U-13s sign off in style

Wolves U-13 boys wrapped up their home league campaign in style with an 81-55 victory against Cambourne Falcons U-14s, on Sunday.

George Walker's side made a slow start and trailed 17-15 after the first period but took control during the second quarter to go into the locker room at half-time leading 49-30. A low-scoring third period saw the visitors chip a couple of points off the lead before Wolves wrapped things up with a 25-16 final frame.

Rocky Starr led the hosts with 24 point and 12 rebounds, while Frank Fojt also had a double-double, finishing with 20 points and ten boards. It was clearly a day for double-doubles, with Alex Ryan adding ten assists to his 20 points and six rebounds while Danny Tsoutas was perfect from the field as he scored ten points, adding seven rebounds.

The U-12 boys also had a successful home game as they defeated Cambridge Cats 75-50 on Saturday morning. Michael Ball's team shaded the first period 16-12 before a strong second period saw them lead 44-23 going into the half-time break. A 19-17 third quarter saw that lead grow before the home side completed the win with a 12-10 fourth period.

The U-16 girls missed the chance to make it three straight wins a they lost an overtime thriller 78-72 at home against London Thunder, on Saturday. Having already scored a buzzer-beater to win their first game of the season, Elise Beardsworth scored a late basket to send this game into overtime, but with four players fouling out the visitors wrapped up the win from the free-throw line.

Thunder controlled the early stages to lead 23-16 at the first break but Wolves fought back to only trail 31-30 at half-time. A strong third period saw them lead 49-46 at the end of the quarter before a grandstand finish to the fourth saw Beardsworth send the game into overtime.

Eunice Wong led the Wolves' scoring with 26 points, with Jane Yu adding 16 and Beardsworth 13.

Jorjah Smith's team had received a boost in midweek as Basketball England awarded them a 20-0 after Barking RDF failed to rearrange a game they postponed without agreement.

The U-16 boys had a disappointing weekend as they lost 111-45 at home against London Stars I and then went down 66-54 at Brentwood Fire the following day.

Otis Lau-Johnston poured in 25 points against Stars and pulled down six boards, while Max Plaggerman finished with eight points. Wolves never recovered from an early 12-0 deficit and were 30-10 down at the first break, and despite a 13-12 final period were comfortably beaten by play-off bound Stars

In Brentwood, Wolves trailed 22-17 at the first break and were 49-34, and a good fourth period came too late for the visitors.

But here was good news for the Wolves on Tuesday afternoon as RDF's continued inability to do a core function of a basketball club - actually play games at home - resulted in a 20-0 victory being awarded by Basketball England, and Oaklands will survive to compete in East Premier next season.

It was another tough game for the U-14 girls as they lost 80-38 at home against Sussex Storm. Allison Day's side made a good start and were only 14-11 down at the first break, but a 25-2 second period from the visitors paved the way for another heavy defeat.

Jane Yu led the hosts scoring with 20 points, Ghuarie Kohil 13 and U-12 player Rose Marsh five.

The U-14 boys saw their hopes of home court advantage in the play-offs end with an 81-66 loss at Barking & Dagenham Thunder. Wolves won the first period 24-17, but that was as good as it got for the visitors .Ibrahim Gariba's team have now completed their league programme and will wait to see where they travel in the post season after Easter.

Liam Schertel led the way with 18 points, with Tituoan Vimeux adding 11 points and four steals. Sam McCree had nine points to go with his 13 rebounds.

Play-off charge continues for women

Oaklands Wolves II kept their outside hopes of a place in the WNBL Division Two play-offs with a 69-47 victory at Bracknell Cobras on Saturday.

Claire Abbott's young team need need to win their final regular season when they host Thames Valley Cavaliers II on Saturday (5.30pm) and hope that other results go their way to seal a place in the post-season.

Caitlin Ryan led the visitors' scoring with 17 points, Rosie Porter added 16 while both Sarah Adepoju and Katie Nicholson had season-high 11-point games.

After the two sides shared the first 20 points, Wolves blew the game open with an 11-1 run and went into the first break leading 23-13. 

That advantage grew to 36-20 at half-time  and although Cobras shaved a point off the lead in the third period, a 20-13 fourth quarter sealed Wolves' 11th win of the NBL season.

Both men's NBL teams saw their seasons end in disappointment with heavy defeats as the Division Two team lost 98-61 at home against Westminster Warriors while the Division Three side went down 100-60 at Northampton Mavericks.

Wolves trailed 24-18 at the end of the first break against Warriors but they started the second period well and Lanre Pratt's jump shot put the hosts 34-32 ahead at the five minute mark. But that proved to be as good as it got for the hosts as Warriors went into half-time with a 47-34 lead and blew the game open with a 28-12 third period.

Captain LaQuarne Sayles led Wolves with 17 points and six rebounds while Ethan Downing marked his final NBL game with Wolves by dishing out five assists to go with his 14 points. Pratt pulled down an impressive 13 rebounds to add to his seven points and four assists. The visitors were led by Justin Hitchman, who spend several seasons with Wolves' predecessors Leopards, as he proved unstoppable in the paint with a 29-point, 11 rebound double-double while Lukas Volskis, another former Leopard, dished out a season-high 11 assists. 

21 points from captain Dan Kostadinov weren't enough to prevent Wolves' D3 season ending on a low as they never recovered from a 28-9 first period deficit in Northampton. The second quarter saw them knock a point off the deficit to trail 45-27 at half-time, but the hosts comfortably outscored them in the second half. Larry Clark added 11 points and Milic Pavic eight. 

WEABL team reach semi-finals

Oaklands Wolves recorded arguably their best result of the season as they reached the Women's Elite Academy Basketball League play-off semi-finals with a 57-53 at Manchester Mystics, on Wednesday.

Claire Abbott's team led from tip-to-buzzer against the Northern Conference runners-up but survived a frantic fourth period comeback to reach the final four. They were the only team in the last eight stage to win away from home and will now travel to Ipswich on Wednesday March 20 as they attempt to reach the final for the first time.

Rosie Porter split a pair of free-throws with 4.7 seconds on the clock to put Wolves up by four and, after Mystics had called a time-out, Caitlin Ryan blocked a three-pointer to end any hopes the hosts had of a dramatic finish.

Porter led Wolves' scoring with 15 points, adding three assists, while captain Ryan had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steal and three big fourth quarter blocks. Cleo Lewis-Gayle had 12 point, eight rebounds and three assists while Joanna Akpan had nine boards to go with her five points.

Porter opened the scoring with a free-throw before baskets from Ella Brown and Amye Swinney saw Wolves take a 5-0 lead. Five straight Lewis-Gayle points saw the lead balloon to 21-7 before Mystics closed the period strongly to cut Wolves' lead to 24-16 at the first break.

Ryan's three-pointer kept Wolves ahead in what proved to be a tight second period as

Mystics shaved the visitors' lead to 39-33 at half-time before a Porter basket followed by a Ryan tripe put Wolves 44-33 up with 7:11 left in the third period. The rest of the quarter saw a defensive battle as both sides struggled to put points on the board, but a pair of Lewis-Gayle baskets helped Oaklands take a 50-39 lead into the final quarter.

Only Ryan's basket troubled the scorer for the visitors in the first six minutes pf the fourth period as Mystics whittled the lead down to 52-49. But Porter broke the duck as she split a pair at the foul line before Manchester's Hernandez and Lily Harkness exchanged baskets.

Swinney made it a five-point game oly for Escriva Gay's drive to the basket to get Mystics back within a single shot. Porter missed with 26 seconds on the clock but the hosts turned the ball over and Wolves had the ball to set a nerve-wracking finish,

Abbott's team return to senior National League Division Two South action on Saturday with a trip to Bracknell before resuming their quest for academy glory next Wednesday.