inspired performance from Solent - and in particular from Paul Mundy-Castle who scored his highest tally of the season plus providing umpteen assists for his colleagues. Solent went on to record a 102 - 86 win (Mundy-Castle 40).
With Panji Grainger (cracked thumb) and Colin Irish (knee) still missing, Solent travelled as league leaders to play lowly Brixton Topcats, who had only amassed two league wins. As so often happens in such encounters, Solent could not impose their will on the game and found themselves trailing by 14 points at one stage in the first half. And but for the steady and consistent scoring of ever-reliable Mark Scott, Solent might have been even further behind. Eventually another fine performance by Paul Mundy-Castle, ably assisted by Masai Ujiri, pulled the game around for the visitors. Solent were never less than nine points ahead for the closing stages of the game and won 107 - 96 (Mundy-Castle 27, Scott 25).
Mark Scott
Coventry Crusaders were the next visitors to Fleming Park and provided a stern test for the home team. Alan Cunningham missed an easy lay-up with just one minute to go and Solent leading 87 - 84. Coventry then went to the free throw line and Cunningham made amends by grabbing Jim Smith's second shot which failed to find the target. He scored two more points for Solent and added three more when Solent took advantage of Smith's missed three point attempt. 93 - 85 looked a far more comfortable win than had actually been the case (Mundy-Castle 26, Cunningham 22).
A potentially awkward trip to Cardiff Clippers was the next Solent fixture. With memories of the earlier game - when Alan Cunningham and Todd McNeill had both received four match bans - Cunningham was at pains to point out that all was forgotten and the match would need to be won with both players taking a full part. Solent were at full strength for the first time for several months, although Colin Irish and Panji Grainger were not used in the starting five. As if to prove his point about winning the game on-court, Cunningham scored the opening basket and followed that by a long successful three pointer. Mark Scott was given the job of man marking McNeill and so successful was he that McNeill had picked up four fouls just after halftime, mainly through frustration. He sat out a good part of the second half as Solent began to pile on the pressure to bring them a most convincing win, 116 - 89 (Irish 24, Mundy-Castle 21).
Alan Cunningham
Excitement mounted as the next home game approached. Both Plymouth Raiders and Solent Stars were locked together with identical won - loss records at the top of the National League Division One, but Plymouth held the trump card of an 80 - 89 win earlier in the season at Plymouth. The Devonshire team arrived as league leaders, but they left with bruised egos and simmering anger about a bizarre first half incident which could cost them the title. With temperatures rising on and off the court, one of Plymouth's noisy travelling fans sprang out of his seat, burst through the bench area and dived onto the court in protest at a refereeing decision. Amid the mayhem, the referee signalled a technical foul against Plymouth and Paul Mundy-Castle broke off from his running battle with Raiders' Danny James and coolly sank the two free throws, helping the Stars back on track from an early six-point deficit. Had Plymouth gone on to win, the incident would probably have been forgotten but, significantly, the two points could prove vital to Stars' championship hopes. Having lost by nine points in Plymouth, Solent needed a victory of ten points or more to ensure an aggregate advantage. In a nerve tingling finale that had the 904 spectators on the edge of their seats, Plymouth missed four successive three point attempts before Alan Cunningham scored right on the final buzzer to clinch the all-important eleven point win 99 - 88 (Irish 28, Cunningham 26). Plymouth later decided to enter a protest that Solent's stewarding should not have allowed the court incursion - but this was thrown out by the England Basketball authorities.
Solent were hoping to tie up the league championship in their next game, which was the long trip to Teesside Mohawks. Solent started brightly enough and led 24 - 21 by the twelfth minute. But in a half punctuated by missed Solent lay-ups, it was the home team who came out on top to lead 36 - 41. Three quick baskets at the start of the second half by Teesside left Solent eleven points in arrears. It wasn't until the fifth minute of the second half that Paul Mundy-Castle sank Solent's first three pointer. Only Mark Scott distinguished himself in the game and his three consecutive three pointers kept Solent in touch at 76 - 77. Solent even managed to grab a three-point lead with points from Panji Grainger and Mundy-Castle, but Teesside got back on top to lead by two points before both Colin Irish and Alan Cunningham missed chances to take the game into overtime and Solent lost 82 - 84 (Mundy-Castle 24).
Colin Irish
Just before the final home game, against Oxford Devils, Solent received news that the Plymouth appeal had now been made to FIBA, the governing body of European Basketball. The crux of the Plymouth protest was that it was wrong to punish the team for the behaviour of a supporter and that it was "crucial in determining the final score and therefore the destination of the league championship". FIBA however were quick to reject the protest, thus leaving the way clear for Solent to win the league if they could overcome their final opponents of the league season.
A full capacity crowd of nearly 800, with many turned away on the night, were in attendance as Solent entered the court for their final league game against Oxford Devils. The start was delayed for fifteen minutes to allow everyone to get in, but once underway, Solent showed that they were not going to be denied one of their finest hours. By halftime the team led 64 - 45. All ten Solent players got on the scoresheet as the score continued to mount. Finally, to thunderous applause, Solent closed the game as winners with their highest score of the season, 124 - 92 (Cunningham 21, Owusu 21).
Paul Mundy-Castle lifted the Player of the Year trophy ahead of Colin Irish who was runner up. The Players' Player of the Year went to Mark Scott.
The team are presented with the league trophy
The quarter-final of the play-offs pitted Solent at home against eighth placed Coventry Crusaders. Panji Grainger and Colin Irish were left on the bench for the start of the game, but they were soon brought on and making their presence count as Solent put together 19 points on the bounce to go into a 21 - 10 lead. From then on the sides more or less matched shot for shot in a fast, frenetic and physical game. Only when Solent's frustration at the lack of officials' calls surfaced did the lead slip. When this happened, invariably someone popped up with an important score to restore the lead. None were more important in this way than those of Grainger's and Paul Mundy-Castle's in the final minute to secure a win, 84 - 74 (Cunningham 24, Irish 22).
Alan Cunningham with the league trophy
Coach Alan Cunningham had words of warning to the press prior to Solent's home semi-final play off against Teesside Mohawks for the league championship. "My biggest worry is that our young guys could go into the game thinking that the season's over because they have already won the league," he said. Unfortunately for Solent his words proved to be prophetic. Too many of the home team were unable to find their form. Player of the Year, Paul Mundy-Castle, could only contribute two points as shots that had been going in all season simply refused to drop. Solent also found themselves cleaned out on the boards as Teesside's much greater height paid dividends time and time again. Only Cunningham himself managed to keep Solent in the game in the first half with a personal haul of 24 points. However, eventually he himself had to bow to the inevitable, as Solent crashed to a 92 - 113 defeat (Cunningham 41, Irish 20).
The club could look back, nevertheless, on a very successful season having won the Division One title and brought large crowds back to Fleming Park.| 1998/99 (Division 1) | Played | Won | Lost | For | Against | Difference | Points | |
| 1 | Solent Stars | 26 | 21 | 5 | 2374 | 2114 | +260 | 42 |
| 2 | Plymouth Raiders | 26 | 21 | 5 | 2372 | 2017 | +355 | 42 |
| 3 | Guildford Pumas | 25 | 19 | 6 | 2250 | 2035 | +215 | 38 |
| 4 | Teesside Mohawks | 26 | 19 | 7 | 2465 | 2188 | +277 | 38 |
| 5 | London Towers | 26 | 17 | 9 | 2222 | 2038 | +184 | 34 |
| 6 | Mid Sussex Magic | 26 | 16 | 10 | 2287 | 2267 | +20 | 32 |
| 7 | Cardiff Clippers | 26 | 14 | 12 | 2288 | 2251 | +37 | 28 |
| 8 | Coventry Crusaders | 26 | 12 | 14 | 2175 | 2189 | -14 | 24 |
| 9 | Westminster Warriors | 26 | 9 | 17 | 1926 | 2179 | -253 | 18 |
| 10 | Stevenage Rebels | 26 | 9 | 17 | 2065 | 2176 | -111 | 18 |
| 11 | Oxford Devils | 26 | 9 | 17 | 2053 | 2256 | -203 | 18 |
| 12 | Solihull Chiefs | 26 | 7 | 19 | 1971 | 2139 | -168 | 14 |
| 13 | Cardiff Phoenix | 25 | 6 | 19 | 2085 | 2299 | -214 | 12 |
| 14 | Brixton Topcats | 26 | 2 | 24 | 1782 | 2187 | -405 | 4 |
Labels: 1998/99
