Result Warriors 47 Stoke 63

After three straight losses the Senior Men were looking to pick up their season against a favoured Stoke side on their Home Court. With a Under 14’s and 15’s practice match before tip-off and a good team spirit evident in both the pre-match time and warm up the team looked confident and in good shape. With a full squad and Coach Dieterch back at the helm the starting five of Josh, Simon, Luke, Rich and Ash looked comfortable.

Stoke began strong, with a heavy inside presence jumping to a 14-6 within 10 minutes. A relatively low scoring quarter saw Rich and Ash get on the score sheet, which came to characterise the game in the first half for both teams. As we picked up the pace, it was free throw shooting that cost us some vital points that left the 2nd quarter 31 to 15 in favour of Stoke. A closer quarter for the Warriors saw actually very little in between the two offensively, where both team missed open shots which could have led to a lead out for either sets of players.

The 3rd quarter started well where the Warriors biting at the heels of Stoke. A quarter which saw Simon exert his dominance offensively, Rich put in an outstanding defensive effort with multiple rebounds...(but Rich we have come to expect double figure blocks...). Strong bench play that saw them provide 16 points kept the warriors close and it seemed as if the game was within our reach. Despite this surge, fast break points seemed to disappear, on what would normally be reliable points from a team that have grown up on running the ball quickly. Missed opportunities that were “any other day would have gone in” shots cost us dearly as Stoke ended the quarter 24-42 up.

In the fourth quarter Simon and Rich did their ever needed war cries and rallied the team to start enjoying and thinking about why they loved to play basketball. The 4th saw the Warriors display some of their best basketball of the night, with Josh making a quick impact with what we know him best for. A strong defence and a more astute offensive pattern which showed what we could actually do, but it was a case of a little too late for the team. For their first time the Warriors outscored the visitors but Stoke took the game 47-63.

Scorers

Simon – 18 pts

Jim – 7 pts

Josh and Rich – 4 pts

 

 

Match Report: Jimmy Morris

Photography: Carsten Dieterich