Its been a busy couple of weeks, and we're a little late on the write up... but here it is.
Lets start over in Bridport, where the Evolution hosted the Suns. The Suns got out to a quick start and stunned the Evolution early on going 14-7 up, but fast flowing offence from both teams saw an Evolution comeback to finish with a 12-0 run to take the acsendancy. As Jeff Robertshaw found his rhythm on the night, adding 20 to his tally, the Suns struggled to match them, and it was 48-21 at the half. As the Evolution defence tightened led by Piotr Lason, the Suns were forced to find their range rather than penetrate and shot well, but couldn't match the home team. It ended 98-46 to Evolution.
The other game on the Monday, Bears vs Seahawks was postponed until Dec 6th due to Covid-19.
Wed 27th saw the Classics host the Tigers in what was a good game. Tigers started super strong, and jumped to a 22-8 lead after 1. Q2 was more evenly matched but Coach Dronyk said "although the Classics had a good tight zone Defence, we were able to move the ball around well and work the offence". Classics had cut into the lead before some sharp shooting added three 3's for the Tigers to close the half. But the Classics made a game of it in the 2nd half, as they made a run of their own towards the end and held the Tigers to just 3 points throughout the fourth quarter (one bucket and one FT) as the kept cutting into the lead. But it was too little too late as it closed 57-44 to the Tigers.
The other game on the Wed night, was Oaks / Bandits at St. Peters. Bandits were missing some big names from their roster, and could not match the fast flowing Oaks team. Oaks offence working both inside and out, moving the ball well gave them easier looks as they pulled away and looked comfortable throughout. It ended 82-46, which puts the Oaks on top of Conference C, with both Tigers and Bandits on 0.500%.
Week 4...
5 games to report on....
First up, Storm hosted the Bears at St. Eds in a very close game in Conference B. Storm had the lead after 1, 18-13, of which 7 belonged to K.Randall, but the Bears closed the half on a 10-2 run to close the gap to just a single point at the half. Storm regathered and came out flying from the break but Bears answered with Mark Gorman adding 6 in his tally in quick succession. 44-39 to Storm going into the last. But the Bears hit everything, whilst the Storm dried up, and a 14-0 run virtually put the game to bed, before D.Brunning broke the snap. It ended 68-50 to put Bears on top on ConfB.
Suns hosted Blazers in Winton, and the fast paced Suns offence quickly found their feet, as the Blazers are still finding theirs as a new team. Pete Atkinson's distribution of the ball had a host of Suns on the scoresheet but three 3's from J.Walker in the first half, had the Suns on top 38-24 at the break. The third quarter was a scrappy affair with a bunch of turnovers, but Walker was still shooting well, but was answered by Charlton with two 3's of his own as Blazers started to settle. The Suns stretched their lead through the 4th and looked comfortable at both ends, as they closed the game 70-44 to get their first win. Walker finished with MVP honours on the night, with 17pts.
Classics travelled to Weymouth to face the Bandits, and is was the travelling team who got off to the better start, and won Q1 18-15, with M.Bray adding 3 from range. It was to and fro in the second but Classics could not buy a FT, as they went 1-from-8 from the line, but still held on to a 1 pt lead at the half.
Clearly Bandits have a favoured way to shoot, as the second half was downhill, as they took an early lead, which they never gave up., With tighter, solid D, held the Classics to just 14pts in the half whilst shooting well. It finished 64-44 to Bandits as Max Gilmartin picked up MVP on his birthday, with 9 points from the PG. He added "Good energy from the team, Classics were a tough act, but pleased to get the 'dub' ... and we need to focus on our conditioning, but Happy Birthday to ME!"
Seahawks jumped on the bus to Bournemouth Uni on Wed night to face the Spartans. Although Coaches Mills and Wood had plans to attempt to stop the Twin Towers under the basket, it was a struggle for the young Seahawks team. Seahawks were playing well, but couldn't get the ball to drop as Spartans relied on what they know, going strong inside. Led by Mike Brake at the top, the Spartans moved the ball well and had the lead 53-37 at the half. But the Seahawks rallied with some better shooting and faster play to accommodate their size and conditioning, the Seahawks almost matched the Spartans 40-36 through Q3&4, but the Spartans held on for the win 77-46. Ollie Thorneycroft had 22pts for MVP honours.
The final game saw Oaks take on the Tigers, in Conference C. I looks like it was a close affair, but I haven't received the score sheet yet, so cant really comment!!!
It finished 74-63 to the Oaks as they now lead ConfC at their half way point.
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Only 2 games in the coming week, both in Conference B, Spartans hosting Storm, and Bears travelling to the Seahawks. Any of the top 3 in that one can lead the way at the half way mark, but it looks like it will be the Bears.
