Boroughmuir Blaze show an appetite for the battle

BOROUGHMUIR Blaze produced a stirring fightback to stretch their winning run to five games and keep chasing new Scottish basketball league leaders City of Edinburgh Kings, who also won narrowly.

Blaze trailed Glasgow Storm 34-22 at half-time Chris Arazim drained a late three-pointer when Blaze pipped Falkirk Fury last month, and Arazim was involved in another close finish at the Kelvin Hall on Saturday. The visitors trailed Glasgow Storm 34-22 at half-time but cut the deficit in the third quarter before grinding out a 60-58 victory, although Storm missed a shot in the dying seconds.

Chris Arazim’s 13 points lucky again, while Sam Stott and Yannick Onifade both added ten.

Kings extended their unbeaten record against Glasgow University at Portobello High, squeezing home 72-68. A rout looked on when they raced to a 23-point lead in the opening ten minutes, but the closing stages became uncomfortably tight and it took 28 points from Ryan Armour to see off the students. Coach Craig Nicol handed debuts to four under-18 players and then learned that champions St Mirren had suffered their first defeat of the season at home to Falkirk. Previous joint-leaders Dunfermline were idle at the weekend, leaving Kings alone at the top. That could change on Friday when they visit Boroughmuir for a mouth-watering derby at The Crags.

At the other end of the table, Edinburgh University lost 72-63 to Stirling Knights in a meeting of two winless sides.

Champions City of Edinburgh Kool Kats and Lady Rocks remain locked at the top of the women’s league following Kats’ 59-31 victory over Glasgow University at Portobello. As always, captain Emma Findlay led by example, landing 22 points.

Polonia Phoenix are still trying to get off the mark after losing 75-47 away to Glasgow Fever, and they may have to keep waiting for that first win as they play Kats this Saturday.

In the British women’s league, Caledonia Pride missed out on a hat-trick of victories when Durham Palatinates took revenge for last week’s Cup defeat.

The Edinburgh club outscored their hosts in three of the four quarters, but a lopsided second period gave Durham a 13-point half-time lead and they clung on to win 63-58. Shawnisay Millar was Pride’s top scorer with 15, backed up by Tia Weledji (14) and skipper Hannah Robb (13). They face a home double-header this weekend against Oaklands Wolves and Nottingham Wildcats.