Storm fall just short in opening night thriller at the StormDome
Hemel Storm were on the wrong side of a classic to open the British Championship Basketball league campaign on Saturday night, losing out 91-93 to Reading Rockets in front of a sold-out StormDome.
They had done well to recover from a poor opening quarter, in which they found themselves 13 points down, to hold an eight-point lead with six-and-a-half minutes to play. But last season’s playoff champions rallied back and Storm couldn’t convert in a chaotic closing 23 seconds, missing three shots to resign them to a third defeat of the season.
Those have all been by two points or less and it looks like a season to be defined by fine margins. With Storm competing well and playing some good basketball against fellow title-contenders, they must now find the ruthless edge to get over the line.
In a sad week where we lost a pair of basketball’s beloved gentle giants, former player Lee Linton-Hodges and long-serving fan Mike Bleasdale, the two teams produced an exhilarating contest - one they would have enjoyed greatly.
The guests raced out the blocks, playing at the lightning-fast tempo we’ve come to expect from the Reading of recent years, and American Malik Bryant proved particularly hot to handle. Ten of his 27 points came in quarter one, with his side 20-30 to the good at the first break.
Storm were battling hard, with Di-Jani Parkinson bringing energy and hustle from the bench, and they stuck with the Rockets through till half time. The four-point, 44-48 deficit was far from unassailable and Jake Rothauge hoped to inspire a similar second-half showing to what we witnessed in the victory over Milton Keynes Breakers.
After three third-quarter minutes they were ahead thanks to a pair of Matt Norman free-throws and the game tossed to and fro, with the Rockets narrowly ahead at the final break - 67-68 the score.
Darien Nelson-Henry did his best to change that, though, battling under the basket to rack up 20 points and eight rebounds. Sam Newman was impressive also, enjoying himself with a series of highlight plays to notch 12 points and eight assists, and his three-pointer had Storm five ahead with seven minutes to play.
American Matt Norman was coming into his own, connecting from distance to fire his team eight up and forcing the Rockets into a timeout. Whatever coach Samit Nuruzade said worked, and they retook the lead with three minutes remaining thanks to Bryant and Victor Olarerin - the Dome now at its raucous best.
Baskets were exchanged and the score sat at 90-93 with 23 seconds left, when Veron Eze was fouled and sent to the line.
He missed the first but made the second, queuing another Rockets timeout, and Newman intercepted the baseline inbound. The ball worked its way to Norman, whose three-point attempt missed, and Inger suffered the same fate.
The rebound, though, was carried out of bounds for a Storm inbound with 1.4 seconds remaining, and Rothauge drew up his play in a timeout. Newman found Nelson-Henry but his off-balance effort wouldn’t go, with no foul in the opinion of the referees, and the 91-93 verdict was tough to take from a Storm perspective.
There are plenty of positives to take into next week’s trip to Loughborough, but they’ll rue the costly slow start. Still, there’s lots of basketball left in what looks like an ultra-competitive BCB league campaign.
Check out the game day photos from Matt Cook.
Storm now have a run of away games with their next home game being on Saturday 15th November against Bristol Hurricanes. Tickets are already available on the Fanbase app.
Written by Callum Humphrey
Photo credit – TGD Visuals / Matt Cook
