This weekend saw the Hornets players continue to make good improvements with all teams playing.. The U18 Men, U16 Boys and U16 Girls were at home, whilst the U14 Boys, U13 Boys and u14 Girls were away.
U18 Men Bucks Hornets 89 – 63 Bedford Bulls
A dominating start by the Hornets, with all round good defensive play and 4 x 3 pointers from Joe saw them take an early 24 – 5 lead. Quite a few misssed opportunities would have seen the score much larger. The Hornets closed out the 1st quarter 24 – 13. The 2nd quarter saw Bedford looking to contain the 3 pointers, but with Hornets’ lowering the standard of their defensive play, allowed Bedford to start to nibble back from a mid quarter score of 43-19. Bedford finished the half with the momentum and a 16-4 run, meaning that a strong Hornets position had turned to an 11 point game. The half time break allowed the Hornets to refocus on their strong defensive play and fast ball movement around the Bedford key. The Hornets had stopped the Bedford momentum, and with a fairly even 3rd quarter, finished it the stronger with Joe being fouled on the buzzer for a 3 point free throw, making all 3, and a 60-46 lead. The Hornets continued to assert themselves in the last quarter, but Bedford impressed with 7 from 8 free throws to try and stay in touch, but with Hornets penetrating the Bedford key fairly easily, they ran out winners 89 – 63. A good team performance, with Joe, Kolby, Matt and Jack standing out in this game.
U16 Boys Bucks Hornets 79 – 45 Plymouth Marjon
Another strong start saw the u16s dominate the 1st quarter and with 12 points from Tristen, the Hornets took a 27 – 5 lead into the 2nd quarter. Plymouth got back into their stride more and started to compete with 2 successive 3 pointers, but a strong finish to the half by the Hornets saw their lead extend a further 6 points to 46-23. In remembering how strongly Plymouth came back at the Hornets in their previous encounter at the start of season, Hornets elected to continue to play the core players, which allowed the Hornets to extend their lead to 30 points, before Plymouth hit 3 late baskets to give Hornets a 61-38 lead at the end of the 3rd. The last quarter saw both teams run their benches to some extent, and with the Hornets having a stronger one, allowed them to have a 13 point run and an eventual 79 – 45 win. Another improved performance, with notable strong games by Tristen (36), George and Ash.
U16 Girls Bucks Hornets 61 - 50 Bromsgrove Bears (Pictures)
With this being the first game since 10 Dec for the Hornets U16 Girls, it was no surprise that they took a little while to get into their stride. The Hornets ending the 1st quarter down 5 – 14. But once into their stride the Hornets started to gain the momentum and brought the scores near level at half time 26-27. The 2nd half saw the Hornets Girls continue their good play and ran out eventual winners 61-50 with their 4th win in a row.
U14 Boys Medway Park Crusaders 29 – 58 Bucks Hornets (Pictures)
U14 Girls Brentwood Fire 93 – 69 Bucks Hornets
U13 Boys Wellingborough Pheonix 81 – 52 Bucks Hornets
