... Burnley Steam who travelled to Preston to hone their skills pre-season for their upcoming Hyndburn league campaign. Preston Pride fielded a new team made up of old faces (in both age and club loyalty) and new with some trailists adding to some of the Under 18 members.

Pride got out of the traps very quickly with an outstanding 1st quarter at both ends. Shaun Hoyle started well from 3pt range in particular draining a nice fake and step back 3 with his man sold beautifully. Andrew Thrower although under pressure on the boards pulled down a quick few boards and Sam Fitzpatrick and Tom Lyons provided some penetration and nice passing inside. The bench rotated with Tom Livesey pulling on the Pride shirt for the first time and getting on the score sheet, along with Adam Pearce who provided some intensity and a quick fire 8 points driving hard to the basket. Al Park showed his intent getting inside and finishing a couple of nice plays. The 2nd quarter Pride lost their way a little with a lot of new players in the rotations but ended 34 - 25 up at the half.

The 3rd quarter was a much improved performance after coach Neil Rowson delivered a good team talk to get the team, back focusing on the important techniques. Shaun Hoyle continued his excellent shooting with 6 from 9 3 point attempts, finishing with a huge 28 points. Sam Fitzpatrick offered his usual deadly presence pulling the defence towards him opening up the inside, invariably for Thrower to miss! Mateen Keshan provided great energy, racking up 7 steals and Calum Munro hustled intensely seen battling on the floor several times. Harry Dunsmuir got his scoring going with a nice cut and reverse lay up and Tom Lyons upped his scoring with a converted and one and 3 buckets. The 4th quarter ran out a close affair with the game already in the bag, more game experience was offered the new comers.

All in all it was a very positive experience against a good Burnley side who were fully committed throughout. Pride played some nice basketball and every player got on the score sheet. Pre-season training for the 2nd team starts the first week in September with a few friendlies already on the cards before the season starts in October.

Scorers:

Shaun Hoyle - 28
Sam Fitzpatrick - 10
Andrew Thrower - 8
Adam Pearce - 8
Tom Lyons - 7
Mateen Keshan - 5
Al Park - 4
Calum Munro - 2
Harry Dunsmuir - 2
Tom Livesey - 2

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