Hornets U14 and U16 Boys were both in action this weekend whilst the U18's had a weekend off.

​Hornets U14 Boys were away to London Feltham Warriors and were very keen to get back to winning ways after their disappointing loss last week at home to Woking. The boys got off to a great start taking an 18-8 lead after the first quarter and went into the half time up 28-14. London had little answer to the Hornets defence as we held them to just 4pts in the 3rd quarter winning the game 56-26. Coach Chris said "a better result and a much better performance today. All the things we didn't do well last week such as rebounding, running the floor and communicating, we did well today. I'm a happy coach"

​Hornets U16 boys were at home to Abingdon Eagles who were the only other team in the league with an undefeated record aside from Luton. A win was needed if we were to make a stake as one of the better teams in the league and the boys did not disappoint. Despite an injury early in the first quarter to Hornets key player the bench were ready to step up and delivered an 18-10 lead. Abingdon showed why they were undefeated and at the top of the table as they finished the half strongly to narrow the gap 34-29 to Hornets. Abingdon came out in the 3rd just as strongly as they had finished the half and again were able to close the gap even further 50-47. That being said Hornets were equally playing well and putting the Abingdon defence under a lot of pressure. The final quarter was a real nail biter as Abingdon took a 61-58 lead with 2 minutes left on the clock. A Hornets timeout, solid defence and continued offensive pressure saw Abingdon fouling at the basket to protect their lead. With the resulting free throws Hornets were able to go 100% from the line shooting 6 from 6 in the final minute of the game to win 66-61. That's 4 wins in a row now for the U16's and another team winning performance. Coach Lee said "we are slowly learning what it takes to win games, we just have to keep getting better each week. 10 of our 12 boys getting on the score sheet just shows the depth we have for such a young squad". 

​Go Hornets!!!

Hornets U16 & U18 were both in action away to local rivals MK Trojans this weekend at Bletchley College, whilst Hornets U14's were hosting Woking Blackhawks at Sir Henry Floyd.

The U16's were first to tip off v the Trojans U16's who had made a perfect start to the season with a 2-0 record. Hornets opened up the scoring behind a made free throw but Trojans came out on top in the 1st quarter leading 12-9. In the 2nd quarter the travelling Hornets began to settle and were playing with much more confidence taking a 35-31 lead at half time. Going into the 3rd Hornets carried over the 2nd half momentum and stretched out a 17pt lead 54-37. However MK were not finished and after some Hornets complacency and unforced errors the Trojans were able to claw their way back into the game to tie it up 63-63 at the end of regular time. Disappointed but unphased by the Trojans elated fans the Hornets boys rallied together in over time and were able to see out the game for the deserved win 76-72 victory to Hornets and 3 wins in a row... 🐝

Hornets U18's were also in action in MK soon after the U16's OT victory. Some excellent defence from Hornets saw the Trojans only managing to score 39 points in the game as Hornets came away with 55 points of their own and maintained their 100% perfect start to the season 3-0 🐝

Following their impressive opening game victory last week Hornets U14's faced Woking Blackhawks at home. Hornets started off strongly and were very competitive winning the 1st quarter 15-14. However a lapse in concentration and intensity either side of the half resulted in Hornets giving up some easy baskets that allowed the Blackhawks to take a 14pt lead going into the 4th. Hornets fought back in the final quarter and finished strongly but it was too little too late as they took their first loss of the season 68-58 🐝

All the Hornets teams were in action this weekend for the first time this season. U14 boys were away to Surrey Rams while the U16 boys and U18 boys were at home to Reading Rockets and Farnborough Phantoms respectively. All of our boys came away with impressive victories.

​U14 boys won the opening game to their season campaign 97-33 away to Surrey Rams. It was also the debut game for Coach Chris, so great that the boys pulled together and produced such an impressive first game performance.

​U16 boys beat Reading Rockets 95-37. Reading had won their previous game against Phantoms 82-41 so it shows the improvements our U16 boys have made since the start of the season to win by such a margin. Not only this but the majority of our squad are U15's.  The future looks bright.

​U18 boys set the tone for the day winning at home v Farnborough Phantoms 102-60. Coach Justas is settling in very well and the boys have taken well to his style. Hornets defence was too strong and the Phantoms had very few answers for the inside and outside game of the Hornets U18's offence.

​Well done to everyone. A great weekend for the Hornets programme. 

​Go Hornets!!

Congratulations to Joe Pulic who was selected to represent South Region U15 boys at the weekend in Manchester. Having had a great start to the tournament The South boys faced London in the final who they had already beaten in the previous rounds. Unfortunately they couldn't repeat the same in the finals and finished as respectable runners up.

Joe is a great example of hard work pays off. Last year Joe decided he wanted to really focus and develop his basketball so he joined the Hornets Junior Basketball Academy at Aylesbury Grammar School. Two early mornings per week on top of all his other training commitments has made a huge difference to his game and one year later he is now one of the Elite players in the region. Well done Joe!! 🐝

Hornets had a good showing at the Hoop Dreams London Tournament held this weekend. Both our U16 boys and U18 men were in action taking the advantage of some early preseason fixtures. Our U16's made a slow start to the tournament but finished off the day with a convincing win. It was our U18 boys who stole the show, going undefeated on the day and swooping up an MVP award too. Well done Hornets!! 🐝

We plan to take a squad of 12x u18 players born 2001/2002 to a tournament in Valladolid this Christmas 27-30 December.

The tournament will feature some of the best youth teams in Spain as well as teams from France.

“This will be a high calibre tournament so we will be recruiting a select squad only to represent Hornets. This will be great exposure for those that do get selected”.

For more information on this contact Head Coach, Lee McCarthy.

Tel: 07713 653 990
​Email: Buckshornetsbasketball@gmail.com
 

​Our u18 boys also returned from the Hakeem Olajuwon Camp in Birmingham 30 Jul to 3rd August.

The NBA legend himself was in attendance watching over all the proceedings and had also flown in his own specialist coach from Houston, Coach Donte Mathis.

Also in attendance were current BBL coaches, former BBL legendary players and current top youth coaches from around the country. The days were long and gruelling and really pushed the players physically, mentally and technically. Our very own Filipe Cascais-Davis was presented the ultimate award of the camp “Camper of the week” for this his second year in attending the camp. 

Our u14 boys returned from their recent tour in Spain 21-29 July.

The Roberto Morentin Camp is a bilingual camp for both boys and girls. The boys got to experience some Spanish culture whilst speaking the universal language of basketball. 

Cistierna in Spain is an amazing place surrounded by mountains and the beauty of nature. Two practices per day plus evening fixtures set the tone for a full on camp which all benefited from. The boys got to experience another level of basketball that they can aspire to.