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Lothian League Div 1 - Senior Men Schedule/Results 2009-10
09-10 SM Fixtures
Click on the link to view the schedule and results from the 2009-10 season
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Tayside & Fife League Div 2 - Senior Men Schedule/Results 2009-10
Click on the LOGO to view the schedule and results from the 2009-10 Tayside & Fife League Div 2 season
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Reign slip to second loss of the season - going down to Basketeers!
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 22nd Nov '09
Basketeers 95 - 84 Dunfermline Reign
OM sunday Dunfermline Reign's seniors took on league leading Basketeers at Portobello High School. Reign were tooking to topple the euro outfit to move into top spot in the league. However they had to do it without some key players. Point guard Dougie Taylor was attending the Scottish University trials, Captain Barry Pringle was on holiday, hot hand Stuart McHardy is out with a back injury and swingman Kieran Lynch suffered a broken hand during the week and will be out until the new year.
Regardless of the casualties Reign were able to go to their deep bench as they sought top spot. Reign started with Craig Hamilton, John Day, Jules White, Gianluca Brambilla and Steven Higgs.. However it was the visitors who came out firing taking the first period 20-13. John Day and Craig Hamilton pace the Reign with 5 points a peice during the quarter.
It didn't get much better for Reign in the second period and Basketeers continued to find easy scores that ticked over their lead. At halftime Reign were losing 43-31.
Coach Steel looked for some agression from his players in the second half and the Reign upped their game. Jules White started to find open lanes in the Basketeers defence to pace the Reign.
Going into the final period Reign were trailing by 17 points. With the game all but lost they settled into their stride and began to claw away at the opponents lead. During the period Day and Brambilla scored 2 three pointers a piece to lead the Reign. However the fightback was a bit too late. Basketeers star performer Gatakus knocked down 3 three point shots in a row en-route to a massive haul of 33 points.
Reign now head into a week that will see them play 3 games. On Thursday they travel to Dundee to take on the Sharks in the Tayside & Fife Cup. On Saturday they face Glasgow Rocks in the Scottish Cup and on Sunday they are back to league duty and face Spartans.
Reign Scorers: J.Day 25, J.White and G.Brambilla 17 each, S.Higgs and S.Anderson 6 each, C.Hamilton 5, D.Wood 4, J.Graham and G.Stanford 2.
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Double header weekend sees Reign notch 2 victories!
Chairman Cup - Sat 7th November '09
Dunfermline Reign 78 - 63 Pleasance
Lothian League Div 1 - Sun 8th November '09
Boroughmuir Blaze 63 - 73 Dunfermline Reign
This weekend Dunfermline Reign's senior men faced their second weekend in a row requiring to play a double header. On Saturday the Reign welcomed old foes Pleasance to Queen Anne High School. The visitors turned out George Falconer, who is an ex Reign player and made a welcome return to the city.
Falconer was not able to engineer a defeat against his old club as Reign controlled the game from the openeing tip-off. Coach Steel was able to use all of his players and ensure they had some juice in the tank for the game that was to come the following day. Reign led comfortably at the half, 33-24.
Reign's hot hand was definately Dougie Taylor who was more than at home playing in the Queen Anne gym hall that he spent his school days in. In limited minutes Taylor was able to pour in 26 points as he proved too much for Pleasance guards McDonald and Mossop.
Whenerver the visitors looked to make a run Reign were able to step up a gear and dampen and enthusiasm. John Day showed that he is getting back into his groove by consistently knocking down open shots. The win now propels the Reign into the last 16 of the Chairman Cup, a competition that features Reign a lot in the history books. It has been a while since the Reign were able to make it into the later stages of this competition and the event is a high priority for the club this season.
Reign Scorers vs Pleasance: D.Taylor 26, G.Brambilla & J.Day 12, J.White 10, S.McHardy 6, B.Pringle & K.Lynch 4, D.Wood & S.Harwood 2
On Sunday the Reign were back on league duty facing up against Boroughmuir Blaze. Blaze only turned up with six players and set out their stall in a solid zone defence that proved tough for the Reign to break down. Reign welcomed back Gordon Stanford for this game, but were without regulars Alan Gilchrist, Darryl Wood and Craig Hamilton.
Reign knew that the game would require some dead-eye shooting and were able to hit a whopping 8 three point shots during the game. John Day was the main contributor from beyond the arc but Dougie Taylor and a rejuvinated Mick McHardy were also able to chip in. Reign led the game 33 - 25 at the half.
The game was a scrappy affair with Reign playing in a laclustre way on what was a slippy surface at Dalkeith Campus. Reign manage to control most of the game and won every quarter with exception of the third. Muir narrowly won the third period but Reign bounced back in the fourth winning the final period 23-18. When it counted Reign did manage to buckle down and grind out the stops and scores that saw them to victory.
It has been a crazy but productive few weeks for the Reign. In total the men have played 7 games in 14 days, winning all 7 of these matches and propelling themselves into the last 16 of both the Scottish and Chairmans Cups.
Next up for the Reign B side is Montrose Magic on Thursday night and then Pleasance in a league re-match for Reign A next Sunday.
Reign Scorers vs Blaze: D.Taylor 13, J.Day & G. Brambilla 12, J.Day 11, S.McHardy & B.Pringle 6, K.Lynch 5, S.Higgs & S.Anderson 4.
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Reign back to winning ways after convincing win over Central Jags!
Lothian League Div 1
Dalkeith Campus
Sunday 25th October '09
Dunfermline Reign 78 - 58 Central Jaguars
Dunfermline Reign took to the court on Sunday trying to avenge their shock defeat at the hands of Edinburgh Lions the previous week. Reign were without starting centre Alan Gilchrist who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury. That meant that captain Barry Pringle moved onto the centre spot with Steven Higgs, Gianluca Brambilla, Kieran Lynch and Dougie Taylor. Reign started the game strongly with all of the starters contributing to an excellent start that saw the Reign leading 22-12 after the opening period.
In the second quarter Reign stuck with with a tight rotation and built a 15 poiont lead over the Jags. Coach Steel then went to his bench with John Day making an immediate impact knocking down a three-pointer with his first shot. However the Reign began to slacken their defence and lost their grip on the game. Jags took advantage of come sloppy defence and edged their way back into the match. Two consecutive long balls saw the Jags only training by 2 points at halftime, 35-33.
Desperate to get back to winning ways Coach Steel went back to his starting five and asked them to regain control of the game. They responded superbly with a fine display of team basketball. Swarming defence forced the Jags into tough shots and turnovers and Reign compounded the matter with some clinical finishing on offence. Lynch and Brambilla combined for the Reign's first 13 points of the second half to turn the tide back in Reign's favour. With the lead restored Steel went back to his bench with Jules White stepping in to continue the scoring chipping in 6 third quarter points.
Reign went into the final period leading by 22 points. Darryl Wood and Stu Anderson saw action in the final period and along with stellar point guard play from Dougie Taylor, were able to help the Reign maintain their advantage. Jags won the final peiod by 2 points resulting in the Reign running out 20 point victors, 78-58. Steel was impressed with the victory noting "we are glad to get back to winning ways but I was more impressed with the manner of the win, we played excellent team basketball on both ends of the floor for long period of the game. This was shown in the fact that we had five players contributing more than 10 points each. This is exactly how we aim to play!"
Reign Scorers: K.Lynch 16, B.Pringle 14, G.Brambilla & D.Taylor 13, J.White 11, J.Graham 6, J.Day 5.
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Reign open Lothian League campaign with 94-47 win over Heriot-Watt!
Lothian League Division 1
Sunday 4th October '09
Dalkeith Campus
Dunfermline Reign 94 - 47 Heriot Watt University
ON Sunday Dunfermline Reign's senior men opened their season with a game against the students of Heriot Watt University. HWU enter the league after gaining promotion form division 2 and provided a bit of an unknown quantity for the Reign.
Reign started the game with Kieran Lynch, Craig Hamilton, Gianluca Brambilla, Barry Pringle and Alan Gilchrist and managed to stretch out an early 8-0 lead that included a highlight fast break dunk from Gilchrist. HWU did manage to work their way back into the game but Reign finished the quarter with a 24-11 lead.
Reign started to turn the screw in the second period and after a Lych three pointer set the tone Reign's Italian import Brambilla rolled of eight points of his own without reply. Reign's defence was frugal an allowed the students only eight points in the ten minute period, while on the other end they bagged another 24 point haul. At half-time the Reign led 48 - 19.
With a convincing lead the Reign managed to rotate in all 12 of their players during the game. In the third period Reign scored 17 points with Ross Dawkins and Jason Graham coming off the bench and combining to score 11 of the Reigns points in the period.
Going into the final quarter Reign coach, James Steel, asked his players to finish with a strong run to prepare them for some of the tougher games to come and the squad did just that. They won the final period 29-14 and managed to end the game with a formidable 94-47 scoreline. In the final period John Day came to the party knocking down nine quick points to pace the Reign. However it was new father, Jules White, who became a dad the day before the game, and Gilchrist who finished the game off in style converting numerous fast break points late in the game. Gilchrist put the exclamation mark on the game with an emphatic windmill dunk over an unsuspecting student who managed to foul Gilchrist in the process allowing Gilchrist to knock down the extra point for a three-point play.
Reign now have a week off before the resume league duty a week on Sunday against West Lothian Wolves.
Reign Scorers - G.Brambilla 22, A.Gilchrist 19, J.Graham 11, R.Dawkins & J.White 9, J.Day 8, K.Lynch 7, C.Hamilton 4, S.Harwood 3, B.Pringle 2
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Reign break Glasgow Rocks 84-81 at Queen Anne HS!
Pre-season Friendly
Saturday 26th Sept '09
Dunfermline Reign 84 - 81 Glasgow Rocks
On Saturday afternoon Dunfermline Reign took on Strathclyde Div 1 side Glasgow Rocks at Queen Anne High School. The Reign started with Dougie Taylor, Stuart McHardy, Kieron Lynch, Barry Pringle and Alan Gilchrist. However it was the visitors that made the quick start. During the first period the Rocks came out gunning knocking down five three-pointers to take a strong 27-18 lead.
Reign fought back in the second period with Jules White and John Day coming off the bench to inject some scoring into the Reign side. Reign won the period 25-20 with Day and White scoring 16 of these points. ROcks continued to be successful from behind the arc hitting another three three-pointers to make it a total of eight in the half. Halftime score was 47-43 in favour of the Rocks.
Reign's gameplan was to continue to give the visitors tough long shots and concentrate on making high percentage shots at the other end of the court. Reign really hit their stride in the third period and started to assert therir authority on the match. It was Reign's turn to hit some long shots shooting five three-point shots in the period to take a 72-65 lead into the final period.
The final quarter was an even affair that the visitors ended up shading. However, it was too little too late for the Rocks and the reign managed to close out the game for a 84-81 victory. Alan Gilchrist and Jason Graham paced the Reign in the later stages slashing to the hoop for some easy finishes. Reign now look forward to their first game of the season next weekend when they take on Heriot Watt University in their bid to gain the Lothian League title.
Reign would like to thank Gary Godsell for refereeing the match and also Davie Turner and the Roacks squad for making the trip over to Fife and participating in an exciting game infront of the crowd of fifty.
Reign Scorers - J. White & J. Graham 11, J. Day, B.Pringle, K. Lynch 10, D. Taylor 9, A.Gilchrist 8, S. Harwood 6, S.McHardy 5, D. Wood 3, S. Anderson 2
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Reign secure 80-74 victory over Spartans in Lothian Cup Final to win third cup of season!
Lothian Cup Final 2009
Dalkeith Campus
Sunday 17th May
Dunfermline Reign 80 - 74 Spartans
Dunfermline Reign took on Edinburgh Spartans in the Lothian Cup Final last Sunday, bidding to secure their third trophy of the season after winning both the Tayside and Fife Cup Final and the Tayside and Fife Div 2 Cup Final.
After seeing off their bitter league rivals, Edinburgh Kings, in the quarters and Border Bullets in the semi-finals, James Steel's men set up a showdown with Spartans on the Dalkeith showcourt in front of a mainly partizan Lothian crowd.
Starting with a big unit of Barry Pringle, Gordon Stanford, Julian White, Calum Nicol and Craig Hamilton, Reign set the tempo for the game with Julian White and Calum Nicol shooting the Reign to a 6-2 run. In return, Coach Bobby Merrilee's Spartans side pressed the Reign who were forced into turnovers. In return, Spartan's hot shot Darren Spence scored 10 of his teams opening quarter 13 brought the Spartans back in the game. An early substitution for the Reign saw John Day and Jason Graham hit the court and crack the Spartan's press enabling Reign to finish off the opening quarter 19-13 ahead.
In the second, Spartans continued to press, gambling with a 3 man front to the inbounds and to the frustration of Coach Steel, Spence and Rillay continued to pick off the Reigns passes and bring their team within 1 of the Reign. Reign knew that they needed to be aggressive towards the basket as this tactic has won the Reign many a game this season. This approach continued in the second quarter as Julian White and Calum Nicol put the Spartans into some early foul trouble and to the pair's credit finished off the necessary free throws to bring the score at the break to 38-36 in Reign's favour.
The Spartan's press had plagued Reign the entire first half and whatever words of wisdom Coach James Steel had for his men at the half seemed to work as the ball moved ever so smoothly from the inbounds to the set play. Defensively the twin towers of Stanford and Pringle seemed to swallow every missed jump shot and in return to Spartan's one man offence which was starting to crack, Reign played fluent team offence finding the open pockets for Day, Pringle and Nicol to convert and push Reign's advantage to 6, 58-52 with one quarter remaining.
Defensively for the Reign, guards Nicol and Day had kept the threat of Rillay at bay the whole game until he found a hot hand in the fourth and gathered some confidence in bringing the Spartans back to just 2. As Stanford for Reign and Turnbull for Spartans both reached the foul limit, the game became ever so heated and the quiet crowd started to move towards the edge of their seats. In the fourth Rillay found his range and Spence, on his way to a 42 point ball game, continued to pick off passes for easy scores. Nicol and White again stepped up their games combining for 20 of Reign's 22 in the final quarter. As the game clock ticked down, Nicol's back to back jump shots edged the Reign's adavantage ever so closer towards the title. Merrilees' Spartans attempt to stop the clock was too little too late as Coach Steel in just his second year of coaching led the Reign to their 3rd trophy of the season victors 80-74.
An absolute ebb and flow of a game highlighted Reign's team effort on the day and showed why their accolade of 3 trophies and runners up spot in the Lothian League Division 1 is well deserved.
Scorers for Reign: Nicol 27, White 23, Pringle 15, Day 8, Graham 3, McHardy 3, Hamilton 1.
Scorers for Spartans: Spence 42, Rillay 14, Chesneau 11,Merrilees 5, Turnbull 2.
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Reign Roar to final League Game victory over Lions!
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 3rd May
Dunfermline Reign 63 - 55 Edinburgh Lions
Dunfermline Reign, playing their final league game of the season against Edinburgh Lions, were looking for nothing other than victory in preparation for their Lothian Cup Final later on in May.
Starting with Stanford, Pringle, Harwood, Hamilton and Graham, Reign were faced up against a zone defence. Playing through their centre, Stanford, Reign got off to a slick 7-2 run with Stanford and Pringle getting on the scoresheet early. The Reign's 5 point early lead stuck despite some slack defensive rebounding and Reign limited by their variety against the zone defence took a 13-8 lead into the second quarter.
Keeping the legs fresh, Coach Steel brought most of the bench onto the court in the second and Reign's forward - Julian White got to work opening up the zone defence with some penetrating drives to the bucket to get some much needed points on the board for the Reign. Defensively with a relativley small unit, Reign gifted the Lions 2nd opportunities failing to grab the rebound and to the Lion's credit fought back the early Reign lead to close the half just 27-25 in Reign's favour.
In the third, Coach Steel continued with the rotations allowing fresh legs to hit the floor with Darryl Wood doing the damage for Reign scoring 8 of his 12 in the quarter. Although the transition offence looked ever quicker for the Reign, the urgency to get back on defence lacked and the Lion's point guard forced his team's recovery back to 4 points with one quarter remaining.
In a game where Reign should of broke through their single point lead to a double digit lead it frustrated coach Steel to see his player's discipline revoke and gift their opponents to come within 1 point of sneaking back an early lead. Pringle and White stepped up for the Reign when needed and ensured the games' lead was always in Reign's favour finishing the game off 63-55.
Up next for the Reign is Spartans in the Lothian League Cup Final on Sunday the 17th of May, tip off 3.30pm. Reign are 2 and 1 over the Spartans in all games this season and having just finished off a 17 and 3 league campaign will be looking to add to their 2 trophies this season following next weekend's break.
Scorers for Reign: White 14, Wood 12, Pringle 10, Stanford 6, Day, Pringle, Hamilton, Graham 4, Harwood 3, McHardy 2.
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Reign secure Lothian Cup Final with win over Wolves
Lothian Cup Semi Final
Dalkeith Campus
Sunday 5th April '09
Dunfermline Reign 84 - 58 West Lothian Wolves
Dunfermline Reign, playing their semi-final of the Lothian Cup Final last Sunday secured their third regional cup final of the year by beating West Lothian Wolves.
After a routing of Border Bullets in the quarter finals, James Steel's men knew they were up to a tougher game against a team who have held them to within 10 point games in both encounters this season. Starting with Stanford, White, Hamilton, Graham and Wood, Reign were immediately under the cosh with their opponents stretching to a 2-7 start. Defensively the Reign failed to shut out Wolves's big men of Dickson and Smyth who capitalised and it was left to White and Wood to start putting up the numbers for Reign who, despite their poor opening 5 minutes, pulled back an early Wolves lead, to lead themselves, 13-10 after the 1st.
Coach Steel could be heard from the rafters demanding his players took control of the defensive rebounds and the game as a whole. And to their credit the Reign came out at least two gears up on their 1st quarter effort. Stanford shut down Smyth on offence and no stray shot went missing as Reign quickly bounced themselves into a double figure lead. Offensively Reign looked quite the part as McHardy, Nicol and Pringle giving Reign a 43-31 lead at the half.
Looking again to the depth of Reign's bench, coach Steel maintained a fast upbeat rotation to which Wolves had no answer. Stuart Anderson was giving the Wolves' defence some bother in the paint posting up all 8 of his points within the quarter and Jason Graham getting a hot hand to sail Reign's lead up to 29 points at one stage.
As the Wolves' temperament fused, Reign never looked out of control in the final quarter. Coach Steel allowed all of his Reign players within the rotation at some point in the last and to each of their credits, all got on the scoreboard sealing their place in the Lothian Cup Final, victors 84-58.
Minus their holidaying captain Barry Pringle, Reign should be delighted with their 26 point win, securing a place against Spartans who won by 6 in the other semi-final of the day against Boroughmuir Blaze. The Lothian League cup final is scheduled for Sunday the 17th March 2009 at Dalkeith Sports Centre.
Scorers for Reign: White 18, Wood 14, Graham 10, Anderson 8, Nicol and McHardy 7, Day and Stanford 6, Pringle 4, Harwood 3, Hamilton 1.
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Reign reach LL Cup Semi's after firing Bullets 102-56!
Lothian Cup Quarter Final
Dunfermline High School
Tuesday 24th March '09
Dunfermline Reign 102 - 56 Borders Bullets
On Tuesday night Reign entertained the Borders Bullets is the quarter final of the Lothian Cup. Reign were looking to make it into their third cup final of the season against the Borders side who compete in Lothian League Div 2. Reign were boosted by an excellent victory in the Tayside & Fife cup final two days earlier and were looking to carry this form in against the Bullets.
The opening two minutes of the game were an even affair, with Reign's Craig Hamilton got the teams offence firing with the first two baskets of the match. On the other end Bullets forward Sildauskas, was destroying the Reign man-to-man defence netting 7 points in the opening three minutes. Reign made a tactical switch to a box and one defence to neutralise the Lithuanian's threat which ended Bullets offence. Reign kept the visitors scoreless for the rest of the first period and managed to rack up 28 points of their own by exerting some full court pressure on their opponents. Reign won the first period 28-7.
The second quarter ws a more even affair. Bullets realised that they needed to find some other options on offence and did so with some slicing drives to the basket. In what turned out to be a high scoring quarter Reign's offence was paced by Jules White who scoted 7 points in the period. The highlight of the period, and the entire match, was a thunderous two-handed tomohawk dunk by Reign's Calum Nicol. The period ended tied 20-20 giving the Reign a half-time lead of 48 - 27.
The second half was again dominated by the Reign who used all 12 players on the team to play an agressive, up tempo game that dominated the Bullets team. Reign Coach Steel was pleased to see all 12 of his players score substantial points, with four players scoring in double figures. Reign managed to score a substantial 33 points in the period, 17 of which came from the combination od young bucks, Hamilton and Darryl Wood. Reign used the final period to get some well deserved court time to some of the players that have not seen heavy playing time over recent weeks. Reign's productivity did not decrease following these cahnges and Stuart Harwood and Norman Little paced the attack. Little, just back from a two week holiday in Cuba, scored all of his 8 points in the final period.
Reign ended up with a convincing 102-56 victory. The win, Reigns highest tally of the season, puts them into the semi-finals of the cup. They will face off against West Lothian Wolves at 4:45pm on Sunday 5th April at Dalkeith Campus for a place in the final.
Reign Scorers: D.Wood 16, C.Hamilton 15, B.Pringle & S.Anderson 10, G.Stanford 9, J.White & N.Little 8, C.Nicol & S.Harwood 6, J.Graham & S.McHardy 5, J.Day 4.
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Reign win Tayside & Fife Senior Cup Final 60 - 59 with White Buzzer Beater!
Tayside & Fife Senior Cup Final
Dundee International Sports Centre
Sunday 22nd March ‘09
Dunfermline Reign 60 – 59 Dundee Sharks
The Reign travelled up to Dundee to take part in the clubs second final in a four day period and were looking to add to the silverware that Reigns ‘B’ team secured last Thursday night. Reign faced up against a young Dundee Sharks team without regulars Norman Little and junior forward Calum Nicol, who was attending Scotland U18 training. Sharks recently won the Tayside & Fife Division 2 and were keen to secure victory inform of their home crowd.
Reign started the game with Craig Hamilton, Julian White, John Day, Barry Pringle and Gordon Stanford. The Sharks opened up in a 3-2 zone defence which threw the Reign completely out of their offence. Their aggressive defence forced the Reign into lots of turnovers and long 3-point shots which they were unable to convert. On the opposite end of the floor Reign were lax on defence struggling to secure defensive rebounds and allowing the Sharks youngsters to penetrate to the basket for easy finishes. Reign coach James Steel went to his bench early to try to find a unit that could get the job done on the court. Despite the changes the Reign were not able to fire up and ended up losing the opening period heavily 21-14.
It was much of the same in the early going of the second period. Reign had limited options on offence and were struggling to find the right level of intensity defensively. Sharks were holding a 10 point lead and started to bring their bench players into the game. At this point Reign switched tact and set up a full court press that finally fired the players up forcing the Shark into a raft of turnovers. Not having to attack Sharks organised defence Reign were able to rack up some easy points and haul themselves back into the game. Pringle, Stanford and White were the key contributes on the scoreboard giving Reign a 34-30 half-time lead.
Sharks went back to their starters in the second half with McArtney and Milne pacing the team. Reign didn’t start the half well and Sharks were able to swing the balance of play back in their favour early in the period. Reign continued to attack the basket but were unsuccessful if converting around the rim. On the other end needless fouls were giving the Sharks a series of free-throws to maintain their lead.
Reign went into the final period facing a 4 point deficit. The period was a very tight affair and both teams stepped up their defence and generally traded baskets for most of the period. Reign established their full court pressure towards the end in a bid to haul themselves back into contention. The move paid dividends and changed the flow of the game. Again Sharks turned the ball over but Reign struggled to convert the shots that would have given them the lead. On the other end Milne was leading the Sharks and scored an unprecedented 18 points in the second half. However Reign dug deep and found the desire to keep themselves in the game by upping the defensive pressure and controlling their defensive glass.
With 30 seconds left in the match the Reign trailed by I point and Sharks had the ball. Sharks called time-out and set up their plays to close the game out. Sharks were still under the foul limit and Reign needed to commit two quick fouls for send them to the free-throw line. Reign were able to get their two fouls on the board and sent Sharks no. 9 Paul Blair to go to the free-throw line with 9 seconds left in the game. Reign coach Steel called his final time-out to heap the pressure on Blair and rally his troops for one final play to win the game. Blair missed his first free-throw meaning the Reign could tie the game with a 2 point field goal. Facing immense pressure he also missed his second and Reign’s Stu Anderson ripped down the rebound and kicked it to Stuart McHardy. Reign only had about 7 seconds to run their play and managed to get the ball in the hands of White with about 2 seconds remaining. He had the option to hit Pringle in the post but drove past him and flipped a shot up over his head. The ball banked of the backboard and dropped into the hoop as the buzzer went of for the end of the game. Reign snatched the victory 60-59 thanks to White’s last gasp effort. The victory was hard fought and the Sharks played their part in a fantastic match. Reign’s relief was evident at the end of the match having lost narrowly in the final of this competition last year.
Reign would like to thank BasketballTayside & Fife for organising the event at the weekend, the Dundee Sharks for the spirit they played the game and the referees on the day Cesar Rodriguez and Bruce Hendry.
Reign Scorers: Jules White & Barry Pringle 15 each, Gordon Stanford 12, Darryl Wood 7, Stuart Anderson 4, Jason Graham, John Day & Craig Hamilton 2 each.
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Reign 'B' win T&F Div 2 Cup - downing Dundee Phantoms 69-38!
Tayside & Fife Division 2 Cup Final
Craigowl Primary School, Dundee
Thursday 19th Mar '09
Dunfermline Reign 69 - 38 Dundee Phantoms
On Thursday night Dunfermline Reign's Senior 'B' team travelled up to Dundee to compete in the T&F Div 2 Cup Final. Reign faced up against Dundee Phantoms are were seeking revenge after a loss to the Phantoms earlier in the season cost the Reign the Division 2 League title. A sizeable crowd turned up for the game at the newly built Craigowl and both teams were ready to put on a show in this showpiece event.
Reign started with Craig Hamilton, Darryl Wood, Stuart Anderson, Gianluca Brambilla and Jason Graham. Trying to set the tempo for the game Reign opened up in a full court zone press in an attempt to force some turnovers for the Phantoms guards. The plan worked well and pressure from Hamilton and Wood resulted in some easy lay ups at the other end. Graham did a great job of mopping up the defensive rebounds and picked up 4 of his 13 rebounds early in the first quarter. In the half court Reign were faced with a 2-1-2 zone form the Phantoms. Some real patience on offence and slashing cuts through the Phantoms defence opened up the perimeter shots. Hamilton was able to kick out to Brambilla for some open 3-point shots that Reigns Italian import gladly dispatched.
Brambillas hot hand continues into the second period and Phantoms had no answer to his outside threat. In the second period Reign started to run the bench. Reign philosophy with the 'B' squad this season has been to ensure all players play quality minutes and a chance to play and develop. Mr 'T' Mpofu didn't hesitate to make an impact when he was introduced and continued to find holes in the Phantoms defence and Kevin Pringle provided a good replacement for Brambilla bu consistently nailing the outside shot. Reign led by 16 points at the half. The only negative point of the first half was Reign's lack of ability to convert free-throw, making only 2 of 8 attempts.
Reign continued to exert their dominance in the second half. Reign continued to control the boards and Graham picked up 3 offensive rebounds in succession allowing Reign second chance efforts. Reign continued to hustle for every ball and Gary Campbell and Stu Harwood were chasing down the loose balls. Harwood also picked up 6 rebounds in the contest before falling foul to an odd clash with team-mate Campbell that resulted in him sitting out the remainder of the match with a nerly but not quite broken ankle!
Into the fourth quarter and Brambilla continued to torment the Phantoms. He hit two more 3-pointers in the period to seal his MVP-esque performance. He took 10 shots in the game making 9 of them including a perfect 5 from 5 from behind the 3-point arc. In the fourth Wood and Stu Anderson took advantage of a tired Phantoms defence to get to the rim for easy lay-ups finishing the game with 11 points and 10 points respectively.
In the end the Reign ran out victors 69 - 38 with captain Hamilton lifting the Millenium Trophy (pictured). Reign would like to thank their opponents, the Phantoms for an excellent game played in good spirit. We would also like to thank Basketball Tayside & Fife and the Dundee Sharks for the event which was a great success.
The Reign now need to re-focus for Sundays Senior Tayside & Fife Cup Final where the 'A' team will be taking on Dundee Sharks. The game tips-off at 2:40pm on Sunday at Dundee International Sports Centre.
Reign Stats: G.Brambilla 23 pts & 4 reb, D.Wood 11 pts & 3 ast, S.Anderson 10 pts & 2 reb, K.Pringle 6 pts & 4 reb, J.Graham 5 pts & 13 reb, T.Mpofu 5 pts & 3 reb, R.Dawkins 4 pts, 3 reb & 3 stl, S.Harwood, 3 pts & 6 reb, G.Campbell 2 pts & 1 reb, C.Hamilton 6 ast & 3 reb.
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Reign Cruise past Edinburgh University 88-66 to seal 2nd place in Lothian League Div 1!
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 15th March '09
Dunfermline Reign 88 - 66 Edinburgh Uni
On Sunday Reign faced off against the students of Edinburgh University. The game was their first outing since suffering a brutal defeat to the hands of champions in waiting Edinburgh Kings. Reign were looking to exorsise their demons and secure a victory that would guarantee them second place in Lothian League Division 1 with two game still to play.
Reign mixed up their starting five for this game by adding Gianluca Brambilla and Calum Nicol, to compliment regular starters BArry Pringle, Gordon Stanford and Craig Hamilton. The change worked well as Reign used their big line up to limit Uni to long shots and were able to clean the rebounds on any missed shots. On the other end of the floor Reigns offence was slick and some great ball and player movement allowed Nicol and Stanford to slash to the bucket for easy lay ups. Nicol capped an excellent first quarter with a 3 pointer that took his personal tally to nine points. Reign won the period 24-10.
Reign started to feed in the bench in the second quarter but that did not mean that their intensity slipped in any way with Jason Graham and John Day coming off the bench to score half of the Reigns points in the period. Uni's hot man Trendell did manage to find some room to scre bagging 11 of the Uni's 19 points. Reigns dominance in the first half built a 16 point lead for a 45-29 scoreline.
The third quarter was an even affair but Reign strong insiode game in the first half opened up the perimeter shots with Barry Pringle and Jason Graham both hitting three point shots in the quarter. Pringle led the way netting 10 points in the period. Reign went into the final period leading by 15 points.
In the final period Hamilton continued his great job of running the Reign offence. He was able to find a cutting Nicol on numerous occasions and Day provided a solid option from the perimeter. Nicol bagged another ten points in the period en-route to a game high 24 points. Day showed a return to to form knocking down open shots on the perimeter. He was invovled in the play of the game that saw Reign veteran Kevin pringle drive through the Uni defence and whip a 15 foot behind the back pass to a wide open Day who drained the three pointer.
The victory was possibly one of Reigns most balanced of the season against a Uni team that was challenging them for second place in the division. Reign can breathe easy now knowing they have shored up second play and can turn theri attention to the 3 remaining cup competitions that are still up for grabs.
On Thursday of this week Reigns 'B' team travel up to Dundee to contest the final of the Tayside & Fife Division 2 Cup against Dundee Phantoms. On Sunday they will travel back up the road to Dundee to take on Dundee Sharks in the final of the Tayside & Fife Senior Cup. Good performances could see the Reign scoop two trophies in four days.
The final piece of silverware up for grabs for the Reign is the Lothian Cup. Reign are scheduled to play Borders Bullets on Tuesday 24th March at Dunfermline High School, 8:10pm tip-off.
The senior team are currently on 29 wins and 7 losses in all competitions this season. Hopefully they can turn this sparkling form into trophies in the coming weeks.
Scorers vs University: C.Nicol 24, B.Pringle 16, J.Graham 14, J.Day 13, G.Stanford 7, G.Brambilla & J.White 6, K.Pringle 2.
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Reign ease into final of Ta7side & Fife cup with 82-66 victory over Arbroath Muskies!
Tayside & Fife Senior Cup
Semi Final
Tuesday 10th March '09
Dunfermline Reign 82 - 66 Arbroath Musketeers
Reign entertained the Muskies on Tuesday night with the winner taking their place in the final of the Tayside & Fife Senior Cup. Reign were losing finalists in this event last season and have been focused all season on going one better this year.
Aging Reign started the game short of key players with Norman little on holiday and Jason Graham nursing a minor illness. Reign did welcome back younster Calum Nicol and he was inserted into the starting five to provide a scoring punch.
Reign did struggle to get going in the game and were guilty of missing numerous easy chances around the basket. In addition they lacked patience on offence and were settling for too many long range shots. One positive was that there was more fire in the defence and the Reign were forcing Muskies in to tough shots every time down the floor. Reign eventually lost a tough opening quarter 13-17.
Reign managed to sort out their attacking options in the second period and were taking much higher percentage shots on each trip. Jules whit paced the Reign with six points in the quarter but it was a balanced attack that was prviding problems for the Muskies. On the other end Reign managed to limit Muskies danger man, Dakers, to only 2 points. Reign went in at hlaf-time 33-30 ahead.
In the third quarter Reign Nicol exploded for 13 points and led the team to a commanding lead over the Muskies. On the other end of the floor Nicol and Italian import Gianluca Brambilla did a great job containing Dakers. Reign continued to get a number of players in on the scoring act with Darryl Wodd slashing to the hoop and Craig Hamilton knocking down outside shots. Reign won a resounding thrid quarter 32-17 to seasl the game.
A comfotable lead meant that all of the Reigns 12 players sow the court in the game and everyone was able to contribute to the victory. Reign ran out winners 82 - 66 and will now face the winners of Perth Phoenix vs Dundee Sharks in the Cup Final on Sunday 22nd March. The final takes place at Dundee International Sports Centre and tips off at 2pm.
Scorers - C.Nicol 15, J.White 14, B.Pringle 12, D.Wood 9, G.Brambilla G.Stanford & C.Hamilton 8, S.McHardy 4, J.Day 2.
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Reign out of title race after landslide 80-47 loss to champions in wiating Kings!
Lothian League Division 1
Sunday 8th March '08
Dunfermline Reign 47 - 80 Edinburgh Kings
Reign entered their biggest game of the season so far with aspirations of downing the Edinburgh Kings to keep their hopes of landing the Lothian League Div 1 title alive. Reign were aiming to turn around a three point loss to Kings earlier in the season to keep a glimmer of hope alive.
Reign went into the game down a couple of key players with norman Little on holiday and youngster Calum Nicol away on duty playing for Kings u18 team in the national league. Reign started the game well as both teams struggled to find their rhythm in the early going. Barry Pringle scored 6 points in the first quarter to give the Reign a 15-14 lead at the end of the stanza.
The first quarter performance was unfortuneately Reign's peak as the intensity shown in the early stages petered out. Reign made a series of changes to the rotation to try to find the spark to lift the team but no-one was willing to seize the day. Reign lost the second 28-12 and handed Kings a strong half-time lead.
Reign needed to flip the script at the start of the second half but came out flat and lacked the energy required to compete with the active Kings players. Shots weren't dropping and there was a distinct lack of defensive intensity. Reigns drought lead to Kings stretching to an unasailable 25 point lead at which point Coach Steel chose to use the remining 17 minutes to give the Reign's younger players an opportunity to get some valuable court time against quality opposition.
Jason Graham, a graduate from last seasons under 18's proved the brightest spart scoring 8 points of his 12 point total in the final quarter, including two long range three pointers.
Reign eventually went down 80 - 47 with Kings now undefeated in 13 games and a shoe in to win the League title. Reign now need to focus on back to back games against Edinburgh University in a bid to secure the runners up spot in the division.
Scorers - J.Graham 12, B.Pringle 10, J.White 9, D.Wood 5, C.Hamilton 3, S.Harwood, J.Day & G.Stanford 2, S.McHardy & S.Anderson 1.
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Reign keep the pressure on Kings with victory over Pleasance
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 1st March '09
Dunfermline Reign 75 - 60 Pleasance
After suffering only their 2nd league defeat of the season the previous Sunday, Dunfermline Reign took on Pleasance last Sunday with an aim of winning every remaining league game to pile the pressure on Edinburgh Kings with just a handful of league games to go.
Coach James Steel, starting with Julian White, Barry Pringle, Gordon Stanford, Craig Hamilton and John Day, saw his Reign take a quick tumble going 14-4 down before Julian White found a hot hand and with a little help from captain Barry Pringle found themselves turning Reign's 10pt deficit into a winning 14-15, 1pt lead at the end of the quarter.
Into the second quarter, Reign really started to hit offensive form with Pringle and White continuing to hit open 3's from outside the arc to send Reign into a double digit lead. Craig Hamilton and Norman Little stopped the offensive penetration from the Pleasance and allowed Reign to get several turnovers which at the other end continued to be converted and send Reign into a 30-42 lead at the half.
Reign's inconsistency across all 4 quarters this season found itself tying into the 3rd quarter of the game with several of the Pleasance players finding themselves able to penetrate into the Reign paint and finish off several lay-ups. In return Julian White continuied a fine individual display shooting another couple of his 5 three pointers. Calum Nicol also chipped in for the Reign with some aggresive rebounding on the offensive end. The third quarter finishing 46-54.
In the final quarter, Reign never looked like losing their 6-10 point lead and with Barry Pringle and Julian White hitting back to back threes to take the Reign 3point count to 'made 10'. And as the last couple of minutes ticked down on the clock, Pleasance looked to the press to no avail as Reign's patience paid off finishing the game off victors, 60-75.
Scorers for Reign: Julian White, 25, Barry Pringle 19, Calum Nicol 10, Jason Graham 7, Norman Little 5, Craig Hamilton 4, John Day 3, Gordon Stanford 1.
Next up for Reign in the league is Edinburgh Kings next Sunday at Dalkeith Community Centre. Reign also play host to Arbroath Musketeers in the semi-final of the Tayside and Fife Cup on the Tuesday 10th March at Dunfermline High School, tip-off 20:05 hrs. The club extends an open invitation for the Tayside and Fife cup home game to all basketball enthusiasts.
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Reign narrowly miss the ton as they ease past Basketeers!
Dunfermline Reign 99 - 70 Basketeers
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 15th February '09
Dunfermline Reign took on Edinburgh Basketeers in their 13th league game of the season with the aim of maintaining their stay at the top of the Edinburgh Lothian League. Welcoming back Norman Little after a brief illness, Coach Steel started with a five of Craig Hamilton, Barry Pringle, Julian White, John Day and Gordon Stanford.
Reign immediately started the better side with Julian White, Gordon Stanford and Barry Pringle assisting them to a 11-4 streak before Basketeers centre Emil Moscinski fought back knocking down some contested 2 pointers. Offensively Reign looked a different class and shot a phenomenal amount from in and and around the paint, the ones that missing were also mopped up by Stanford who scored 10 of Reign's first quarter 24.
Continuing into the second with same starting five, Coach James Steel saw his players reaching the limit and with some substitutions, Reign's first quarter intensity continued with Calum Nicol causing some trouble in the Basketeers paint and Barry Pringle teaming up well with Stuart Anderson to shut out the Basketeers centre. Reign finally looking like blowing a team out in this game took a 56-29 lead into the second half.
Going with his strongest five of Pringle, Stanford, White, Nicol and Hamilton, the Reign players set out a target of reaching the ton offensively and as the Basketeers struggled with fatigue, Julian White and Gordon Stanford were breaking well for easy lay-ups. Highlight of the quarter was Calum Nicol's two handed slam dunk which topped up the Reign's lead to 78-45.
Looking to close out the 4th similar to the previous 3 quarters, Coach Steel kept in mind Tuesday nights cup tie against Edinburgh Kings and ran the full bench, to which, to their credit kept trading bucket to bucket with the Basketeers. At times the final quarter went sloppy and both teams looked like they had wished the game had finished at the half and as the Reign tally clocked 96 with only 40 seconds left, Julian White finished off an and-one to put the Reign to 99. Managing a shot with only 4 seconds left on the clock, Reign missed and although 1 short of the ton, Coach James Steel was particularly happy with the performance.
Alongside Reign on Sunday, rivals Edinburgh Kings managed a narrow 1 point win against Pleasance. Reing play Kings on Tuesday at the Reign dome in the Lothian League Cup Competition.
Scorers for Reign: Callum Nicol, 27, Barry Pringle, 22, Gordon Stanford 17, Julian White 15, Craig Hamilton 6, Jason Graham 6, Gianluca Brambilla 2, Stuart Harwood 2.
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Pringle nets 28 as Reign beat Muir to stay top!
Dunfermline Reign 78 - 63 Boroughmuir
Dunfermline Reign finished their 4th game in 10 days last Sunday as they took on Boroughmuir Blaze in the Lothian League. Going into the game top of the table with unbeaten Kings close on their heels it was key for Reign not to slip up and maintain their winning run in the second half of the season.
Reign started with Barry Pringle, Gordon Stanford, John Day, Julian White and point guard Craig Hamilton. Captain Barry Pringle immediately started off a fine individual game with a long range three and, with the Reign zone defence stopping all penetration into the key, they easily shot to a 2-11 run. Julian White muscled his way into the paint and put the 7 man Boroughmuir side into a change of defence as Reign ran up an 9-17 first quarter.
With changes by Coach Steel in the second quarters allowing every one of his Reign side time on the court, Reign continued their offensive consistency with Pringle again finding space inside this time and Calum Nicol driving with his trademark spin move to add some points to the Reign tally. In response, Boroughmuir's guards started to find a 'hot hand' streak but it was never enough to stop Reign adding to their lead going into the second half, 27-37.
In a game which Reign should of truely dominated every quarter, Reign reverted back to their starting five only to see Boroughmuir shoot their way back into the game. Simon Turner for 'Muir found a hot hand and with only Pringle responding for Reign the ten point lead quickly diminished into a tied game and then into a slender point down 51-50 in Boroughmuir's favour.
Sensing a defeat was on, Reign's captain Barry Pringle sparked a Reign run which to their credit was one of the best quarter displays this season. Pringle hitting back to back three's was followed with Julian White rebounding and following up and rookie, Calum Nicol proving unstoppable in taking on his defender and hitting down his free throws when asked. With Boroughmuir unable to stop the Reign victory margin creep back to a double figure it was left to captain Barry Pringle to net his final treble of the game and lead his side to another victory in the league, 63-78.
Reign continue their league games this coming Sunday as they take on Wester Hailes at the Dalkeith Community Centre, tip off 15:00hrs.
Scorers for Reign: Barry Pringle 28, Julian White, Calum Nicol 15, John Day 7, Jason Graham 4, Stuart Anderson 3, Gordon Stanford, Stuart McHardy 2.
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Reign crash out of Chairman's Cup away to Perth Phoenix!
PErth Phoenix 80 - 70 Dunfermline Reign
Scottish Chairman's Cup Quarter Final
Perth Academy, Perth
In the last 8 of the Scottish Chairman's Cup, Perth Phoenix played host to Dunfermline Reign in what was a battle between two of the best local league teams in Scotland. Going into the cup game, Phoenix were sitting unbeaten at the top of the Tayside and Fife A league and Reign sat marginally second in the Lothian League with only 1 defeat to their name. After a marginal defeat in the Tayside and Fife Cup final last season, Coach James Steel's men travelled the short journey up the M90 seeking such much needed revenge victory.
Starting with Gordon Stanford, captain Barry Pringle, John Day, Julian White and Stuart McHardy, Reign immediately showed Phoenix that they were in no mood for slack defence, bursting to a 7-2 run with both guards Stuart McHardy and John Day having 'hot hands' early on. Phoenix immediately then responded with a quick run of outside bank shots and centre Russell Kesson finding space inside the paint to see Reign's early lead diminish into a 16-20 quarter to the Phoenix.
Reign changed formation up in the second, Phoenix again came out the stronger side, Kesson again putting much damage inside and with the foul count looking more like a 'grannying' in football (7-0), Reign had no answer to the made free throws and aggresive defence of Phoenix which limited them to just 10 points in a quarter which finished 10-20 to the Phoenix.
Going into the second half 26-40 down, Coach James Steel had some harsh words for his Reign squad who looked stunned by the scoreline. With both Pringle and White in foul trouble, Reign gambled to revert back to their starting five and immediately they came out 2 gears up on which they played the 1st. Barry Pringle, Stuart McHardy and Julian White all making the outside shots count and Gordon Stanford playing like a man possessed mopping up several offensive rebounds to give his team several more offences than Phoenix. As the lead decreased to as little as 6, Reign once again found themselves in foul trouble with Julian White and Barry Pringle having to sit as the onslaught of shooting fouls again gifted Phoenix back into the game. The third finishing 21-17 in Reign's favour.
With a double digit margin to make up in the fourth, Reign came out showing the 'never give up' attitude in guards Darryl Wood and Stuart McHardy who hit a run of 8 points between them to bring the lead back to just 4. In return Phoenix's point guard showed he could respond in the same fashion from beyond the arc and balanced the score back to 10 with just over 5 minutes remaining. The attitude in Reign once again pegged back the lead, Gordon Stanford contesting every missed shot and following up with aggression that seen him get to the free throw line on 4 different occasions in the 4th. Unfortunately for Reign, the centre could not convert all his free throws and with just 2 minutes remaining and a 8pt lead looking uncloseable Phoenix's point guard again hit a long three from beyond the arc and as Reign attempted stoppages in the clock in the closing minute, Phoenix's run in the 2nd quarter was proven enough to win the game 80-70.
Reign will now need to wait until next year to see if they can play their way to the Cup FInal weekend.
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Reign start 2009 with victory and stay hot on the heals of leaders Kings!
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 18th Jan'09
Dunfermline Reign 74 - 56 Edinburgh Lions
Dunfermline Reign continued their Lothian League campaign after the winter break with a game against bottom of the division, Edinburgh Lions, last Sunday.
Reign were without regular point guard Norman Little (illness) and started with Barry Pringle, Craig Hamilton, Gordon Stanford, Jason Graham and Darryl Wood. Finding their set offence after the first two minutes of deadlock, Reign cruised into the lead with captain Barry Pringle getting the hot hand shooting Reign to a quick 11-2 lead. Offensively the Lions failed to break the Reign zone and with Stanford mopping up rebounds at both ends of the court and point guard Darryl Wood shooting well from outside the arc Reign extended their opening lead to 25-8 at the end of the first quarter.
With a switch to zone by the Lions in the 2nd quarter, Reign immediately looked to the bench to continue the intensity, limiting their opponents to just 9 points. Offensively the Reign failed to pick up on the switch to zone and not many shots falling from in and around the arc it was disappointing to not see the game finished off by half time as the Reign went into the 2nd half 36-17.
Reverting back to the starting five at the start of quarter 3, Reign came out with a different intensity, Barry Pringle continued his fine shooting form he showed in the 1st quarter. Lions finding foul trouble, sought inspiration from their three man bench and to be fair, offensively, they displayed much better than their first half performance. Julian White finally found his way to the basket and led Reign into a bigger lead going into the last, 58-32.
In the game, where Reign were never really troubled by their opponents, it was disappointing to see a last quarter performance that resulted in their lead being shortened instead of extended. Failing again to break the Lions zone defence and offensively, in transition, Reign found the ball going astray, Reign found themselves watching the Lions peg it back to 74-56 at the final buzzer.
Another victory and maintaining second spot in the Lothian League table cant really be a bad Sunday afternoon but Reign would of really need to get out of 3rd gear and put up some better numbers ahead of what is possibly their toughest test of the 2008/09 campaign, next Friday against Perth Pheonix in the Scottish Chairman's Cup.
Scorers for Reign: Barry Pringle 24, Julian White 10, Darryl Wood 9, Gordon Stanford 8, Stuart McHardy 5, Callum Nicol, Jason Graham 4, John Day, Kevin Pringle, Stuart Anderson, Ross Dawkins 2.
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Reign 'B' down the Madsons 80-51 in T&F Div 2!
Dunfermline Reign 80 - 51 BMC Madsons
Tayside & Fife Div 2
Tuesday 6th Jan '09
Dunfermline Reign's 'B' team opened 2009 witha bang thrashing BMC Madsons 80-51 at Dunfermline High School on Tuesday night. The win moved Reign to a 5 & 3 record in the division as they are aiminto catch high flying Dundee Sharks.
It was a game of two halves against an experienced Madsons side as Reign struggled to get going in the first half but surged to victory in the second. Reign won the first quarter 15-11 but lost the second period 11-12, giving them a narrow 2 point lead at the half. Stu Anderson paced the Reign in the first half with nine points.
Reign turned Jekkyl into Hyde in the second half and came out at the start of the period with some fiery defence. It was debutant Pa Seedy Hydara that provided the ignition to the spark, foring numerous Madsons turnovers that were converted into easy scores. Seven different Reign players got in on the scoring act in the third period but it was Darryl Wood that emerged as the game breaker scoring three 3 pointers in the period. Reign won the quarter 30-9.
Reign continued to pour in the points in the final period but did slacken their defence allowing Madsons to put some points on the board. The period ended 25-19 for the Reign. Again the scoring was balanced with seven different players adding to Reigns tally. The final score for the game was 80-51 in favour of the Reign.
Reign Scorers - D.Wood 20, S.Anderson 18, C.Hamilton, P.Hydara, J.Graham & G.Campbell 6, G.Brambilla 5, K.Pringle & S.Harwood 4
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Reign bite the Wolves to re-claim top spot in Lothian League Division 1!
Dunfermline Reign 65 - 60 West Lothina Wolves
Dalkeith Campus
Sunday 21st Dec '08
Reign's senior men added some festive cheer by downing the West Lothian Wolves on Sunday to re-claim the top spot in division 1 going in to the New Year.
The game was always going to be a close affair as Reign recently defeated the Wolves in a close encounter. It was the Wolves that seized the early initiative in the game looking like they meant business in the first quarter. They won the quarter 15-10 off the back of 10 points from their centre Andrew Smyth.Reign struggled to get their offece going and also couldn't contain the active Smyth.
Reign rotated in thier bench in an attempt to find a combination that could get the job done. It was Calum Nicol who provided the early offence for Reign scoring 7 points in the second. This allowed Reign to take a 7 point lead in the quarter. However the hard work was undone when, in the last minute of the quarter Reign fell asleep leaving the Wolves Dickson to score nine unaswered points to give the Wolves a narrow 29-28 lead at the half.
The focus for the second half was to buckle down on defence and shot the Wolves scoring down. Reign's Jules White started the second half with great intensity on the defensive end and spurred his teammates on to support him. On the offensive end White was supported by veteran Barry Pringle and between them they poured in 12 of the Reign's 17 points in the quarter.Reign narrowly won the quarter and both teams went into the final stanza tied at 45 each.
So far this season Reign have faced numerous close games and have the character to close games out. This game was no exception and the offece clicked into gear with the reign outscoring Wolves 20-15 in the final period. Again White did the damage, starting the quarter with two massive three point shots. Once Reign got their noses in front all they needed to do was make their free-throws as the Wolves were forced into fouling to try to even the game. The nerve held and the Reign ran out 65-60 winners.
The win moved the Reign to a eight wins and one loss record going into the Christmas break. Reign only loss came at the hands of Edinburgh Kings, who are currently 8-0, however it is the Reign who will sit a top the table going into 2009 having played one game more that their Edinburgh rivals.
Reign Scorers: J.White 21, C.Nicol 11, B.Pringle 8, J.Graham 6, G.Stanford 5, N.Little & S.McHardy 4, K.Pringle 3, J.Day 2, R.Dawkins 1
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Graham & White combine for 42 to launch Reign in to Scottish Chairmans Cup quarter finals!
Dunfermline Reign 83 - 76 Edinburgh Spartans
Chairman's Cup - Last 16
In the Chairman's Cup, which Reign narrowly missed out on a final place last season, Edinburgh's Spartans came to Dunfermline High School to take on Reign in the last 16 of the competition.
Reign playing their second game in 4 days were keen to book their place in the next round and started with Barry Pringle, Julian White, Gordon Stanford, John Day and Norman Little. Controlling the tempo of the game right from the off, Reign took an early lead with Julian White starting off a tremendous individual performance getting to the bucket and Gordon Stanford mopping up all missed attempts at both ends of the court. In return, Spartans looked to penetrate the post but the Reign's defensive intensity was too good and allowed them to take an 18-12 lead into the 2nd quarter.
Similar to last Sunday's Scottish Cup defeat to East Lothian Buccaneers, Reign took their foot off the pedal in the 2nd and allowed some easy penetration from Rillay and, with the two Reign big men sitting with some early foul trouble, the ball finally found itself getting into the paint and allowing the Spartans to narrow the gap and take a 3pt lead 36-39 into the half.
Furious to let 27pts past his defence in the 2nd quarter, coach James Steel had some stern words with his team at the half and from what was said seemed to work as the Reign came out playing much more aggresively on offence causing some Spartans foul trouble. Julian White and rookie, Jason Graham teamed up well on the offence both getting to the bucket and knocking down some outside jumpers on the offence. Had it not been for the Reign missed free throws of which there were countless throughout the game, Reign stayed behind at the end of the third 56-60.
With Spartans key inside players on the foul limit, Reign found themselves able to penetrate much easier in the 4th with Julian White once again coming up trumps in getting to the bucket. The Reign defensive intensity was once again stepped up and the key turning point came from Reign point guard, Craig Hamilton who knocked down a massive 3 pointer to turn the game in Reign's favour. With almost a double digit gap opening up for the Reign down the last 3 minute stretch, Rillay hit an outside 3 to bring the gap back to 4 but it was too little too late for the Spartans as Reign played the set offences to their advantage and used the whole 24 second clock in securing themselves a place in the last 8 of the Chairmans Cup.
Reign Scorers: J.White 27, J.Graham 15, R.Dawkins & S.McHardy 8, G.Stanford & B.Pringle 6, C.Hamilton 5, D.Wood 4, N.Little & J.Day 2.
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Reign crash out of Scottish Cup to East Lothian Buccaneers!
East Lothian Buccaneers 92 - 76 Dunfermline Reign
Last 16 Scottish Cup
Friday 5th Dec '08
Reign travelled to former Peregrines national league stomping ground at Musselburgh Sports Centre last Friday, to take on current National League side, East Lothian Buccaneers. The game proved an opportunity for the Reign to test themselves against superior national league opposition.
Reign hoped for a cup shock and fielded a starting 5 of Norman Little, John Day, Barry Pringle, Gordon Stanford and Calum Nicol who earned his first start of the season following some superb displays. East Lothian casually started the game, allowing Barry Pringle to kickstart a Reign run with a long outside 3. With Little pushing the ball into transition offence quickly, Reign rallied to an early 9-3 lead before East Lothian took a time-out and quickly changed their set offence to utilise Grant Gibson who knocked down a couple from beyond the arc to bring his team to an early 2pt lead 18-16 in the 1st.
Holding the Buccaneers in the 1st, Coach Steel was disappointed to see his Reign team let their foot off the pedal and allow some easy looks to the Bucc's on offence and fail to shut down on sharp shooters Gibson and Dover through the screen and role set play. With only a couple of nice drives from Calum Nicol and Julian White on Reign's offence to match the barrage of Buccs' points, Reign went into the half 41-28 down.
After a stern talking to at half time and a much needed look at the Buccaneers offence, Reign came out in the third all guns blazing, Julian White, Barry Pringle and Calum Nicol being aggressive and getting to the bucket to bring the Reign back into the game. With several Buccs' players in foul trouble and tempers fusing, Reign captain Barry Pringle netted 4 out of 4 from the free throw line for Reign to win the third 25-23 and bring his team back to just 11 with one quarter remaining.
Sensing a comeback and cup upset, Reign started the 4th as they finished the 3rd with Stanford causing the Bucc's defence some more foul trouble inside and Julian White and Calum Nicol allowing nothing to stop them in driving to the Bucc's basket. Back to just 6pts with only 4 minutes left on the clock, the cup shock really looked on. The Bucc's again looked to their captain and Scotland internationalist, Grant Gibson who responded with some big outside jumpers and teaming up with Eoghan Dover on the pick and roll to bring the single digit gap back to a double. With the Reign 5 man rotation feeling most fatigued the gap could not be pegged back again and East Lothian sealed their place in the next round winning 92-76.
Reign Head Coach James Steel commented after the game "We let our foot off the gas in the 2nd which gave them a cushion which we never quite managed to peg back, besides that I felt we matched them in both offence and defence, so despite the loss I'm happy with the performance. The guys seem to be coming out and playing with more and more intensity as the season goes on. If we play like that for the remainder of the season we will see success!"
Scorers for Reign: Barry Pringle 23, Calum Nicol 19, Julian White 15, Gordon Stanford 8, Ross Dawkins 4, John Day 3, Norman Little & Darryl Wood 2.
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REIGN STAY TOP OF THE LEAGUE WITH A 68-58 VICTORY OVER THE WOLVES!
Dunfermline Reign 68 - 58 West Lothian Wolves
Lothian League Div 1
Sun 23rd Nov '08
Playing their 2nd game of the week, minus captain Barry Pringle, Dunfermline Reign took on West Lothian Wolves in their 8th game of their Lothian League campaign.
Looking to bounce back after defeat to Edinburgh Kings, coach James Steel started with Ross Dawkins, Gordon Stanford, Stuart McHardy, John Day and Norman Little. Finding space in the middle were Dawkins and Stanford forcing themselves to the basket and finishing off lay-ups in response to Smyth's rally for the Wolves. However some poor defence allowed the ball to get into the post and Reign found themselves 12-19 down after the first and in much need of some added firepower.
In the second, the firepower came from last seasons MVP, Julian White, who started off a tremendous individual display and linked up with Calum Nicol to see the Wolves 7pt gap reduced to a tied game. The team defensive display in the 2nd from Reign was among the best seen this season, limiting the Wolves to just 10pts. Steals from White and rebounds from Nicol were being converted up the other end of the court to see a Reign swing the game in their favour to go into the second half 31-29 up.
Starting the 3rd with the same unit that closed down the 2nd, Coach Steel was delighted to see the intensity of the 2nd carry over to the 3rd. Julian White continued to muscle his way to the bucket and with guards Day, Wood and McHardy all hitting outside jumpers Reign found their lead increase to 4 at the end of the third, 47-43.
In a game which could of went either way towards the last quarter, Reign looked to their set offences to open gaps in the Wolves defence and with Wolves offensive set plays continuing to be shut down by the Reign defence it was White who topped off a fine display knocking down several lay-ups off the break to mark his own tally to 23 points. With only 1 minute left on the clock, Calum Nicol finished off 3 of 4 consecutive free throws as the Wolves shut up shop and Reign extended their lead to 10 to be victors, 68-58.
Scorers for Reign: Julian White, 23, Callum Nicol, 11, Gordon Stanford, 9, John Day 8, Ross Dawkins & Jason Graham, 4, Darry Wood 3, Norman Little, Stuart McHardy & Stephen Higgs 2.
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Pringle nets double-double as Reign beat St Andrews Uni to make the T&F Cup 2nd round!
Dunfermline Reign 74 - 58 St Andrews Uni
Tayside & Fife Cup 1st Round
Dunfermline HS - Tue 18th Nov
Dunfermline Reign played host to St Andrews University in the 1st round of the Tayside and Fife Cup last Tuesday. In a competition which Reign narrowly missed out on silverware last season. Reign were keen not to let a recent league defeat step in the way of them progressing into the next round.
With Stanford, White, Little, Pringle and Wood starting for the Reign, coach Steel watched in disbelief as Reign, usually dominant in the paint, gifted the visiting students some easy offensive rebounds and uncontested jump shots allowing them to shoot to an 2-11 streak. It was left to Reign captain Barry Pringle to muster an opening quarter fightback shooting some outside jumpers to get Reign back to a 3pt deficit, 13-16 after the first quarter.
In the 2nd, Reign started to play a lot more physical against a smaller St Andrews unit and with Calum Nicol showing great confidence in going to the basket, the Reign started to resemble the aggressive offensive play seen in their earlier league games. With Nicol and Pringle continuing to keep the Reign in the game, St Andrews' earlier inside game was now being pushed to the arc where to their credit they hit some long outside 3's. Bringing it back to just the 1pt at the half, 28-29 to the students.
Having not played as a unit in the first half, the Reign came out all guns blazing in the third, Calum Nicol, Julian White and Barry Pringle all dominating on offence and with a little more patience on the offensive plays Reign started to venture into a lead. As St Andrews' failed to stop Reigns' aggresive inside drives, several of the visiting students found themselves in foul trouble as Reign stepped up to a 3rd quarter lead, 48-43.
Captain Pringle continued his fine match in the 4th, knocking down a couple of outside 3's and even blocking some of St Andrew's inside attempts to put his game total to 27 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. With Darryl Wood hitting a couple of long outisde jumpers and Calum Nicol picking up offensive rebounds the look of concern on coach Steel's face slowly changed to relief as Reign ran out winners 74-58 and booked themselves in the 2nd round of the Tayside and Fife Cup 2008.
Scorers for Reign: Barry Pringle 27, Calum Nicol 18, Julian White 13, Ross Dawkins 6, Darryl Wood 5, John Day, Gordon Stanford 2, Stephen Higgs 1
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Reign fly past the Ravens to make is 3 and 0 in T&F Div 2!
Dunfermline Reign 66 – 37 Montrose Ravens
Tayside & Fife Division 2
Thursday 5th Nov’ 08, Montrose Sports Centre
Reigns 'B' team looked to gain their 3rd successive league win in the Tayside & Fife league campaign. It was Dunfermline to open the scoring and managed to gain a healthy lead within the first quarter. Good passing and some good moves enabled guys to drive to the basket from all areas of their half. Reign managed to play some good pressure defence and this paid off with some good steals and plenty of assists (For Kev!) reducing the Ravens to only six points in the first quarter. 1st q Reign 20 – 6 Ravens.
In the second spell Ravens started to get themselves on the score sheet clocking up 14 points from a mixture of drives to the basket and good offensive boards. Although Reign had doubled their points to continue with the lead they recognised that defence had to be stepped up for the 3rd quarter to keep the ravens at bay. 2nd q Reign 40 – 20 Ravens.
Third quarter saw the intensity on d increase keeping the Ravens to only 4 points. The third quarter also saw all 8 players get their names on the score sheet as reign continued to dominate the ravens. 3rd q Reign 52 – 24 Ravens.
In the last quarter Ravens again stepped up their game and in result gained 13 points. Kev Pringle and Jason Graham made contributions to the last quarter keeping Reign clearly in front to what was a well won match. 4th Reign 66 – 37 Ravens.
Reign with top scoring Stu Anderson back in form among other players who sealed the match with good movement and passing. They now look for another win on the road when they travel up to Dundee to play the Dundee Sharks.
Reign Scorers – S.Anderson 14, G.Campbell 11, G.Brambilla 10, K.Pringle 9, C.Hamilton 8, A.McDonough 6, J.Graham 6, S.Harwood 2
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Reign defeat the Panthers to move to 2 & 0 in T&F League Div 2!
Dunfermline Reign 73 - 51 Dundee Panthers
Tayside & Fife Division 2
Dunfermline High School, Tue 28th Oct '08
Reigns 'B' team entered their second game of the season against the Panthers looking to take advantage of home court and progress to two wins from two games. However, it was Panthers that took the early advantage and Reign struggled to break the Panthers defence, as they lead 14-12 at the end of the opening period.
Reign began to break down the Panthers with some patient offence and intense defence in the second period, giving them a 29-23 advantage at the half.
The domination continued into the second half as Darryl Wood and Gianluca Brambilla combined for 13 points in the third quarter. Reign also won the fourth, which was a more even affair and ended up easy victors 73-51.
In the victory Reign welcomed back Stu Anderson from injury and showed a very balanced team display that didn't produce any stars but showed a willingness to share the ball and get everyone invovled in the victory. Reign now face back to back road games in Montrose and Dundee over the coming week that could see them cement their position at the top of the league.
Reign Scorers - D.Wood 14, G.Brambilla 13, S.Anderson & J.Graham 12, S.McHardy 9, G.Campbell & A.McDonough 4, K.Pringle 3, C.Hamilton 2.
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Reign suffer first defeat of the season at the hands of the Kings!
Dunfermline Reign 61 - 64 Edinburgh Kings
Lothian League Div 1
Dalkeith Campus
Dunfermline Reign took on last years Lothian League champions, the Edinburgh Kings last Sunday, with the hope of extending their undefeated start to the season.
They faced a Kings side very similar to that who turned Reign over by 30 points in last season's play-off final. It was Reign who started the better side, albeit slowly, with Jules White and Gordon Stanford both finding paths to the bucket and Reign finishing off their free throws when asked. The intensity from the Reign team was enough to give them a 16-8 lead after the first quarter.
Reign's physical presence in the paint continued in the second period with Calum Nicol, White and Stuart McHardy not being fooled by Kings middle men and going all the way to the hoop forcing some early foul trouble for the Kings. Reign limited the Kings to only 12 points in the period andextended their lead to 34-20 at the half.
Going into the third, Reign were only too aware that they shouldn't take their 14pt lead as being game-over. Coach James Steel asked for more of the same defensive intensity in the second half.and identified the Kings press as a potential threat. Kings went full court press from the start of the period and caught Reign on several turnovers that they converted into fast break buckets. Despite White and Barry Pringle continuing the Reign buckets on offence, Kings turned their 14pt deficit into just a narrow 2pts going into the last.
Lacking composure in the last period, Reign traded baskets in a very physical last quarter with the Kings inside men with Nicol and White finding the net. With the game tied with only 3 minutes left on the clock, Reign saw the Kings up their full court press once again and turn the tied game into a 4 pt advantage. Reign found the net on their last offence and then fouled the Kings to stop the clock giving Kings a 3pt lead with seconds remaining. White threw up a half court prayer which narrowly missed handing Kings the win, The final score was 61-64 to the Kings who leapfrog the Reign to go top of the division. Reign now turn their attention to taking on the Edinburgh Buccaneers on the 9th of November.
Scorers for Reign: Julian White 16, Gordon Stanford 14, Calum Nicol 10, Stuart McHardy 8, Barry Pringle 7, John Day 6.
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Reign 'B' win T&F Div 2 opener against BMC Madsons
Dunfermline Reign 'B' 76 - 58 BMC Madsons
Grove Academy, Dundee
Tayside & Fife Division 2
With a squad of 20 senior players, the Reign have taken the step of entering a second competitive team this season. The Reign 'B' squad will compete in the Fife & Tayside (sic) league, Division 2. The intention of this team is to ensure playing time for those players outside or on the fringes of the Lothian League Div 1 squad.
For it’s first game, the Reign travelled to Dundee to face BMC Madsons with a squad of 7 which included 2 players who haven’t played competitive basketball for a couple of years.
After a slow start on the offensive end as the team got to know each other, Gary Campbell put the first points on the board from the free-throw line and the Reign started to hit their stride, with good offensive play and solid defence allowing them to pull back from a 6 point deficit to lead by 2 after the first quarter.
The second was a much better affair at both ends of the floor. The defensive intensity stepped up, which led to a number of steals (and also several fouls for Darryl Wood, fortunately for him, these seemed to be allocated to various other players on the scoresheet).
Offensively, the Reign spaced the floor well, attacked the defence and started to nail their open shots. Gianluca Brambilla and Craig Hamilton in particular closing the quarter on a high. Reign by 14 at the half.
The third quarter was close, mainly due to some good defence from the Madsons and a number of sloppy turnovers from the Reign cutting the lead to 6, but Darryl Wood found his range, with two triples and a long deuce and Ross Dawkins contributed on the inside to ensure that the quarter ended with reign leading by 12.
There was much of the same in the fourth quarter, until the last two minutes, with Reign finishing the stronger of the two teams. Leading rebounder, Gary Campbell closed the game with two baskets inside the last minute to stretch the final margin to 18.
A good run out for the guys and a decent performance in what for most of the players was either their first competitive experience or their first serious minutes of the season. Our thanks to BMC Madsons for the spirit in which the game was played and the enjoyable after match refreshments!
Next up, Dundee Blazers at Dunfermline HS on Tuesday 28th October.
Scorers: Gianluca Brambilla & Craig Hamilton 15 each, Ross Dawkins 14, Darryl Wood 13, Gary Campbell 10, Stephen Higgs 7, Kevin Pringle 2 (but about 42 assists).
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REIGN LEAVE IT LATE TO MAKE IT 5 WINS FROM 5!
Dunfermline Reign 57- 55 Pleasance
Sun 19th Oct - Dalkeith Campus
Lothian League Div 1
Minus Coach James Steel, Dunfermline Reign took on Pleasance last Sunday in a bid to continue their winning start to the season. In charge of the Reign was assistant coach/player Kevin Pringle who gave the Reign squad strict instructions to remain physical in the paint and be patient on the offence.
Starting with Barry Pringle, Gordon Stanford, Stuart McHardy, Norman Little and John Day, Reign took several minutes to put together a set offence and defensively gave away several fouls to gift their opponents an early 2-11 run. With both sides struggled for composire under the constant whistle of the officials, Reign pulled themself back to within 3 at the end of the first being 8-11 down.
After both teams reaching the team foul limit of 5 in the first, it was no suprise to see Reign players Stanford, Jules White and Pringle having to take a seat early in the second quarter as the officials whistles continued. Both teams reached the team foul limit early but Reign failed to string together consistent offences and went into the half-time break 19-23 down.
Some stern words from assistant coach Pringle, urging Reign not to get tied into the officials squabbles and to attack the basket on offence seemed to get through to the Reign players and immediately from the off Calum Nicol made good use of the Pleasance's weakside defence going to the bucket and start the Reign's comeback. As Pleasance's foul count grew early on in the third, Reign took some partial adavantage with Stanford, Nicol and Pringle all going to the free throw line and giving Reign a slender 35-33 lead going into the last quarter.
With both teams making all 5 team foul counts in the previous 3 quarters, it was no suprise to see Pleasance lose two players to personal counts and allow Reign to extend their slender lead to 6 with help from Nicol, White and McHardy all getting into the paint and knocking down 2pts each in response to a couple of outside bankshots by the Pleasance. In a 5-0 streak by Pleasance with only 2 minutes to go and Reign's captain Barry Pringle having fouled out, Reign's minor lead was cut to leave the game balanced at 55-55 with less than a minute left on the clock. A time-out by assistant coach Pringle set up a play for the games' top scorer Callum Nicol going to the bucket and getting fouled in the act. Nicol knocking down both free throws left Reign 2 pts up with only 9 seconds left on the clock. On the return a drive by Pleasance's Mossop was dished to Moretta who with only a couple of seconds left on the clock looked to put the game into overtime but Reign's Gordon Stanford leaped to block the ball on it's route to the basket and do enough to seal the victory for the Reign, 57-55.
In a game which never flowed from start to finish, the performance from Reign was not the greatest seen this season but nonetheless gave them the victory to extend their winning start to the season to 5 games from 5. Coach Steel will be looking for his Reign squad to up their game to get payback on their next Lothian League opponents, Edinburgh Kings who were last seasons Lothian League champions.
Scorers for Reign: Calum Nicol 18, Barry Pringle 8, Julian White, Stuart McHardy 7, Gordon Stanford 5, Norman Little 4, Stuart Harwood, Ross Dawkins, Stephen Higgs, Craig Hamilton 2
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REIGN LEAVE IT LATE TO STAY UNDEFEATED
Dunfermline Reign vs Spartans
Lothian League Div 1
Dalkeith Campus
Sun 12th Oct '08
Facing Lothian League Division 1 new boys, Spartans, last Sunday, Dunfermline Reign's senior men knew little of their opponents going into the game. On paper Spartans key players were Darren Spence and Jamie Rillay.
Reign were determined to keep their winning streak going and aimed not to get dragged into the Spartans' streetball type play right from the tip-off. Reign started the better side with Norman Little and Barry Pringle both picking up early buckets. On the defensive end, very little of the ball was getting inside and Reign picked up some early transition offences to streak to an 11-2 run. With only a couple of minutes left on the clock, Rillay of Spartans started off an unbelievable 3 point shooting performance with back to back buckets from beyond the arc to narrow Reign's lead to 17-14 after the 1st quarter.
With some changes to the Reign's offence to start the 2nd quarter, Calum Nicol continued the fine form he has been showing in taking on his man to get to the bucket and equal the Spartan's offence. Getting in some early foul trouble the Reign found themselves under the cosh forcing the Spartans to the free throw line. Nicol kept the league's top scorer Spence at bay forcing him to turnover the ball meanwhile Rillay continued dribble driving and pulling up on Little forcing the Reign's defence to be a bit more pressured beyond the arc. Another set of back to back 3's from the Spartans put them up 32-38 at the half.
For the first time in the season, Reign found themselves marginally down in the game and in the third, Reigns' guards continually forced themselves to the bucket with Nicol, White and Stuart McHardy all adding to the Reign's count. With Nicol completely shutting out Spence, the Spartan's frustration started to show turning the ball over and allowing Reign back into the game. Just are Reign began to square things up, Spartan's Rillay again stepped up his own game nailing another 3 and finishing off his free throws when asked helping his team to a 49-56 lead going into the last quarter.
A confident looking Coach Steel, determined to stick with his early tactics, asked for his players to be aggressive on the offence and contain on defence, forcing Spartans into long range efforts. Reign's experience came into show with Jules White, Nicol and Little all driving to the bucket after some patient offence knocking down 2's and forcing some of the Spartan's inside guys to take a seat with foul trouble. When the Reign momentum looked to stretch them to a 12-0 carry, Rillay again carried his team mates to the finishing line with a trio of three's in the fourth taking his personal count to 33, which included 9 3-pointers's. With just over a minute left on the clock Reign took a 3pt lead thanks to Nicol who after a patient offence drove into the paint for a 3pt play. With only 1 Spartan's offence left on the clock it was down to Rillay to see if he could force the game to overtime but he had no answer to Nicol's defence forcing himself to shoot wide of the bucket.
In a game made competitive by Spartan's outside shooting, Reign showed why they mean business in the Lothian League this season showing great team character in coming up with a 3pt win, 76-73. Reign play Pleasance this Sunday at Dalkeith Community Centre with a 3pm tip off, seeking to extend their lead at the top of the division.
Scorers for Reign; Calum Nicol 25, Jules White 15, Stuart McHardy 10, Norman Little 9, Ross Dawkins 6, Barry Pringle 5, Gordon Stanford, John Day & Darryl Wood 2 each.
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REIGN SEE OFF BASKETEERS TO MAINTAIN WINNING STREAK
Dunfermline Reign 75 - 67 Edinburgh Basketeers
Dalkeith Campus, Dalkeith
Sun 28th Sept '08
Dunfermline Reign, minus captain Barry Pringle, took on Edinburgh Basketeers last Sunday in their 3rd league game of the season with the aim of maintaining that winning streak and stay top of the Lothian League Division 1.
Playing a sharp-shooting Basketeers side, Coach Steel was disappointed to see his Reign side struggle to match the previous games first quarters' intensity, allowing the Basketeers some early looks into their centre who proved his class by scoring almost all of the Basketeers early 16-14 1st quarter lead.
Basketeers early 2 point lead proved to be their only in the game with Reign coming out a different side in the second. Reign's youngest player, Calum Nicol showed why he's tipped as a future internationalist with some excellent drives to the bucket and knocking down the free throws when asked from the free throw line. Some canny defence on the Basketeers key man coupled with John Day, Staurt McHardy and Keving Pringle all finding their range stretched the Reign to a 7 point lead going into the half.
Reign rallied again in the third with Julian White, Nicol and McHardy again finding the range from in and around the arc. In a tough game in the paint, Gordon Stanford and Ross Dawkins found themselves matching the dominating Basketeers centre despite Stanford being knocked to the floor with an elbow. Reign up 11, 54-43 at the end of the third.
In a game where Reign should of stretched their mostly single digit lead to a double digit lead, the fourth proved to be a scrappy affair with baskets being traded down both sides of the court and the Reign also found themselves gifting free throws due to being in foul trouble early on in the quarter. Coach Steel ran his bench but watched as his Reign side lost the fourth 21-24 but came out on top overall, 75-67 to see Reign's season go played 3, won 3.
Coach Steel was pleased with the performance highlighting that "Basketeers showed us a zone defence for the bulk of the contest and we were composed enough to stay patient and find the easy shots - which the guys, to a man, had the bottle to put away. We are definately progressing and it is really engouraging to see evey one of our players scoring in this victory".
Reign now have a weeks break to prepare for playing Lothian League Division 1 new boys' Spartans on October the 12th.
Reign Scorers: C.Nicol 15, S.McHardy 13, J.Day 10, G.Stanford 8, J.White & K.Pringle 7, C.Hamilton 4, R.Dawkins, N.Little, S.Harwood & S.Higgs 2
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Reign extinguish the Blaze to go to top of Lothian League!
Lothian League Div 1
Sunday 21st Sept '08
Dalkeith Campus
Dunfermline Reign moved to 2 wins and 0 losses in their Lothian League campaign by downing the Boroughmuir Blaze last Sunday at Dalkeith Campus.
With last seasons MVP, Julian White returning from holiday and everyone else fit, Coach Steel was looking for the Reign to start quickly as they did last week and named the same starting 5 from the previous win over Central Jag's.
Against a Blaze team, who consisted of several national league players from last season, it was Reign who ignited the game from the off with Day finding the mid-range jumper and both Stanford and Barry Pringle being aggressive in the paint. Reign's point guard Little controlled the Reign's set offence fluently in the 1st quarter and guided the Reign to an early 23-16 lead.
The Reigns shower of bank shots, drives and aggressive play continued in the 2nd quarter with Calum Nicol driving to the bucket, Stanford on his way to a double-double pulling down the boards defensively and offensively and Day continuing to knock down outside shots. The Reign took a 38-25 lead into the half.
A narrow 3rd quarter saw the Blaze and Reign trade buckets each side of the court to split the third 15-15 and allow the Reign to go comfortably into the last quarter 13 points up on the Blaze.
Matching last weeks 4th quarter of weak defence by the Reign, the Blaze fought their way back into the game with strong three point shooting and despite several attempts by Coach Steel to get his players to remain patient on the offence and not jump out on the 'D', the Blaze found themselves only 1 point down with a minute and a half left on the clock. A time-out by Coach Steel and some tactical substitutions proved to be worth their weight in gold, on Reign's next offence Calum Nicol again took the ball hard to the bucket, knocked down the 2 and got fouled in the act to be sent to the free throw line for the 3 point play. Reign's 4 point marginal difference was too much for the Blaze to bring back in the dying seconds and Reign ran out victors 67-63.
Coach Steel will be looking for greater consistency through the 3rd and 4th quarters next Sunday as Reign face Edinburgh Basketeers for their 3rd league game of the season.
Reign Scorers: Day 15, Stanford & Pringle 11, Nicol 9, Little 8, Higgs 6, White 5, Dawkins 2.
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Reign cruise past Jags in LL season opener 62-54!
Lothian League Div 1
Dalkeith Campus, Dalkeith
Dunfermline Reign 62 - 54 Central Jaguars
Basketball season is back in full swing and Dunfermline Reign's senior men opened the season on Sunday with a comfortable win over Central Jaguars at Dalkeith School Campus. Reign finished runners up in the Lothian League Division 1 last season and are aiming to go one better this year.
This season the Reign have strengthened their squad with the return of some old faces and some new ones. Norman Little is back after a lay-off due to injury, Stuart Harwood is also back in the fray after moving back to the town and Tichaona Mpofu has arrived at the club to add strength to the guard position.
All three of these players featured in the game against Jaguars and Little in particular picked up exactly where he left off by controlling the Reign offence. The Reign were deadly in the first quarter of the game winning the stanza 26-10. This came through a combination of buzzing defence and patient offence. In the second quarter the Reign went to the bench but struggled to find the effectiveness they had early on. In fact the Reign manage to narrowly lose each of the remaining three quarters.
The half-time score was 42-29 to the Reign. The third quarter was a very even affair. Reign were paced by their high scorer on the night, John Day, who scored eight of the Reign's 12 points in the quarter. Going into the fourth both teams were showing some early season rustiness. Reign slackened off their defensive intensity and allowed the Jags some easy scores, whilst on the offence end the patience disappeared once the fatigue set in. The Reign only managed eight points in the final period compared to the twenty-six they poured in in the first.
In summary there were some real positives to take from the game and also some key areas to address. Reign face Boroughmuir this Sunday at 3pm. Muir will prove stern opposition having dropped back into the league having played National League in recent years. Reign will be buoyed by the return of key players Jules White and Craig Hamilton who were both absent against the Jags as they were on holiday.
Reign Scorers - J.Day 19, B.Pringle 12, R.Dawkins 8, G.Stanford 7, C.Nicol 6, D.Wood 5, K.Pringle & N.Little 2, S.Higgs 1.
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Reign play in MITIE Cup at Meadowbank!
Minus Head Coach Steel, Assistant Coach Pringle Jr and Club Captain Pringle Snr, who were all in London attending Pringle Jr's stag party, the Reign travelled to Meadowbank on Saturday 6th of September to undertake day 1 of the Tigers MITIE Cup Tournament 2008.
The event featured some of the best local league teams from West, East and North of Scotland. With an understrength team, Reign's main objective was to gain some match fitness prior to their Lothian League Div 1 campaign starting the following week. Games at the MITIE Cup were 20 minutes running clock and 1pt being awarded for every foul conceeded.
Day 1
Game 1; scheduled against the missing Edinburgh Kings, Reign took the time to play a bounce game against the MITIE Senior Mens team select and ran out comfortable winners. A default win for the Reign.;
Game 2; playing against Central Jaguars, who incidently are Reigns first league opponents this term, Reign started slow allowing the Jags to penetrate inside and gift single point fouls within the first ten minutes of the game. Being more aggresive in the 2nd 10 allowed Reign to gain back some of the 12 point margin gifted to the Jags in the 1st half of the game. A bit momentum brought Reign right back into it and with just 7 seconds left on the clock and 1 point down, Reign got the ball into White who drove and Jags gifted Reign a point with a 'reach-in' foul from ex Reign player Craig Nicol. Game Tied.
Game 3; Against Strathclyde League participants Cumbernauld Chiefs, Reign started the better side and ran some good quick offences for easy buckets, Daryl Wood and Craig Hamilton pushing the ball up the court quickly for Reign to gain an early advantage. The Chiefs finally started to hit some outside 3's and Reign's discipline and lack of patience on offence quickly fell, giving away silly pt fouls and easy turnovers to gift the Chiefs victory by 7 points.
Game 4; Against eventual tournament victors Edinburgh University basketball club Reign started their offence well and shut down EUBC in defence. As has been Reign's recent problems of consistency proved to be critical, EUBC running on a 5 on 5 off every 5 minute gameplay proved to be the better tactic and Reign's poor defence and non-existant offence allowed EUBC to galavant to a 14-0 romp streak eventually knocking down 50 points in total in just 20 minutes, beating the Reign by 24. The last defeat really making day 1 of the MITIE Cup a total disaster for the Reign who had really hoped for better.
Day 2
Game 5; Against Highland Bears, Reign started very poor not finding a consistent offence and struggling with the Bear's inside cuts to gift an early 14 point lead. As a repeat of day 1 looked to be on the cards, Reign started to rally and put together some quality offences eventually moving the ball inside and out. The early lead the Bears put in was just too much for the Reign to gather back and some extremely long Bears' offences which could not be intercepted lead the Bears to a 4 pt marginal win and a bitterly disappointed Reign who hoped to start day 2 on a high.
Game 6; Against last year's Lothian Cup opponents, Reign face Edinburgh Lions who well and truely got the full wrath of the Reign anger from recent losses. Darryl Wood finally found his long shot and knocked down 3 from beyond the arc, Reign's new signing Tichaona Mpofu "T" being aggresive of a weak defence and shooting down a couple of pop-up 2's. With Reign controlling the game from start to finish, Reign finally got a double digit victory margin and got a much needed confidence boost going into their last game of the tournament.
Game 7; Against fellow Lothian League Division 1 participants, Pleasance, Reign's offence started to look like it had in several training sessions. Craig Hamilton and Darryl Wood again putting together some excellent defence and string together a couple of easy 2pt lay-ups. Stanford knocking down back to back 3's sealed a comfortable lead going into the last 5. Despite a disqualification from Reign's Dawkins and a 5pt penalty which saw the lead go from 9 to 4, Julian White continued the fine Reign form managing to pick up some offensive rebounds and finish Pleasance off with another double digit victory margin for the Reign.
Tigers MITIE Cup Tournament 2008 - Reign Squad
White, Mpofu, Day, Dawkins, Stanford, Hamilton, Hamilton Jr, Wood, Harwood, Higgs, Graham
Despite a very poor Saturday in terms of performance and organisation, Reign managed to regain some confidence on the Sunday just in time for the Lothian League campaign starting next week! Game 2's opponents, Central Jaguars will face a fully fit and strengthed Reign squad on Sunday the 14th of September at 4.45pm at Dalkeith Sports Centre.
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