A lack of discipline and a lethal Justin Williams performance saw Hemel Storm fall to a 96-91 defeat at the hands of the Bradford Dragons in their final regular league matchup of the 2024/25 campaign.
Williams had 38 points and proved a menace in Halifax, much as he did in last season’s KitKing Trophy semi final at the same venue. His speed, craft and ability to threaten both inside and outside the perimeter is a handful for any defence to manage, and he was simply too good for Storm here.
Still it was a game of fine margins and Storm didn’t help themselves. Six technical fouls cost them dearly, including five in a tight-knit final quarter where they allowed their heads to be lost.
Back-to-back defeats makes for less than ideal preparation for the playoffs starting next week, where they will hope to defend the title they won in Manchester against Reading Rockets last year. With the league title wrapped up, it would be a hugely significant double for Mark Clark whose men have been the best across the duration of the campaign despite a late blip.
It was a balanced team display from Storm, who on-the-whole improved from last week’s loss to London Cavaliers, with chances afforded to the likes of Jarvis Chater and Jack Burnell who impressed.
It started with consecutive Storm threes from Sam Newman and Tra’Michael Moton as they raced into an 8-0 lead. Newman had 10 in the game, to go with another 10 assists, and Moton grabbed himself 14. The Dragons rallied back and cut the deficit to three by the end of the first period.
Hakeem Sylla picked up 12 points as his return from injury continues to gather pace, and he combined with Burnell to stretch the lead to a game-high 10 in the second quarter. They carried on their recent trend of making life hard for themselves, though, and a seven-point half-ending run for the hosts pulled the arrears back to three - 42-45 to Storm at the break.
Darien Nelson-Henry played only eight minutes as he nursed a knock and his absence was keenly felt by his side. They lost the rebound battle by 10 and Bradford helped themselves to 28 second chance points - a whopping 19 more than Storm’s nine. Perhaps that’s where the difference was made, but despite a Williams three on the buzzer, Storm headed into the final quarter four ahead.
Sylla was first to feel the wrath of the referees, picking up a technical as Williams began to find his flow. The Dragons turned the tie on its head, pushing out into a seven-point lead with minutes to play as two quickfire technicals saw Trent Monkman’s evening come to a premature end.
Clark and Ellis, who top scored for Storm with 16, also irritated the officials and felt the consequences but nonetheless they trailed by only three with 13 seconds to play as Burnell failed to connect from long range. A layup from Justin Whelan sealed the contest and Bradford were victorious - 96-91 the final score.
Next week sees Storm in playoff quarter-final action, with Bristol Hurricanes the visitors at the StormDome. Grab your tickets on the Fanbase app as Storm look to begin their journey to Manchester.
Written by Callum Humphrey