Game Report - 15/02/2014
Bucks Hornets 59 v Reading Rockets 77
By Coach Buckner
This weekend's game between 3rd place Buck's Hornets and 2nd place Reading Rockets was always going to be a tense affair as whoever won would cement 2nd place and become the favorite to grab a spot in the play-off's. After a crushing defeat by just 3 points last week it was great to see the girls working hard and showing real focus in training, this definitely paid off in the game.
We started well and the ball movement that the coaches have been emphasizing in training was put into good practice, we were just too quick for Bucks and always had an open player, with Bucks mainly playing zone defense this meant we had to find the gaps and hit some shots, something that our girls do well. By the end of the quarter we were up 18-12.
The 2nd quarter was tighter, a few turnovers crept in and Bucks started to play a bit more fluidly, but we relied on our defense and even though Bucks were looking better we limited them to 13 points and scored 15 ourselves. So at half-time Rockets were up 33-25 and for once have no players in foul trouble!
After we re-grouped and had a chat I asked the girls for a big 3rd quarter, normally they don't disappoint! This time was no different, we came out firing and hit Bucks on the fast break repeatedly and finished our breaks very well under pressure. This set the tone for the rest of the game, we either ran hard on the break or passed quickly when in set offence to push our lead and win the game, at the end of the 3rd we were up 57-41 and cruising.
As ever though, there were a few twists and turns before the game was over, Bucks hit some big shots and our offence stalled for a minute or so despite a time-out and further discussion, at one stage the lead was down to just 9 points. Over the course of this season the Rockets girls have developed some resilience and determination though and nothing was going to stop us from winning this game! The passing stepped up a gear and then suddenly we had open attackers all over the court again, the scoring increased and even though Bucks stepped up too we made sure that we won the 4th quarter as well as the previous 3. The final score was 77-59, with some big contributions from Freya, Eloise and Denisa who scored 20, 18 and 17 respectively, but this was a team effort and all 9 players worked so hard for the team the get the result we needed, the no-nonsense defense we played and selfless passing were the keys to this win.
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