Hornets give Bruins a headache

Hills v Bankstown at Hills

Win 70-24

In another dominant display, the Hills Hornets under-14 mens basketball team cracked open the Bankstown Bruins team early with some tough defence and then cruised home to a 46 point win.

What made the win more impressive was the fact that swingman Thomas Cowell, one of the teams most aggressive defenders, was out with an ankle injury which meant a number of members on the squad were playing out of their normal position.

At one point , the teams smallest player, point guard Luke McArthur, found himself in the power forward position, which gave him some great mismatch opportunities that he exploited with slashing drives, picking up 10 points in the process.

However, the key to this victory was the defence. The Hornets had the Bruins back on their heals almost immediately with some full court pressure that saw Hills get into the passing lanes and snatch a succession of early turnovers. In the first two and a half minutes the Bruins had only crossed the half way line once and the Hornets had leapt out to an 11-0 lead. In that early going Mitch Evans and Arran Bannatyne shot close to 100 per cent from the field on the back of easy jumpshots and lay-ups.

In the second quarter Hills eased off the throttle and the crisp offensive execution that had been a feature of the previous game at Alexandria disappeared, particularly in the last part of that quarter. But again the defence picked up the slack with the Bruins fortunate to score six points in that quarter on the back of a couple of free-throws and some exceptionally lucky shots.

Despite that waver in pressure the Hornets regained their focus mixed up their defence and continued to pour on the points finishing with a scoreline of 70-24.

Will Pearce played a substanial role as an enforcer down low, contesting every ball and not giving an inch before he was fouled out late in the fourth quarter. At the same, time big man Addam Stone led all rebounders, closed out drives with his help-defence and played a physical game to keep Bankstown's big men away from the ball.

Mark Morian who top scored with 15 points and Jay Green who was a regular visitor at the free throw line were a constant nightmare for Bankstown using their speed and agility to penetrate deep into the key to score or dish great passes.

Once again the all round contribution of every player sealed a good win.

The Hornets next game is against the Sea Eagles on May 2 at Manly.

SPECIAL NOTE: Thanks to the photographer from Cumberland Newspapers, Mat Sullivan, who took some great photos of the game. We look forward to seeing them in the Hills Shire Times soon.