Folkestone Saints Under 18 National League Basketball Team formed this year, entering into the south-east conference division. The team played its first pre-season friendly fixture against Folkestone Saints Senior A Team on Sunday 24th September at Pent Valley Leisure Centre, the home court of the National League Team. Just before the match began, team sponsor, Brian Harman of Shepway Glass presented the National League Juniors with their new kit.

Saints under 18 began strongly scoring the first basket of the match. A closely contended first quarter left the under 18s trailing 7-13. The second quarter saw the seniors leading all the way, although the under 18s were very strong defensively, preventing the seniors from scoring their usual high points. As the second quarter came to a close, with 34.4 seconds remaining, the under 18s were trailing by 3 points. Coach Hinton called a time-out to set his team's plans, and when the teams returned for the remaining seconds, the under 18s scored 2 points quickly, stole the ball and with 3 seconds left and the ball in captain Matt Carpenter's hands, he released the perfect shot giving the National League boys a 1 point half-time lead, 21-20.

By the end of the third quarter, the seniors had pulled ahead again, leaving the national league boys down by 7 points, 31-38. The fourth quarter saw the boys come out with their never ending fighting spirit and positive attitude. Immediately they began scoring, and chipping away at the senior's lead. With 3 mins 40 secs remaining, the national league team regained the lead, and never lost it, winning the game 54-47. A fantastic win for the boys, as this is the first time that the seniors have been beaten by the saints senior B team, or the junior squad, proving the that all the hard work and effort by the boys throughout the summer was worth it.

Coach Hinton and Coach Dagger were delighted with the result and look forward to the season ahead.

The Under 16 Kent Central Venue League Final Four was held in Sevenoaks with Folkestone joining teams from Greenwich, Canterbury and Tonbridge in a showdown between the top two teams from the East and West Kent conferences.

An undefeated Folkestone Saints team faced Tonbridge's Hayesbrook School in the semi finals and, led by the shooting of Ash Rai and Charlie Thomas, the East Kent top seeds took an early lead. A 19-5 advantage at the end of the first quarter was extended to 33-12 in the second, but the momentum started to turn in favour of the Tonbridge side towards the end of the half.

Outscored 39-19 in the second half, Saints were finally overtaken with two minutes to play and finished on the losing side for the first time this season, 55-61.

Saints final appearance of the season was therefore a third place playoff against Western Conference champions Greenwich Admirals, who had lost their semi in overtime 105-92.

Not wanting to return home winless, Rob Dagger shouldered the scoring responsibilities, scoring 16 of his team's 18 second quarter points to keep the match tied 38-38 at the half. A close second half saw Saints hold the lead until the final two minutes, but unfortunately even Dagger's season-high 44 point total was not enough to secure victory as Greenwich triumphed in the final seconds, 88-85.

The final pitted Hayesbrook against current and two-time league champion East Kent Crusaders. Hayesbrook started the brightest and ran out to a 13-2 first quarter lead, which they held throughout the game to finish as champions with a 67-53 final score.

Saints U16 (v Hayesbrook) A Rai 22, C Thomas 18, R Dagger 10, P Giri 3, A Burgess 2, D Doran, B Thomas, J Lloyd, J Doran.

Saints U16 (v Greenwich) R Dagger 44, A Rai 10, J Doran 10, P Giri 8, C Thomas 7, A Burgess 4, J Lloyd 2, D Doran, B Thomas.

Folkestone Saints A team travelled to Herne Bay to round up the 2005-2006 East Kent League Season with a win on the road. Folkestone, last year's champions, have been decimated this season by injuries to key players and are likely to find themselves a lowly third when the final table is published, behind Whitstable and Dover.

Not everything is gloomy for Saints though, with a huge contingent of talented youth coming through, as a result of coach Mark Hinton's Saturday youth sessions at the Sports Centre. The old guard are starting to look their age, whilst the youngsters are still a couple of seasons from being a force, so next season will be very much a transitional period for Saints. A case in point for highlighting this potential was this game against Herne Bay, where 5 players under 18 contributed.

Paul Jessop was the top scorer as normal, with a healthy haul of 28 points. Lee Andrews (8 points) aided him superbly with a blinder of a game, whilst ball handler Tim "The Mitten" Redfearn stormed to 10 points. The contest was really over in the first quarter as Saints posted a 11-20 lead and then played their whole bench for the rest of the encounter. Herne Bay, vastly improved this season, registered a considerable 21-11 fourth quarter score, but by then the contest was well over.

Folkestone Saints basketball team ended the season on a gloomy note, with a quarter final defeat in the Kent Cup to Bromley.

Folkestone started badly, even before touching a ball, struggling to get through the South London traffic and arriving late at Crystal Palace. With no warm-up, Folkestone did well to restrict the hosts to 25-17, with Saints go-to-man Paul Jessop bagging 11 points. In truth though, Folkestone were never going to be contenders, with a weaker, lighter, more inexperienced team than Bromley and half a dozen top players missing. It has been the story of a disappointing Saint's season that they have never been competing at full strength with so many players missing through injury.

Saints were never to win a quarter in the match, with the third quarter's 21-19 deficit being their best effort. Jessop (playing in Division II of the National League second next season with East Kent Crusaders) top scored with 36 points while young rookie Sig Aldeen (15) again displayed his potential for the future. The final scoreline of 101-69 was a fair reflection of the contest, but Saints were disappointed with being broken for a ton, due to immobile defensive deficits.

Saints put some shine on a particular gloomy season with a spectacular win on the road against Medway rivals the Lordswood Wizards. The 53-59 victory was significant because the depleted Saints were set against a full strength Lordswood side whilst hosting themselves just seven players, with only two of the Saints injury-depleted regular starting line-up.

Saints, underheight and understrength, elected to play a regular zone defence and decided to concentrate on accurate passing, boxing out and preventing turnovers, a strategy employed to good effect against Greenwich the previous week.

In the first quarter, Saints held the opposing tricks and threat of the Wizards very well, and the hosts were plagued by the persistent defence of Saints teenagers Sig Aldeen and Rob Dagger. Saints effectively expelled the twin threats of Lordwoods' trademark run and gun offence and 3 point blitz (they only made two in the game). Paul Jessop contributed 6 points in the first quarter aided by a Steve Thomas 3 pointer, to end the period 14-12 down.

In the second, Saints restricted the opposition to just ten points, whilst posting sixteen for themselves, Matt Bushell (6 for the quarter) and Sig Aldeen (4) upped the pressure, and took the lead to 24-28.

Captain Paul Jessop, last year's National League III Player of the Year upped his game in the third quarter. Dominating the defensive boards he seemed to grab every rebound from the heads of the towering Lordswood centres. In defence, aided by the skilful penetration of ball handlers Tim Redfearn and Mark Hinton, Jessop banked 9 points for the quarter, as Saints cleared out; with Aldeen contributing another four late on to increase the lead to 40-46.

Into the fourth and final quarter, with the incredible sight of Tim Redfearn competing with opponents a foot taller than himself for rebounds in defence, a tired Saints held on. With the lead suddenly cut to two points, Saints played the ball throughout the team, and were fouled four times in the Lordwood's desperation to turn the ball over. The subsequent 7 from 8 from the free throw line were essential in the final victory - a victory which proved that the Saints youngsters are coming of age.

Folkestone Saints basketball team continued a poor second half of the season with another loss to Medway League leaders Greenwich Admirals, this time in the Medway Cup semi-finals.

Despite the loss, the contest was productive for Saints, as they played better basketball than they had for a while, with a team consisting of just two seniors and averaging around 20 years old - not including the aged Dave Howkins.

Folkestone impressed early on in the first quarter, taking the lead until the final minute, when a late basket took the scoreline to 23-22 to Greenwich. Saints strategy of minimising the mistakes and concentrating on a solid zone defence stood them in good stead through the first and well into the second, with Paul Jessop (11 for the half), Matt Bushell (8) and Davie Drylie (5) chipping in at the offensive end. Saints took a still respectable 43-33 deficit into the second quarter.

Saints lack of height to combat the towering and more athletic Greenwich threat and their lack of a strong bench were always going to be decisive factors in the contest, but historically Saints have always competed better against Greenwich when against the odds. In fact, Saints are the only team to have beaten Greenwich previously in three or more years.

Saints held delusions of an upset, even up to the seventh minute of the third quarter, when they cut a previous 18 point deficit to 10, and just needed to push on a little more. Unfortunately it was not to be, and the Admirals sailed into an extra gear. Sig Aldeen and Jessop, with an engaging cameo from Howkins, contributed their best to try to ebb the flow, but all to no avail as the Greenwich sharp-shooters rained their shots in.

The final scoreline of 93-70 was a fair reflection of Greenwich's second half dominance, but the young Saints team were pleased that they had put up a battling performance, and the situation augurs well for the future of the club.

A Saints A side short on players crashed out of the East Kent Knockout Cup after a 103-69 defeat at the hands of Whitstable. Despite having the home-court advantage, Folkestone were fielding too many half-fit players to mount a serious challenge and never found their offensive rhythm or mental focus against strong opposition.

Whitstable began the rout with a 28-10 first quarter, with only leading scorer Paul Jessop offering any resistance. From the outset Saints were never in the game, giving up turnovers, rebounds and uncontested shots from the perimeter, which eventually resulted in Whitstable scoring what turned out to be the winning basket in only the 5 th minute of the third quarter.

With only pride left to play for, things improved slightly for the reigning cup-holders in the fourth period, but only because Whitstable had such a commanding lead that they were able to rest their starters and even under these circumstances Folkestone couldn't reduce the deficit, eventually finishing 34 points adrift.

Folkestone Saints basketball team continued their disappointing season in the Medway League, with a defeat against a much-improved Guru Nanak at Folkestone Sports Centre.

Two weeks previously, in Gravesend, Saints were shocked by a 39 point first quarter blitz by the underestimated religious affiliation; their worst single quarter in recent years. Thankfully this time round, Saints, despite missing many players, held their own in the first and second quarters, the two teams sharing the spoils at half time with Saints just ahead 44-43.

Most of the Saints damage was inflicted by Tim "The Mitten" Redfearn - 26 points in the game, who terrorised the visitors with his mazey runs to the basket.

The second half was marred by the loss of coach Mark Hinton who had to leave with a dislocated finger. Hinton's absence initially did little to affect the balance of the game, as the two sides matched basket for basket. His skills as a coach though were sorely missed in the last five minutes of the contest, as Saints needed management on the bench to orchestrate time outs, and allow Saints to keep their heads.

Little did they know it, with the electronic scoreboard down, but Saints were actually ahead in the last two minutes. Nanak though, made the best of the final countdown and came away victors at 81-86

Saints have had a rocky season, plagued by injury, inconsistency and sometimes indifference, so it was refreshing that Saints made a game of it throughout the first half against the strongest team in the county. Jessop kept Saints in the game with a couple of early three pointers, helped by some strong post moves by big centre Dave May, and three fast breaks by Tim Redfearn.

Though Saints scored steadily, Greenwich matched them basket for basket and the lead was never more than a few points either way. Greenwich, for their part, hosted a united nations of players, and each played their part. Their guards were deadly accurate and their two big men were a handful for Jessop and May, being tall, agile and strong, whereas Dave May was just tall.

Folkestone effectively lost the match in the first two frantic minutes of the second quarter; after going in 40-38 behind, they quickly found themselves trailing 52-40 after a Greenwich onslaught. The remainder of the contest became a hopeless battle to cut back the lead, with Adam Harman racking up 7 points for the half, aided by an engaging cameo by Lee Andrews, but it was ultimately to no avail.

The Admirals sailed through the last quarter, raining four three-pointers as Saints' zone defence ceased their inside threat but opened up too many gaps at the top. The final scoreline of 85-71 was probably a just result, but Saints will rue a golden opportunity to cause an upset, spoilt by two minutes of poor concentration.

Folkestone Saints basketball team completed a comfortable victory over Tenterden on Wednesday at the Sports Centre, whilst being impressed at the commitment and energy of the young side, new to the East Kent League this year. The 105-58 final scoreline may have been decisive, but it was a testament to the plucky visitors that they put 58 points past taller, stronger and more experienced opposition.

Steve Thomas set Saints on their way with two consecutive three-pointers in the first quarter, bagging a team-high 23 points in the game. Saints stepped up a gear in the second quarter with Lee Andrews, 15 points in the game, leading the way with some strong attacking moves. The second quarter played out much the same as the first, with Saints dominating throughout, though the visitors kept battling away and picked up some tidy baskets. It wasn't the most challenging of games for Folkestone, but it was entertaining, and Saints were pleased to rediscover a greater fluidity and team ethic, aspects that have been much lacking in the early season.

Folkestone Saints basketball team compounded a disappointing Medway season with a shock defeat to Gravesend side Guru Nanak.

The religious affiliation have for many years been tricky customers, because you never knew which team would turn up on the night. Unfortunately for Saints, the team which welcomed them this night would have posed difficulties for any other team in the League. This said, Saints would have still considered themselves worthy of contention for a win, but for the absence of the majority of their usual starting line-up.

The damage was done as early as the first quarter. Saints had to endure a devastating ten minutes of offensive play from the hosts, where they did not appear to miss a shot. Exploding time and again from their own defence, the Gravesenders posed a constant run and gun threat to the Saints, which Folkestone were unable to counter. It was the first time this season that they faced a first quarter scoreline like the 39-15 that stood at the first break..

Saints did manage to get their game together, but the damage was done. Saints matched their hosts during the next three quarters, but never managed to make a dent in the huge deficit facing them. Outdone for once, as Saints were, for height and strength, Guru Nanak muscled to safety through the remainder of the game, leaving one Saints player needing stitches. Only May and Aldeen, periodically, posed any kind of threat to the hosts, but it was all to no avail.

Although captain Ross Cooper led a second half revival with 16 of a season-high 23 points, Saints B never recovered from a poor 22-6 start and fell 49-44 to the Tornados.

Saints B: R Cooper 23, J Brayshaw 6, D Howkins 6, P Major 4, P Meston 4, M Walton 1, M Prado

In East Kent league action, the two Saints teams faced each other in what is fast becoming a genuinely competitive fixture.

With Rob Dagger and Davie Drylie leading the way, the B team held the advantage in the early stages, but once again it was Ian Atkins fast break points that made the difference as the A's took a 30-20 lead into the first break.

The second quarter illustrated the different styles of the two sides: the B team's disciplined attack featuring high percentage jump shots, versus the free-wheeling make-it-up-as-you-go approach of the A side. Both proved equally effective as the 10-point difference remained at halftime, 48-38.

Ross Cooper and Sig Aldeen dominated the scoring in the second half, but their efforts went in vain as Saints A hit 10 unanswered points at a critical stage to ensure the victory.

Although they came through with a 85-72 victory, alarm bells will be ringing in the A camp, as it surely won't be long before Folkestone's youngsters add some experience to their obvious skill and use it to bridge the gap between the sides.

Saints A: I Atkins 24, D May 17, P Jessop 13, M Harding 9, L Andrews 6, S Thomas 6, I Coulson 6, A Smith 4, M Bushell.

Saints B: S Aldeen 24, R Dagger 18, R Cooper 11, D Drylie 8, B Simmonds 3, J Brayshaw 2, M Prado 2, M Walton 2, P Major 2, D Howkins.

In their second group game of the Rosebowl tournament, Folkestone were pitted against Larkfield, who had a 70 point head start.

Knowing they would have their work cut out to outscore their opponents by this margin, Saints applied pressure from the opening tip and were soon racking up the points, with Adrian Smith taking advantage of overmatched defenders to record 16 points in the final 4 minutes of the first quarter.

A 65-98 halftime deficit meant that the home side were on schedule for the win, but it wasn't until late in the third period that they really got going, finally taking the lead, 112-111, when Paul Jessop hit two of his season-high 46 points in a 33-2 run.

Despite the impressive points tally, Saints will need to win their final game to progress to the quarter finals.

Saints: P Jessop 46, A Smith 23, D May 23, I Atkins 16, J Brayshaw 7, R Dagger 6, M Hinton 5, S Thomas 5, C Thomas 4, I Coulson 4, D Howkins.

Sig Aldeen , Davie Drylie and Rob Dagger led the scoring as Saints B took a 17-0 lead and never looked back.

Saints B: S Aldeen 19, D Drylie 18, R Dagger 16, P Major 6, M Prado 4, D Howkins 4, R Cooper 4, J Brayshaw 4, M Walton.

The mid-season Medway Rosebowl tournament got underway with Saints visiting Gravesend to play second division Iroquois.

The Rosebowl has a handicap format, which gives weaker teams a points advantage at the start of each match. This game saw Folkestone starting with a 65 point deficit, and unfortunately the six man squad comprising a mixture of junior and senior players was always going to struggle to bridge that gap.

Manu Prado got Saints off to a quick start, but it wasn't until Ian Atkins joined the fray that the visitors found their rhythm. His 10 first-half points kept the actual scoring close, but this meant that the starting gap wasn't being reduced, and Saints trailed 91-25 at halftime.

In the second half Folkestone stepped up the pressure against the Iroquois youngsters and Rob Dagger and Sig Aldeen began to hit their jump shots. With the last two periods 24-5 and 24-6 in their favour, Saints made the final score respectable, but needed more than six players to have any chance at winning this game.

Saints: I Atkins 18, P Kennedy 18, R Dagger 16, S Aldeen 12, M Prado 7, J Brayshaw 2.

The Christmas break didn't do any favours for Folkestone Saints A when they returned to action this week, as they produced their lowest point total of the season in a 69-51 defeat against Dover Pirates.

Both teams started slowly, with two early three pointers from Mark Hinton putting Saints on the way to a 17-17 first quarter, but things fell apart in the second period. Paul Kennedy was the only Folkestone player to score in the first 9 minutes, and he only managed three points as the visitors totalled a meagre 5 points in their worst offensive quarter for many years.

With his side down 35-22 at the half, Tim Redfearn led a revival in the third to pull Saints to within 4 points, but lacking energy and worrying about the referees instead of their opponents, Folkestone were outscored 28-14 for the rest of the game.

Once again free throw shooting let Folkestone down, this time they were a dire 7 of 27 from the foul line, but they will have to improve all aspects of their game if they want to maintain their challenge for the East Kent League title.

Saints B: B Simmonds 16, R Cooper 14, I Coulson 7, P Major 6, D Howkins 2, M Prado 2, J Brayshaw.

When they lost their first game of the season last week, Folkestone Saints A dropped into a tie at the top of the league with this week's opponents, Pfizer Lions, so the winner of this encounter would take pole position in the championship race.

Knowing how important a victory would be, Saints were concentrating right from the tip and when leading scorer Paul Jessop hit the first basket of the night, they took a lead which they would hold until the final whistle.

It was Folkestone's big men who set the pace in the early stages, in fact Jessop, Dave May and Paul Kennedy combined for 34 of their team's 37 first half points, as Saints took a comfortable lead into the break.

In the third quarter Saints started to turn up the heat in what was a very cold venue, and when Ian Atkins made his first appearance in the game midway through the period, he instantly hit 6 straight points to help the visitors close out the quarter with a 22-2 run.

Although they let Lions finish with a flourish, Folkestone were always in control, helping each other out defensively and organising the offence effectively, so that the final 83-49 scoreline was a fair reflection of the game.

Saints A: P Jessop 29, D May 15, I Atkins 14, P Kennedy 9, T Redfearn 6, M Bushell 4, M Hinton 3, S Thomas 3, A Harman, M Harding, L Andrews.

Despite four players scoring into double figures, Saints B could match a strong Whitstable side.

Saints B: S Aldeen 24, Z Maasbach 14, R Dagger 10, R Cooper 10, B Simmonds 6, M Prado 2, D Howkins 2, P Major, J Brayshaw.

Folkestone's unbeaten start to the East Kent League came to a halt when they hosted old adversaries Whitstable. Despite their side being favourites, Saints' A team players didn't have the appetite for a physical encounter and buckled under Whitstable's aggressive approach, losing 89-80.

Another slow start saw the home side trailing 15-8 after eight minutes, before a time-out triggered a 10-2 run which saw Saints retake the lead shortly before quarter time. Three Steve Thomas three-pointers early in the second period kept the scores close, but the league leaders were struggling to find a way through their opponent's defences and they finished the half still one point adrift, 40-39.

A brief flurry of baskets tied the score at 56-56, but Whitstable were now hitting their long-range shots and were well on the way to a massive haul of 42 points from outside the three-point line.

The chances of a home victory petered out in the final quarter, Folkestone's struggles being highlighted by the 23 free throw opportunities given away by conceding fouls. In the end this game was won by the team who wanted it most and Folkestone are going to have to rediscover that desire quickly or they risk losing their chance to retain the championship.

Saints B: S Aldeen 9, R Cooper 8, D Howkins 7, R Dagger 5, M Prado 2, J Brayshaw 2, M Walton, P Major.

In an East Kent League game that they were expected to win comfortably, Folkestone Saints A got off to another slow start against Ashford. This time it took them 5 minutes to find their feet, by which time the score was 9 apiece and the visitors were gaining confidence with every successful play.

Paul Jessop then found his range and started pouring in three pointers as the home side only conceded another four baskets in the rest of the half, going into the break 52-18 up.

With any combination of players able to dominate the game, Folkestone were able to rotate their bench and all 12 players got their names on the scoresheet, while restricting their opposition to just 14 points in the second half.

It fell to Lee Andrews to close out the action with a confident three-point play, which took the final score to 105-32, Saints' highest score and widest margin of victory this season.

Saints A: P Jessop 24, D May 14, P Kennedy 12, S Thomas 11, T Redfearn 8, M Hinton 8, A Harman 7, M Harding 6, M Bushell 5, L Andrews 4, I Atkins 3, D Drylie 3.

Folkestone Saints basketball team effectively put their Medway League title hopes beyond realisation with their third loss of the season, to Lordswood Wizards. Only a miraculous turn-around can help Saints get their hands on the much-coveted trophy now.

The Wizards have always been great sparring partners of Folkestone Saints over the years; their most memorable encounter being Saints' 2002 triple overtime 111-113 win, when the teams finally left the court at 11.30 at night. Interestingly, the two teams lining up on Wednesday night consisted of 80% of the same personnel.

In the first half Folkestone, after a disappointing early season, played some of their best basketball for a long while. Last season's National League 3 MPV Paul Jessop combined well with Adam Harman and big Dave May to lay siege to the Lordswood basket, whilst the Wizards looked far from magic, trailing by as many as 10 points before halftime.

In the second half Lordswood found their rhythm, and used their trademark run and gun strategy to cut through the Saints defences with ease, like a knife through cheese. Though the Saints kept up their own scoring, Wizards finally outpaced them in a fourth quarter contest of attrition and with four minutes tied the game at 78.

Basket was traded with basket until the final few seconds with Lordswood leading 86-84. Harman found the ball in his hands for the equalising shot but despite heroics throughout the game was unable to land it, leaving the Wizards delirious. It was a great spectacle for the neutral, but left Saints with a mountain to climb in Medway.

Folkestone rebounded from their worst performance of the season with one of their best, overwhelming Romney Rockets 104-40, to maintain their 100% record in the East Kent League.

Although they got off to a slow start, trailing 9-2 after 4 minutes, Saints soon found their rhythm with Ian Atkins leading a 19-2 charge before Davie Drylie and Paul Kennedy flexed their muscle inside during a spell of 18 unanswered points.

A swarming defence was pressuring the visitors into making turnovers, most of which then led to fast break baskets, turning Saints' lead from 55-19 at halftime to 79-25 after three quarters.

With Steve Thomas finally finding his shooting touch, Saints were able to coast the rest of the way, leaving just enough time for Drylie to push the score over the hundred mark and make up for an earlier embarrassing botched lay up opportunity.

Saints A: S Thomas 18, D May 18, D Drylie 14, P Kennedy 12, I Atkins 11, L Andrews 7, A Smith 6, S Aldeen 6, M Bushell 6, M Harding 4, P Major 2

There are many words that could describe Folkestone Saints latest performance in the Medway league; unfortunately none of them would be very complimentary. Saints played a shocking game at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace and wound up on the wrong end of a 75-52 scoreline.

Although Folkestone couldn't get their offence working, they actually led 13-12 towards the end of the opening quarter and, despite numerous costly turnovers, stayed in the game throughout the first half, which ended 29-24 to Bromley.

With Saints missing countless free throws and open shots, the home team started to take advantage early in the second half, slicing Saints' defence to shreds by continually driving to the basket. Over the first 8 minutes of the half Folkestone were outscored 17-4; Steve Thomas ended the drought with his third three-pointer of the night, but the contest was effectively over.

Saints recovered slightly in the final quarter but got no closer than 18 points. The attacking effort of Lee Andrews and Ian Atkins provided one of the few bright spots for the visitors, but despite this, when Dave May scored his first points of the game on back to back jump shots with 6 minutes to play, it was only the second time in the match that Folkestone managed two consecutive baskets.

Turnovers, poor finishing and 13 missed free throws all contributed to this result, which Folkestone will have to learn from if they are to avoid similar performances in future.

Saints: S Thomas 9, D Drylie 9, I Atkins 7, P Kennedy 7, T Redfearn 4, S Aldeen 4, M Bushell 4, L Andrews 4, D May 4, R Dagger, D Howkins.

All Saints B players got their name on the scoresheet as they took a comfortable win.

Saints B: R Cooper 15, M Hinton 12, R Dagger 12, J Brayshaw 8, M Prado 6, P Major 6, M Walton 2.

Folkestone Saints hosted Dartford on Sunday and produced their highest-scoring performance of the season so far, running out 102-70 winners.

Having already lost to Medway league favourites Greenwich, Folkestone have to treat every match as a must-win encounter to keep their title hopes alive, and they raced out of the blocks in this encounter, taking a 17-2 lead behind the long-range shooting of Mark Hinton.

Folkestone's starting five were quicker and more athletic than their opposition, but despite this they let Dartford find their shooting touch in the second quarter. At the six-minute mark three consecutive threes brought the visitors to within a basket, 30-33.

Dartford never came any closer though, as Saints used a balanced offence to score the first 12 points of the second half. With a defence that was now focused on their opponent's strengths, Saints pulled away and a three pointer from David May as time expired gave them a 73-46 lead going into the final period.

Adam Harman's aggressive play at both ends of the court kept the momentum going and when top scorer Paul Jessop brought the scoreboard to 100 with his fifth three of the night Folkestone were assured of their third win in four Medway League games.

Saints: P Jessop 29, D May 16, A Harman 12, M Hinton 11, I Atkins 10, P Kennedy 8, S Aldeen 6, S Thomas 4, D Drylie 4, L Andrews 2, D Howkins.

Folkestone Saints A continued their unbeaten start to the East Kent League with a confident, if not entirely comfortable, win over local rivals Dover. Although they never trailed, Folkestone got off to a nervous start, trading baskets with the Pirates until captain Mark Hinton broke the sequence with a three-pointer in the 7 th minute.

The home side found their rhythm in the second quarter, with back-to-back threes from Steve Thomas and Paul Jessop starting a 20-4 run that also featured 8 points from Dave May.

Leading 49-30 at the half, Saints lost their momentum in the third quarter and some sloppy passing gave their opponents the opportunity to close the gap, which they did with a 9-2 burst to end the period.

Both defences eased off in the final quarter, resulting in more end-to-end scoring; even veteran Paul Kennedy got in on the act with a fast-break three-point play. Sig Aldeen also had an impressive game, coming off the bench to drive Folkestone's offence and becoming the fourth Saint to hit a three-pointer as he finished off the 94-68 scoreline in the final minute.

Folkestone Saints B’s first game of the season got off to a slow start, although the team managed to turn the odds and come out with strong win. In the first minutes Herne Bay scored 5 points and were battling with confidence to win the game. Once Saints B started playing good defence the points started flowing in; 41 - 26 by the half and by the end 73 – 55 to Saints B.

This was a good win for Saints B, resulting from determination, teamwork and good defence.

Folkestone Saints A travelled to Tenterden to take on league newcomers Tenterden Tornados in a re-match of their pre-season friendly, and once again their experience showed in a 76-41 victory.

Saints jumped to a 17-2 lead as their younger opposition had no answer to the assured ball handling of guards Tim Redfearn and Adam Harman or the inside strength of Paul Kennedy and Dave May. With a deep bench, Folkestone could field various player combinations, none of which were likely to have any problems.

A 41-17 halftime lead grew to 55-23 behind eight consecutive points from May, but the Saints defence then collapsed, allowing the Tornados an 11-2 run at the end of the third period.

Order was restored in the final five minutes with Sig Aldeen leading a 16-1 run, before Kennedy completed the scoring with the last of his game-high 19 points.

Saints A: P Kennedy 19, D May 14, S Aldeen 13, A Harman 11, L Andrews 6, M Hinton 6, I Coulson 4, R Dagger 2, T Redfearn 1, S Thomas.

Folkestone Saints hosted reigning Medway League champions Greenwich Admirals on Sunday but finished on the wrong side of a low scoring encounter.

Led by the driving backcourt duo of Tim Redfearn and Adam Harman, Saints jumped to an impressive 12-2 lead in the opening minutes and then used four consecutive baskets from David May to finish the first quarter 21-11 up.

The second quarter saw a change in fortunes as Greenwich put together a 19-2 run, during which Folkestone's Paul Jessop was forced out of the contest with an ankle sprain.

With their top scorer out, there weren't enough Saints threatening the basket and although Ian Atkins' three-pointer tied the game at 38 with 13 minutes to play, Folkestone never regained their first quarter form and their challenge fizzled out with a lowly 8 point final term.

The 66-51 final score reflected Folkestone's lack of scoring ambition and they will need to rediscover their offensive play book and score more than 51 points a game if they want to improve on last year's third place in this competition.

In the first East Kent League game of the new season, Folkestone Saints A and B teams were matched against each other, with the ever-improving B side keen to see how competitive they would be this year.

However the first quarter showed that seniors could still live up to their 'A' team title as they jumped to a 21-10 lead at the first break, helped by two early 3 pointers from last years team MVP Paul Jessop.

Davie Drylie was the only offensive threat for the juniors, scoring 10 of their first 16 points, but then rails came off the B team's game completely. Trailing by just seven points, they let Saints A close out the half with a 16-2 run, during which Zach Maasbach was disqualified for dissent following two consecutive technical fouls.

Although Saints B took the second half 34-32, the A side were always in control of the game and improved on last year's dismal free throw record by hitting 17 of 22 from the line to finish 71-52 victors.

Saints A: Jessop 27, May 11, Andrews 8, Hinton 6, Atkins 6, Redfearn 4, Coulson 4, Thomas 3, Harman 2.

Saints B: Drylie 17, Aldeen 8, Cooper 8, Dagger 8, Simmonds 5, Howkins 2, Prado 2, Walton 2, Major, Maasbach, Brayshaw.

Folkestone Saints basketball team continued a successful season with an impressive win on Tuesday against Bromley B at Crystal Palace. Despite being their second string side, Bromley B have considerable skill and depth, and the result was never to be taken for granted.

In Medway this season Saints have chosen to mix youth and experience more than ever before in order to bed in a number of extremely talented juniors and add some speed and agility to a skilful but ageing side. The strategy proved sound early in the first half as the elder established members of the team held the opposition to just two points in the first five minutes, only to score the same paltry number for themselves. An injection of youth soon put the hosts on the back foot though, and Saints broke the dogged defence down to lead 7-10 at the end of the first quarter and then 18-23 at the end of the second.

In the second quarter Saints put their foot on the accelerator, breaking Bromley on every opportunity. Giant 6'8" centre Dave May also came into his own, and having sprayed some WD40 onto ageing joints, terrorised the opposition with his trademark low post move.

Intensive pre-season training also paid dividends for Saints, as they were clearly the fitter of the two sides, and using a well-rehearsed half-court two-man trap, Saints forced the hosts into passing to the wrong side. Saints juniors Zach Maasbach and Sig Aldeen reaped the rewards of this strategy, helping themselves to a personal haul of 9 and 13 points respectively in the second half.

Folkestone eventually ran out deserved 26-70 point winners, keeping Bromley to just two points in the third quarter. Saints now hope to similarly destroy stronger opposition and are aiming to secure their first Medway trophy.

Saints: Aldeen 18, Maasbach 13, May 10, Thomas 7, Harman 6, Drylie 5, Andrews 4, Bushell 4, Redfearn 3, Dagger

Despite beating East Kent League newcomers Tenterden, a combined Saints squad showed more evidence of a summer layoff than summer training in this pre-season friendly. Zach Maasbach top-scored with 21 points.