Double header this weekend

Oaklands Wolves will be looking for home comforts as both their senior teams host high-flying opposition this weekend.

After a week off, the Women's British Basketball League team face big spending Caledonia Gladiators on Saturday evening, 6pm, while the following afternoon at 3pm the men host Division Two South leaders Solent Kestrels.

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Gladiators sit second in the WBBL table with their only loss in ten games coming against a London Lions team who have won the last ten pieces of domestic silverware. They also saw their WBBL Trophy hopes ended by the Lions, and with all bar one of their victories coming with double-digit margins, they look a good bet to face Lions in the play-off final.

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Cash admission on the day also available

Wolves were unable to build on a good start when they travelled to Scotland in early February as they went down.86-62.

The men face an even more daunting task the following afternoon as a Solent side who are top of the table with a perfect 17-0 record having won their games by an average of 29 points. Having controversially dropped out of Division One last season, just a year after winning four straight top flight titles, they are in a two-way fight for the single promotion place with National Cup winners Milton Keynes Breakers. 

Wolves lost 112-49 when the teams met on the south coast in November.

Both senior second teams are on the road with the Division Two women looking to get their play-off bid back on track with a trip to UEL to face East London Phoenix while the men face an early start in Colchester against Chelmsford Charge.

After being scheduled with home games for all EIGHT junior teams last weekend (sadly only seven got played, there are only so many refs in the world) there are just two games at Oaklands for the young Wolves this weekend.

The U-16 boys will be hoping that London Thunder remember to show up for the correct tip-off time at midday on Sunday. It will be a tough game for George Walker's team as they face a Thunder team who are fighting for the league title with Baltic Stars and Newham Youngbloods with the trio having lost only four games between them.

It's part of a double header for the Walker's team as they travel to Greenhouse Sports on Saturday looking for a win would virtually guarantee them Premier Division basketball next season.

Wolves are ninth in the table with a 3-11 record, with the three sides below them having one win apiece. Victory against a Greenhouse side who lost 63-52 at Oaklands would move them within touching distance of safety. After giving four U-14 players their debut in last week's thrilling win against Barking RDF, Walker is expected to field a similar team this week against another side from the capital.

Sunday's other action at Oaklands sees Wolves U-15s host MK Breakers at 5pm - straight after the men's game with La'Quarne Sayles instantly transforming from player to coach. It's been a tough season for Sayles' team as they've lost several players to the U-16s' bid to stay up and they'll face another difficult task against a Breakers side who are second in the South East Conference with a 9-4 record. Meanwhile Wolves go in search of their fourth win of the season after 13 games.

With so little home action, it's no surprise that several Wolves' teams are on the road over the weekend, although the U-14s can put their feet up as Barking RDF have again conceded a 20-0 win against Ibrahim Gariba's team. So that's 40-0 on aggregate. We should auction off those 40 points.

There's no rest of the mercurial Gariba, though, as the takes the U-14 girls to Crawley to face Sussex Storm where they will look to pick up their second win of the season against a side who are fifth in the table with a 7-6 record.

Finally, the U-12 girls will be looking to repeat their 41-34 home win against Richmond Knights a fortnight ago when they travel to Twickenham on Sunday, and a win would go a long way towards securing a top half finish for the Wolves.

Disappointing weekend for seniors

Wolves time in Division Two appears to be coming to an end as they went down to a pair of heavy defeats in London over the weekend, losing 92-68 at Richmond before being defeated 83-55 at Westminster Warriors the following day.

Wolves started well at Richmond with Lanre Pratt's jump shot putting them 6-4 ahead but that was as good as it got and despite La'Quarne Sayers; late trey they trailed 24-16 at the first break.

Five Ethan Downing point kept Wolves within six points early in the second period before Knights pulled away to lead 49-36 at half-time.

A pair of Sayers three pointers, including one where he was fouled a completed a four-point play, saw the deficit cut to 58-51 with 5:45 remaining in the third period but Richmond closed out the quarter on a 16-2 run and outscored Wolves 18-15 in the fourth quarter.

Captain Sayers hit four triples on his way to a 26-point, 11 rebound double-double, with Downing adding 11 points and Jack Davies 9.

Sunday saw Wolves never recover from a 26-11 first period, and although they shared 38 second period points and shaded the third 15-13, Warriors outscored them 25-10 in the final frame to wrap up the victory.

Davies led the visitors scoring with 11 points, while Larry Clark and Oliver Rudzinski finishing with ten apiece.

There was also disappointment for Wolves Division Two Women's side lost 61-44 at home against second placed London All Stars on Saturday evening.

A depleted Wolves team struggled to hit a shot in the first period as they trailed 12-4 with all of their points came from the foul line. In contrast their 12 second quarter points came from outside the three point arc as Rosie Porter, Caitlin Ryan, Sarah Adepoju and Grace Foster all drained from downtown, but they went into the half-time break trailing 32-16.

A much better third period saw Ryan hit eight points before Katie Nicholson coolly drained three straight free-throws to cut the deficit to 41-32 at the final break,

That was as close as Claire Abbott's young team got, and despite Porter and Ryan (twice) getting the score back into single digits with threes, the visitors closed the game out strongly to wrap up the win.

Ryan hit five triples on her way to 16 points, adding seven rebounds and as many steals. Porter had eight points and three rebounds, with Adepoju adding six points and Katie Nicholson five points and three boards.. Wolves travel to University of East London on Saturday to face East London Phoenix.

Amazing finishes for three teams

A thrilling weekend's basketball at Oaklands saw three Wolves boys games go down to the wire before the home team came out on the top,

Just a combined four points separated the sides as Wolves U-16s, U-14s and U-13s came out on the top, and to increase the strain on the hearts of some raucous crowds, the visiting team had ball and the chance to score with the final play of each game.

The U-16s probably top the bill of heart-attack inducing endings as they led by six points with 20 seconds on the clock but had to survive a frantic comeback from Barking RDF as a basket, a steal and a potential four point play ended with the visitors missing a frere-throw to send the game into overtime, grabbing the rebound but failing to get a shot off as Wolves won 82-81.

The U-14s also narrowly avoided overtime as Newham Youngblood's final shot came just a fraction after the clock reached 0:00, leaving them with winning 72-70 on Sunday.

Two hours later the U-13s got the pulse racing in a whole different way as they came back from 19 down at the final break to beat Aylesbury Dux U-14s 73-72 with Harry Regan draining the winning free-throw with 3.2 seconds on the clock before some great defence sealing the win.

With several players unavailable, U-16 coach George Walker drafted in Zac Butterworth, Albert Dye, Liam Schertel and Tituouan Vimeux from the U-14s and they didn't disappoint as they combined for 35 points, 18 rebounds, five steals, four assists and a block.

It was a game that probably should never have gone down to the wire as Wolves led 24-13 at the first break, but saw RDF chip away at the advantage with 21-18 second and third periods. Jeremy Akpan had the chance to make it a three possession game down the stretch, but he split his free-throws to set up the grandstand finish before Wolves could celebrate a win that goes a long way to avoiding the relegation play-offs.

Jayen Pisharody led Wolves with 19 points and five rebounds, while Butterworth marked his debut with 18 points, including two big three pointers. Fellow U-14 players Schertal and Vimeux and 10 points & six rebounds and seven points & nine boards respectively, Max Plagemann had a ten point, 13 rebound double-double, while Shaun Uzos missed out on a double-double by one point having pulled down a massive 16 rebounds.

The U-14 quartet returned to the court the following afternoon for a key match-up against Youngbloods, with play-off seedings at stake and it was Schertel (20 points) and Vimeux (18) who led the way for Ibrahim Gariba's team as they avenged a controversial one-point loss in east London earlier in the season.

Sam McCree had another massive game on the boards, pulling down 17 rebounds and adding ten points, four steals, three assists and a couple of blocks, with Butterworth adding six points, five assists and as many steals.

This was another game where Wolves nearly let a big lead slip, as they rushed into an 18-8 lead and were still ahead by ten at half time after sharing 40 second period points. They lead grew to 60-46 at the final break before Youngbloods staged their comeback that was ultimately ended by Schertel's jump shot to give Wolves the win.

The depleted U-13 team found the going in the first and third period where all players must play five minutes in each quarter, as they were outscored 25-13 to trail 64-50 going into the last quarter and the deficit grew to 19 in early in the final frame before the comeback started.

Five straight Frank Fojit baskets dragged Wolves back into the game and with the visitors in foul trouble, Wolves spent much of the final minutes at the free-throw line. Ethan Fraser-Evans tied the game with a pair at the charity stripe before Regan hit his first as saw the rebound from his second collected by Alex Ryan, only for the referee to call a lane violation. Dux' timeout saw them advance the ball and Wolves played some tough defence to deny a shot and wrap up the win.

Regan led the way with a massive 21 point, 15 rebound double-double while Fojit did likewise with 18 points and 19 double-doubles. Alex Ryan added 12 points, five boards and four assists, while Will Rhodes had 11 points and five rebounds,

Wolves U-12 boys continued their fine season in much calmer circumstances with an 85-57 home victory against Ipswich to launch Saturday's action.

Michael Ball's side never looked back after a 29-9 first period, and although the visitors cut the lead to 43-29 at half-time, a 20-16 third period followed by a 22-12 fourth sealed another victory.

Alex Cofone led Wolves with 25 points, with Tristan Ball adding 18 and Manuel Gracia-Peris 17.

With the season reaching its final weeks, the U-15 boys were in action on Saturday morning as both side courts saw action, but they found Bedford Thunder U-16s too strong in a 109-46 loss.

In a game they trailed throughout, Milo Garvin Gilfeather led La'Quarne Sayers' team with 11 points and two steals, while Jacob Edrupt added ten points and four steals. Oliver Thomas and U-14 guard Uros Piscatelli each finished with six points, adding two boards and two assists respectively.

After the excitement - and tears - of the U-16 boys game, RDF U-16 girls gained revenge for their clubmates loss with a 71-53 victory against a depleted Wolves' team containing several U-14 players.

The teams were tied at 14 going into the second period but it was that frame where the visitors did the damage by outscoring Wolves 29-11 before the teams shared 56 second half points.

Eunice Wong led Jorjah Smith's side with 19 points, with Elise Beardsworth adding 18.

There was also disappointment for the U-12 girls as they lost 34-22 against Reading Rockets on Sunday morning.

A low scoring game saw Wolves trail 10-6 at the first break and 21-9 going into the locker room at half-time. A 12-4 third period effectively ended the game as a contest but Wolves did win the final quarter 9-1 against a team who had beaten them 43 earlier in the season. Rose Marsh led Wolves with ten points