Hornets: 65

Stockport: 86

Hornets lose out as the Atlas turn on the style in the last quarter!

Both teams will remember the match for the sheer number of fouls and free throws given but in between there was some high quality basketball. Q1 started with both teams in tight defence and racking fouls quickly Sam Barnard scored from the free throw line and John Whelan scored from close in quickly followed by Kris Wood being fouled in the act of shooting and hitting the follow up shots including some provided by a Technical foul to provide the Hornets with a slender lead. But the Hornet outside shots weren’t dropping and Atlas pulled away to a Seven point lead at the end of the quarter despite further scores from Barney and Kris. Dave Siddall for the Atlas proved what a handful he is and seemed to be able to score just when Atlas needed it most.

Q2 was a much better one for the Hornets with Guy Johnson scoring early on and John and Kris scoring from close in and far out. Guy grabbed a rebound and returned it to cut the gap to just one point only to see the Atlas now go on a 9 point unanswered spree. Tom Lee now started to find his range and he dropped two 3s and a 2 and John stepped in with another close range shot to cut the deficit to 2 points. A long range effort towards the end of the quarter from Atlas saw the Hornets go into half time 5 points down.

Quarter 3 proved a caggy contest with both teams switching their defensive styles from Man to Zone and back again. Points for both sides came mainly from free throws with the Hornet guards Sam Bithell and Steve Arnold finding room to showcase their shooting skills. Tom grabbed more points and Guy hit from close in. The quarter was tied, the Hornets were still 5 down and both teams had players in foul trouble.

Q4 was open and free running Neil Hawkins opened up with a long range 2 and Guy ran in a couple but the Hornet defence was starting to leak. The leak turned into a deluge as the Atlas, superbly lead by Siddall, ran in 19 unanswered points. The Hornets were taking hurried shots and not securing any rebounds leaving the Atlas to show off their fast break routines. Tom landed three 3 pointers at the end but the contest was well over by then.

Hornets now face some tricky away matches where they must secure wins if the are to make the play offs.

Top Scorer: - Tom - 21 Points

Best Player: - Guy - his rebound effort was huge

Best Basket: - passes around their zone break open gaps. John steps in the back door and Steve hits him with a superb assist for and easy finish (one for the video collection!)

Must Improve: - Assist defence - we must learn to step of our marker when they are not a threat and provide assist defence.