Basketball: Chichester give Swindon a shock

University of Chichester Thunder 85 Swindon Shock 63

Division four south west

The Thunder, having won two and lost two in the National League, beat a Swindon side with only five players in Lancing.

Jack Green made his presence felt from the start, making a shot just inside the three-point line and then stepping back immediately after to hit a three.

The Shock came out with energy and found their way to the foul line early. Thunder started to play aggressive fast-break basketball in an attempt to wear out the Shock.

McLaren and Barbary assisted each other with a give and go more than once. Thunder started to find their rhythm in set-plays, getting Hield and Lynch open underneath to finish plays. Thunder finished the 1st up 23-12.

In the second quarter Thunder continued to push the ball down the floor. Green hit another three-pointer and Thunder’s defence proved hard to penetrate.

Barbary’s energy led to steals with the Thunder’s big men benefitting from running the floor and receiving good passes to take Thunder 46-29 up at halfway.

The third quarter was completely different with Thunder scoring just ten points. They committed needless fouls and became slack defensively and stagnant offensively.

Thunder didn’t score for the final five minutes of the quarter and let the Shock go on a 13-0 run to finish the quarter 56-45 down.

With the Shock becoming understandably tired, Thunder were looking to put the game away. Hardyman gained assists with Marshall starting to step up hitting dexterous inside shots.

Coach Davies was solid, fighting for and winning contested rebounds on the offensive and defensive end. There was good anticipation from Scanlon and McLaren forcing steals and finishing on the other end. Thunder pulled ahead and ended up winning by 22 points.

THUNDER: McLaren 23, Green 20, Barbary 15, Marshall 15, Lynch, Davies, Hardyman, Scanlon.

Bognor Pirates 64 Worthing Tropics 78

Sussex League

Pirates’ lost to league leaders Worthing Tropics in this Sussex derby.

Tropics opened the score and added to it with a three-pointer from Max Smith and the teams traded baskets to close the period 18-17 to the visitors.

In both the first period and the second Pirates couldn’t seem to get the ball inside to the forwards, while at the other end despite various zone defences Tropics either found their way to the hoop or scored outside shots - including five three-pointers in the half.

Pirates had a terrible second period and trailed 42-30 at the halfway mark.

Against a well-experienced and disciplined team, Pirates managed to keep up with Tropics in the second half but despite Andy Pleskys coming alive and scoring eight of his 12 points and Luke Attfield 12 of his 20 in the last period, the damage was already done.

This was a disappointing result for Pirates, for whom most valuable player was Luke Attfield.

After an away game this week against Horsham Huskies, Pirates are next at home on Saturday, December 1 (7pm) at The Arena Sports Centre, so get down there and support your local team.

PIRATES: L Attfield 20, A Pleskys 12, M Smith 9, J Bennett 6, M Wakeling 5, R Lowe 4, M Sharpe 4, A Dehaan 2, D Smith 1, C Jackson 1, J Parker, M Morling.

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University of Chichester 29 Bognor Amazons 65

Having beaten the university in the cup, Amazons were optimistic going into this game.

Amazons started strongly, driving to the basket and making use of the pick and roll. A tenacious zone defence saw Amazons picking off weak passes and forcing dribbling errors. Amazons finished the first quarter with an impressive 16-4 lead.

An early three-pointer from the Uni’s Katie Doubleday lifted the home crowd but the theme from the first quarter continued into the second, with Amazons spreading the scoring out.

As frustration set in among the Uni players, more fouls were committed and Amazons were sent to the line which gave them easy extra points. The half-time score was 38-10.

Amazons have been prone to third-quarter blues and knew the intensity must continue. Uni prevented Amazons from driving one on one to the basket and stopping their unchallenged lay-ups.

The Uni seemed to have more energy, chasing down the ball and putting pressure on every Amazons pass. The quarter ended with Amazons 52-19 up.

The Uni started the final quarter with another inspiring three-pointer from Celica Douglas, showing they were ready to fight to the end.

Amazons’ Debz Wilson took charge of the offence and scored seven points in a row and Amazons were elated to take away a 65-29 win.

AMAZONS: Wilson 16, Smith 16, Stapely 10, Lowe 8, Vitanyi 6, Barlow 4, Campbell 3, Thorne 2, Phillips, Camburn, Lawie.

Amazons’ next home game is next Tuesday (November 27) at 7pm at The Arena against University of Brighton South Down Suns - go along and show your support.