Trophy hopes on the line in StormDome derby!
Hemel Storm face MK Breakers on Saturday with their BCB Trophy qualification hopes still intact - just!
After a pair of close-fought defeats last weekend, they must beat the Breakers and rely on other results going their way to claim a top-two group-stage spot and a place in next weekend’s quarter-finals.
Head coach Jake Rothauge will have mixed views on the games against Bristol Hurricanes and Birmingham Rockets, where despite the results not going their way, there were plenty of positives to take away from his team’s performances. American Matt Norman burst into British basketball with 53 points across the weekend, while Kai Walker, formerly a Breaker, continued his impressive start to life at Storm.
They played with pace and athleticism but lacked some composure when it counted, surrendering fourth-quarter leads in both matches. They’ll aim to cut out the sloppy turnovers, of which there were 45 over the two games, exert greater control on the tempo of the game and be more ruthless in finishing the job moving forward.
The Breakers also suffered a below-par beginning to their season, losing their BCB Trophy opener to Birmingham on Saturday. Their roster contains many familiar and dangerous faces, including Jordan Spencer, Chris Tawiah and Blayne Freckleton, as well as some newer men.
Versatile forward Chase Thompson, dynamic guard Dashawn Jackson and British passport holder Ben Baker have all been signed from the States, while Jonas Dietrich has made the move from Derby Trailblazers.
Thompson impressed on his competitive debut, notching 18 points, and the powerful British pairing of Tawiah and Spencer produced 20 and 17 respectively - both bagging double-doubles.
They also have a new coach in former Nottingham Hoods man Ben Stanley, who also possesses a wealth of experience in the women’s game, after Billy Beddow-Patel stepped down at the end of the last campaign.
His final game was a playoff final defeat to Reading Rockets, having beaten Storm by just one point in the semi-final a week earlier. At least Walker, one of Storm’s nemeses that day, will be on their side this time around.
That 85-86 thriller wasn’t the only noteworthy battle these two have fought over recent years, though, with some epic matchups contested.
Their first ever meeting came in the 2022/23 season, when the Breakers were still in Division Three, and Storm took that National Cup semi-final 98-93 in front of a raucous home crowd.
They met again the year after, with the Breakers now Division Two, and Storm once more triumphed narrowly - this time a 94-91 KitKing Trophy quarter-final win.
And then last season, with the Breakers finally where they belonged in Division One, they came to blows a whopping five times, with MK winning the KitKing Trophy quarter-final and Storm winning the National Cup quarter-final and both Division One clashes, before that heart-wrenching playoff semi-final.
If history is anything to go by then we’re set for another classic. Head down to the StormDome for Saturday’s 7pm tip-off, with tickets available on the Fanbase app.
Written by Callum Humphrey
Photos by TGD Visuals
