SOUTHAMPTON Trailblazers' U14s kicked off their 2004/5 campaign with a short trip to Hamble to play Solent Stars in the National League South.
Brighton Cougars were unable to attend the triangular affair but Southampton began well against their derby rivals, trading baskets for the first five minutes, but the home side then started to pull clear.
Trailing 41-22 at half-time, Blazers had a good third quarter and narrowed the gap to 13 points early in the fourth with good work by Aiden Kelly and James Blandford.
But when Kelly fouled out, the scoring drought kicked in again and they registered just two points in the last seven minutes to go down 82-52.
Southampton scorers: James Blandford 15 Aiden Kelly 10, James Clunie 6, David Gardner 6, Isaac Paddington 5, Jon Pickering 4, Jordan Cornick 2.
In the NBL U16 men's south division, Trailblazers overcame the loss of key player Liam Kelly to injury to extinguish Brentwood Fire 66-62.
By the end of the first period, Blazers were 23-13 up with Andrew Tavender and Sam Baldwin scoring eight points apiece. It took until the fourth quarter for Brentwood to reduce the deficit significantly but Nathan Clifford kept his nerve to sink three out of four free throws to seal Blazers' win.
Southampton scorers: Louis Allen 24, Andrew Tavender 14, Sam Baldwin 8, Nathan Clifford 7, Gurmukh Lahpuri 6, James Tavender 4, Mat Farmiloe 2, Simon Froud 1.
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