Following the great win against top of the table, Solent Kestrels, on Saturday night this game against bottom team Eastside Eagles was going to be difficult to motivate the players. With Siczek still out injured, Head Coach Phil Waghorn used the game to give all the players’ good court time and it proved to be a major confidence boost for all the players with the bench players contributing 29 points.
The first quarter saw Hoods take the game to the opposition and pull out to an impressive 32-16 lead with 3-point shots dropping like confetti from both teams. In form Hoods guard Luke Mitchell hitting 3, Alvarro Urbistondo 2 and Liam Kelly 1 with Eagles hitting three of their own.
The second quarter was a much tighter affair but still went to Hoods by 20 -15, with more 3-point shots for the Hoods made by Mitchell, Matt Parker and Kelly. Kirk Davis had a highlight dunk and Lorenzo and Krest worked hard in the paint to ensure the Hoods kept a 52-31 lead at the half.
Hoods sealed the deal in the third restricting the visitors to just 5 points. This quarter belonged to Spanish guard Alvarro Urbistondo, who hit 19 points, including five 3-pointers as the Hoods went in to the final quarter with an impressive 41 point lead at 77-36.
The final quarter saw Hoods take their foot of the gas as they started trying to new things and new player combinations ready for the final three games of the season. Urbistondo hit his seventh 3-point of the game taking his tally to a staggering 13 for the weekend, but it was the bench that deserve the plaudits with 29 points and especially Liam Kelly who hit 100% of his shots, including three 3-pointers on his way to a season high 15 points.
Back-to-back home wins set up the final two weeks of league action perfectly with a double-header weekend against Worcester Wolves (the home leg being on Sunday at 3pm) before what could decide who takes home advantage into the play-offs as they face Ipswich Topcats.
Hoods Scorers: Urbistondo(29), Lorenzo(19),Kelly(15), Mitchell(14), Davis (8), Parker and Crest(3 each), Wong(2). Valuable contributions from Kieran Wright, Kallum Dunn and Troy Thompson and Wong leading rebounder with 7.
In the junior games Hoods u18’s beat Northamptonshire Titans 95-63, whilst the under 16’s lost by just 3 to Northamptonshire Titans.
