Storm taste double delight in league and cup

Hemel Storm sealed their place in the National Cup quarter-finals and enjoyed another league win in what was a successful weekend.

They went to Nottingham Hoods in the league and Reading Rockets at home in the cup, managing to secure wins in both.

Saturday’s match against Nottingham Hoods was always going to be a tough game, with Storm previously winning 105-95 in what was a narrow victory and both sides showing that they are capable of winning.

However, a third quarter of high intensity helped Storm to pull away to a convincing margin after going into half time with a seven point lead. Storm’s ability to press Hoods players such as Guddemi helped Storm to take advantage of the Hoods’ frustration and score a lot of points on the fast break.

Once Storm extended the lead to a fine margin, there was no way back for the Hoods as Storm continued to pass the ball well and shoot with a high degree of accuracy. It was a spread-out performance in terms of scoring with five players scoring in double figures. It was overall an impressive performance which had to be continued the next day in Sunday’s cup match.

Sunday’s game saw Storm face Reading Rockets and, dominating throughout the game, Storm raced off to an early lead, capitalising on Reading’s high foul count and punishing them with steals and points on the fast break.

Highlight play of the game saw Romario Spence score a poster dunk against former Storm player Jordan Jackson.

It was a depleted Reading roster who lined up against Storm with star player Cracknell on the bench with Ben Dixon. Lewis Champion was also missing which gave Storm an advantage due to the number of points they contribute to the Rockets. However, new signing Zackary Powell impressed for the Rockets, registering 26 points.

Overall, another solid display means that Storm progress into the quarter-finals to face London Sharks.

Storm travel to top of the table Worthing Thunder in the battle of the two undefeated teams in the division on Saturday. Storm’s next home game is Team Newcastle University on December 17.

Top Scorers vs Hoods: Taylor Johnson 23 pts, Aaryn Rai 17, Jack Burnell 13.

Top Scorers vs Rockets: Taylor Johnson 18, Romario Spence 17, Seth Swalve 16.