Deben Jutes stronger after merger

Felixstowe side Deben Jutes continued their unbeaten run in the Suffolk Under-16 Basketball League with wins over the Bury Bulldogs and Colchester Tigers.

The Jutes have been fortunate to inherit young players that have developed their basketball skills during the previous three seasons with the successful Brackenbury Bears U14 side coached and managed by Kevin Reeve.

At the start of the current season Reeve and Jutes coach Adrian Clarke decided to merge the two clubs under the banner of Deben Jutes Basketball Club and offer an outlet for those players who had exceeded the 14-year upper age limit.

Of the 14 players on the Deben Jutes roster, all but one has come through the ranks of the Bears.

In both their games the power, experience and strength in depth of the Jutes has paid dividends.

Against Colchester the Jutes pushed the pace to open a 36-4 lead that, despite valiant efforts, Colchester were unable to recover from.

With Nathan McGeachie taking control of the game on the point, it allowed the driving power of Dave Lockwood and Joe Green to be unleashed.

In the second quarter Joe Reeve was introduced and, paired with Tom Hunt under basket, he amassed a valuable 12 points.

Colchester stemmed the flow in the third quarter, matching basket for basket in a low scoring period.

In the fourth the Jutes were able to up the pace and, with a defence that restricted the visitors to just one basket, the Jutes ran out comfortable winners 93-29.

After Colchester had beaten Bury 58-42 in an enthralling contest, Deben faced the Bulldogs.

Bury upped their game and played doggedly against the Jutes, however Jutes still led 30-16 after the first quarter.

In quarters two and three, dogged Bulldog defence restricted the Jutes to 23 points, before the Jutes powered away to win 74-31 in the final period.

Most of the Deben players on show were aged 14-15 and will be eligible to play in the same competition next season.