Hornets: 73

Chorlton: 72

Hornets register first away win of the season against feisty Jedi

The first match of the second half of the season saw a debut for Steve Arnold after he missed all the matches until now with a broken leg. Steve will have been impressed as he watched his colleagues race into an early lead. Tom Lee and Sam Bithell scoring 3 pointers early on and the Hornets put together a 13 point unanswered spree with John Whelan claiming 2 x 3 pointers back to back (The scoresheet is still being checked!!) and Sam Barnard landing a couple of two’s. Danny Wareham landed a shot to give the Hornets a 15 point lead and the match looked comfortably in the bag.But the Jedi accepted some slack passing from the Hornets and pulled 4 points back before the interval.

Both sides decided to trade fouls rather than baskets in the early stage of the second half. The shooting and shot selection from the Hornets in particular was well below their normal standard and this opened the door for the Jedi to show off some of their shooting and fast break skills. Jedi went on a 12 point unanswered run to bring themselves right back into contention. The Hornets failed to keep any pressure on the opposition missing 6 out of 7 free throws in the quarter. Steve Arnold showed off firstly his rebound skill and then dropped a well worked 2 pointer to leave the Hornets just 4 up at the break.

Barney and John found room inside and worked away either scoring or being fouled in the Process but well worked shots from the field were just not dropping for the Hornets and Chorlton eventually took the lead in the 6th minute and then went on to stretch their lead to 8 points before a time out was called. Hornets now reverted to a man to man defence and applied pressure to the Jedi ball handlers, this tactic worked and John and Guy Johnson were able to bring back some of the deficit with well executed fast breaks.

The Hornets were 3 down going into the last quarter and both teams were in foul trouble. The hornet players were told that the game would be won or lost on the free throw line and so it proved. Guy and John again attacked the Jedi forward positions and pulled the lead back against some close defending but the Hornets were handed 6 free throws for 3 Technical fouls and this tilted the match in the Hornets favour. Jedi now had to press home their offences and Danny and Steve Arnold in particular were able to steal the ball. Tom eased pressure with a long range 3 pointer and Guy and Steve returned their own rebounds to ease the game away from the Jedi.

Top Scorer: - John Whelan- 18 points (including those 3-pointers)

Best Player: - John Whelan - brilliant on the boards at both ends

Best Basket: - Superb passing through all the offence to leave Sam Bithell free to calmly slot a 3 pointer.

Must Improve: - Free throws were dreadful tonight