Thurs 14th Feb,
The Seahawks, on a current high with some really good basketball, hosted the Southbourne Donkeys in the local derby. In the previous fixture we played well, but the game was in half term and we lacked players, so this time we knew with a full roster we had a chance. However, Yera and Benno had already returned home for feb half term, so again we were a little short, but saw Kian Safaee and Tony Yin get more senior minutes under their belts.
We came out with confidence running and gunning, with Boris and Vito again doing the damage, but the Donkeys kept answering everything we had with good ball movement and some lucky rolls. But a change of D from Coach Mills, we cut out the shots and I grabbed the last 4 points of the quarter to put us up 17-13 after one.
The second saw some good shooting from the secondary, with Antony Wong shooting well from mid-range (listening to Coach Wood and not jacking up every 3!). We moved the ball well, and weren't relying on the long range shots, getting the ball inside against the small Donkeys. Nathan found his range, and was driving well, as he added to his tally, and then Vito got the And-1 to give us the go ahead late in the half after some pressure from the Donkeys offence. 32-29.
The third saw us extend that lead, with an 12-4 run, to make it 44-33 before they replied (should have been more except from some awful free shots from me!). Nathan, Boris and Vito again doing the majority of the scoring but everyone playing their role. 48-41 after 3 and with the Donkeys looking tired and on the ropes, lacking a bench, we knew the win was there for the taking.
The final saw a little come back with a silly foul, And-1 followed by a lucky rolling 3pt shot and another cut our lead back to one. A little nerves started to show before a good time-out and regroup saw the offence have more confidence and control. Everything they had, we could answer, and we had a 3 point lead with 2 mins to go. Slow offence, and strong D saw them go to the line twice, not giving up easy close shots, which they missed! Vito then replied with 2 of his own from the line as they swarmed us to stop the clock. Nerves didnt matter as he made both, giving us a 3 point lead with 11 seconds to go. Cue a long 3 point attempt from J.Oakley which was off, a strong rebound by Anthony, but an uncharacteristic mishandle from Vito gave them another attempt to tie it with 1.4s left in the game, this time from P.Oakley but again missed it, to give the Seahawks another close, huge win!!!
[Scorers to follow]