Holmes Chapel: 62

Rainford: 57

Hornets win thrilling opening home match of the season!

Rainford provided the opposition for Holmes Chapel Hornets first home match of the season and showed that their big men could score long shots early in the game. Sam Barnard responded from close in for the Hornets and Sam Bithell showed that he can score shots when open too. Both defences were working harder than a one handed bricklayer as neither side gave an inch. John Whelan landed a well worked jump shot but baskets were hard to come by for both  teams as bench players were introduced to the fray. Andrew Rushton scored a long range 3 pointer but sloppy defence from the Hornets put Rainford on the free throw line twice and they went into the close of Q1 up by 3 points.

Andy Siekiewicz quickly closed he gap with an And 1 play but Rainford responded with some well worked offensive plays and slowly opened up a 5 point lead. Sam and John took full advantage of being fouled in the act of shooting and Tush scored off an assist from Sam. Neil Hawkins turned provider for Sam to level the scores in the 10th minute and then Sam scored a long range 3 as the buzzer sounded for the Hornets to take the lead for the first time in the match. Hornets up by 3 at the break.

Kris Wood rose high into the night to score a jump shot to open the scoring in Q2 and Danny Wareham was fouled in the act of shooting to take him to the free throw line, Hornets were slowly stretching their lead out. Rainford responded causing a run of defensive fouls from the Hornets and scoring from base line drives. Quick baskets from Kris and Zander Fyfe restored the Hornet lead to 6 points - but Rainford took advantage of a couple of Hornet turnovers and went on an unanswered 8 point run. Zander stayed calm to make a tough shot look easy but Rainford scored with only seconds remaining to take a 2 point lead into Q4.

Q4 was about strong defence, fouls and free throws. Both teams committed a string of fouls early on in the quarter. Barny fouled out of the game with 8 minutes still remaining and Rainford went into a 4 foul situation with 6 minutes remaining. Both teams visited the charity stripe repeatedly but neither looked completely confident. Guy Johnson drove at the basket and was rewarded with an “interference” call when trying to make a difficult shot. Rainford slowly opened a 6 point lead but the Hornets dragged it all back to level the game with 3 points remaining. Tush stayed calm in two offences to drop back to back 3 points  and the pressure was now on Rainford. Rainford chased the game and twice put Tom Lee on the free throw  line. Tom landed one point out of each visit to seal a dramatic victory in what seems to be a very tight league.

Top Scorer - Tush  16 Points
Played Out of their skin - Tush- the 2 x 3 pointers in the last 3 minutes sealed the game
Best Basket - Sam with a shot on the buzzer at half time
Must Improve - Help Defence - need to assist players that have been beaten.