Saturday 24th September, KitKing Trophy
Hemel Storm 122 Charnwood Riders 52
Sunday 25th September, KitKing Trophy
Loughborough Riders 62 Hemel Storm 93
Saturday and Sunday saw Vanarama-sponsored Hemel Storm face Charnwood and Loughborough Riders in an attempt to secure a quarter final fixture at home in the KitKing Trophy. Storm secured both wins in style, winning convincingly and showing signs of phenomenal offence, and dogged defence.
Storm faced Charnwood College Riders on Saturday, building a dominant lead in the first quarter. Charnwood invited Storm to shoot from the three point line, which led to many of Storm’s points coming from outside the arc. Jack Burnell took full advantage of this and went on to score an impressive 21 points.
Storm showed no mercy defensively, applying constant pressure to limit the young Charnwood team’s scoring, and constantly out-rebounded and out-muscled them. Therefore, second-chance points were in Storm’s favour and was a factor as to why Storm won the game in the style that they did.
The game finished 122-52, after a good last effort for Charnwood to reduce the gap and relish the experience against a well-organised Hemel Storm.
Sunday’s game saw Storm face Loughborough Riders who also came into the game with a victory over Nottingham Hoods the previous night. This meant that both teams wanted to take the victory, especially to gain the home advantage for next Saturday’s quarter final match. Storm’s quality defence led to them winning this game convincingly to end a successful weekend.
Both teams were closely matched in the first half, going into halftime with Storm deservedly leading 35-44. In the second half Storm managed to build a scoring run in which the Riders had no reply, successfully scoring with great precision and denying Riders from taking the lead from Storm.
However, there were times where Storm had executed their defence well until a good shot, most notably from Riders’ Elijah Bailey who went on to score an incredible 29 points. It was a team performance that saw four players scoring double digits in points and Sam Newman with an amazing 15 assists.
Overall, it was a very successful weekend for Storm with plenty of positives to take into next weekend where they will face Bradford Dragons in the KitKing Trophy Quarter Final at Everyone Active Leisure Centre, Hemel Hempstead, 7pm tip.
Tickets available at the door on the day, or online at www.stormbasketball.net
Top Scorers vs Charnwood:
Jack Burnell: 21 points , Charles Acquah-Davis: 17 points, Sam Newman: 16 points
Top Scorers vs Loughborough:
Taylor Johnson: 23 points, Hakeem Sylla: 14 points, Aaryn Rai: 13 points
Report by Ollie Heathcote
Photos by Joanne Charles
