Wolves' unlucky seven

It was unlucky seven for Oaklands Wolves junior over the final fortnight of their mini-season as they suffered a series of defeat.

With their home court unavailable what has generally been a successful two month series of friendlies ended with some tough losses on the road.

Sunday lunchtime saw the under-14 girls lose a thriller 54-51 against Richmond Knights' under-16 B side. Tor Freeman's side fought back from a nine point deficit at the final break before Wolves had a chance to level the score in the final second only to see the hosts steal the ball.

Caitlin Ryan led the visitors with 12 points and 13 rebounds while Joanna Akpan added ten points.

A depleted under-12 boys side went down 73-50 at Reading Rockets, Jeremy Akpan leading their scoring with 16 points.

Last week saw heartbreak for both Wolves' under-12 and under-14 girls teams as they suffered one-point defeats at Richmond. . With Lucy Conlan's 13 points leading the under-12s, they led for most of the game but a strong finish from the hosts saw the game tied heading into the final minute before Knights hit a single free-throw to win 31-30. The under-14 girls recovered from a 51-36 deficit at the final break to lead by one with two minutes on the clock, only to see several key decisions go against them as they lost 58-57. Jemima Uzoka led Wolves with 16 points, while Caitlin Ryan added 12. Grace Strickland marked her final game with Wolves juniors, but it wasn't enough as the under-16s went down 69-56 against a physical Knights team, Lauren Milligan's side trailed by as many as 24 in the third period but a barrage of three pointers saw them fight their way back into the game before running out of time. The previous day saw a depleted boys' squad travel to Woking Blackhawks where they suffered two heavy defeats. Wolves under-15s had 22 points from Simon Patison and 13 from Ethan Downing, but with the rest of seven man squad comprising of under-14 players, they went down 88-46 against Woking U-16 A. The core of that side immediately returned to the court as the under-14s faced Woking U-16 B, and went down 61-42. Larry Clark finished with 11 points to go with his five from the first game, while Dontel Rose added nine. The three-month mini season is wrapped up on Sunday as the under-14 girls face Richmond under-16 B side while the under-12 boys travel to Reading Rockets.