Weekend Round Up

WBBL

The WBBL side falls at the last hurdle in their 69-62 away loss against Sevenoaks Suns.

Wolves travelled to the Surrey Sports Arena with just eight players after a number of recent injuries. Head coach, Lee Ryan, rotated his bench regularly as each player was prepared to contribute.

The game immediately started as a close encounter, which would see the lead change 10 times. Oaklands began with an emphasis on defence, making it hard for Suns to find open shots. The home side played impressive defence themselves, but Wolves found ways to score, taking a 16-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Led by 13 first half points from Greeta Uprus, the Wolves continued to execute on both ends of the floor as the first half ended 27-31. The second half saw much of the same as both sides continued to fight for the lead.

After scoring just 2 points in the first half, Amari Carter kept Wolves in the game with her aggressive pursuit to score. Despite Carter’s scoring outburst, Suns key players closed out the game with disciplined defence and clutch shots.

Carter finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, while Louise Rouse almost had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Dorka Boros and Greeta Uprus were also both in double digit scoring.

Sevenoaks were led by captain Catherine Carr who scored 12 points, along with 16 rebounds and 9 assists.

Alongside Carr, Janice Monakana and Renee Busch scored 21 and 19 points respectively.

The result sees Oaklands struggles continue as they remain bottom of the table with a losing record of 0-4.

The Wolves face Cardiff Met Archers on Wednesday in WBBL Trophy action.

Division 1 Men

A depleted Wolves team found reigning Division One champions Solent Kestrels too strong as they went down 119-58 on Sunday.

With leading scorer Jordan Santiago and forward James Cummings both out of action due to ankle injuries and several of Thomas Baker's younger players also missing, it proved to be a long afternoon for the home side.

Kane Daley again led Wolves, finishing with 19 points and six rebounds. The rest of the scoring was evenly spread with AJ Roberts with eight points, despite struggling at the foul line, six rebounds and four assists. Ray Akpofure, Ahmed Ketiri and Toby Gastaldi-Davies finished with seven points apiece, adding six, five and four rebounds apiece.

American pair Travis Charles (23 points and six rebounds) and Ian Smith (18 points, six rebounds and six assists) again led Kestrels while Elliott Dadds had 19 points and five boards. Having helped keep Wolves predecessors, Leopards, in the top flight last season, Orlan Jackman marked his return to Oaklands with ten points, five rebounds and as many assists.

Roberts opened the scoring and a Daley trey gave Wolves an early 5-1 lead but as the visitors lived at the foul line they went on a 19-2 run to take a lead. A Gastaldi-Davies triple stopped the run and Daley beat the buzzer with a long-range trey to cut the deficit to 26-15 at the first break.

Obi Egbunike converted an and-one to open the second period before Roberts' jumper made the score 28-21 before Kestrels reeled off a 17 unanswered points - including back-to-back triples from Dadds - to effectively end the game as a contest. Ketiri ended the run and Nick Powdrell drained a triple to keep the scoreboard ticking over for the hosts but Solent went into the locker room with a 54-28 lead.

Only Daley's three-point play troubled the scorer for home side in the first seven minutes of the second half as Kestrels poured in 27 points, including two more Dadds triples and although Roberts hit the final basket of the third period, Solent went into the final break with a massive 94-39 lead.

Scores from Roberts and Daley chipped a point off that lead in the first three minutes of the final period before Luke Gosney brought the century mark up for Kestrels. Despite Daley scoring eight points in the quarter, Kestrels comfortably recorded their 50th straight victory in BE competitions.