It was a crucial weekend of games throughout the club with all the key games ending in wins. Hoods men picked up two vital wins, putting them in great shape to qualify for the play-offs and u14 backed up last weekend’s win with another to guarantee survival in the Premiership.
In a weekend of double headers, the McDonald’s Junior Hoods u14 (3&14) kicked off the action away to Chesire Wire (1&16), knowing a win would guarantee survival in the Premiership for next season and a loss would see them nervously waiting on other results. In the end, it was a comfortable 45-61 win for the Juniors and a thoroughly deserved win for all their efforts. On Sunday they were on the road to the North West again, taking on BBL franchise Manchester Giants (9&9) in a dead rubber game, which saw the Giants run out comfortable winners 80-46.
This weekend, they are still on the road, as they take on Leeds Force (7&10), whom they lost 58-65 to at the beginning of February, but beat 69-56 at the end of February. In their last game of the season, they will be looking to snatch a 4th win and finish with a flourish.
McDonald’s Junior Hoods u16 (13&2) also had a double header weekend as they looked to secure 2nd place in the league. On Saturday, they eased past Leicester Riders (5-9) 76-57, before backing it up on Sunday with a tighter away win over cross-city rivals Notts Nova (3&11) 57-67. Their final league game could be a banana skin away to Leicester Warriors (10&4), but a win there would secure runners up spot in the league and put the pressure on Leicester Dynamite (14&1), who play the same team on Sunday. Lose that and Hoods will be League Champions. Both teams secured comfortable 20 point victories over Warriors earlier in the season, but with the pressure on, anything can happen.
McDonald’s Junior Hoods u18 (9&12) had a weekend off and will play their final game away to – you guessed it – Leicester Warriors (16&3). Warriors sit at the top of the league but still have 3 games to play. The last time the two teams met, Warriors comfortably beat Hoods 49-77.
McDonald’s Nottingham Hoods II (6&11) won a key game on Sunday as they defeated Kings Lynn Fury (5&12) 67-57 to move ahead of them in the league, behind James’s 15; Enkuzens’s 12 and Thompson’s 10. They too finish their season on Sunday with an away trip to Derby Trailblazers II (6&10), knowing a win would lift them above their rivals and up to 6th place in the final standings.
The McDonald’s Nottingham Hoods Senior Men (9&11) had a superb weekend against two rivals on the same win-loss record. On Saturday, they made the short trip to Killamarsh Derbyshire Arrows (7&13), where a 28-6 3rd quarter put the game beyond doubt. Led by Watts’s 27; Powell’s 17 and Stanley’s 15, the Hoods were able to take their foot off the gas in the 4th quarter, running out 64-82 winners and conserving some valuable energy for Sunday. Tees Valley Mohawks (8&12) had also picked up a win on Saturday, putting even more importance on Sunday’s game as the winner would all but guarantee a play-off position. The Hoods came out of the blocks firing and built up a quick 10 point lead in the first 3 minutes, forcing Mohawks into taking an early time-out. The teams then settled and a back-and-forth encounter saw the Hoods lead never fall below 3, despite some very impressive long-range shooting from the Mohawks. In the end, the Hoods closed the game out 72-64, again led by Watts’s 18 with Powell’s 16 and Mitchell’s 13 adding to the cause.
Saturday sees the penultimate game of the regular season at 6.30pm at the Nottingham Wildcats Arena, as the Hoods host Doncaster Danum Eagles (6&13), a team they lost to 59-58 in December. With Eagles still in the hunt for a play-off spot but also at risk of relegation in this incredible tight season, it will be another interesting game. A Hoods win will guarantee at least 6th seed in the play-offs with a game to play.
#letsgohoods
