Taylor Johnson’s Storm farewell ends in defeat
Taylor Johnson’s final game in a Storm shirt this season ended in defeat, as London Cavaliers ran out 105-88 victors at the StormDome on Saturday evening.
There was no lack of fight from the hosts, who battled hard in the third period to pull themselves back into the contest, but poor second and fourth quarters were their undoing.
The departing Johnson top scored with 18 points and was given a standing ovation as Jake Rothauge removed him from the game with around a minute to play, and the Storm legend leaves with the very best wishes of everyone at the club.
His third spell in Hemel, after picking up five trophies across his previous two, has seen him average 23 points per game, alongside 7.4 rebounds, and show every bit of the fight and dedication that has made him a fan favourite in these parts.
Brayden Inger came alive in the third quarter, desperate to ignite a comeback for his side, and finished with 16 points, while Matt Norman also ended on that number courtesy of a lightning fast start.
There wasn’t all that much to separate the sides, both shooting exactly 50% from the field, but the telling number was in the rebounds’ column.
Storm pulled down just 25 boards, compared to the Cavaliers’ 50, affording the visitors an additional 11 shots and a decisive 23 second-chance points. Storm had zero.
A National Cup winner during his time in Hemel, AJ Roberts came back to haunt his former side, winding the clock back to produce a vintage performance. He had 23 points, five rebounds and three assists and was at his niggling best for the guests.
American Daniel Braster also put up an impressive stat line, with 25 points, 16 rebounds and three steals.
It was Storm, though, who began the faster with back-to-back Norman threes, and he’d racked up 11 by the end of the first period, with his side trailing by two at 24-26.
Seven unanswered Cavaliers points to begin the second extended their advantage, but the hosts restored parity thanks to Inger and Veron Eze.
They then became sloppy, however, and allowed the guests to regain the ascendancy by turning the ball over and missing shots. As the half-time buzzer sounded, they trailed by 14 - 48-62 the score.
A 6-0 Storm run to open the second half livened up the crowd, who sensed a comeback may be on the cards, and consecutive Inger triples, followed by a trademark Johnson jump shot, pulled the hosts level.
Inger again connected from long range to put his side ahead, but a six-point Cavaliers run took them into the final break 74-79 to the good.
It had all the makings of a StormDome classic, but the hosts’ offence faltered, failing to register a bucket in the opening two-and-a-half minutes of the final period.
By that point they were nine down, a deficit soon extended to 15. Try as they might, Storm could not rein their visitors in and Marquel Beasley had some fun of his own at the end, thundering in a trio of dunks to seal a 17-point, 105-88 victory for his side.
Photos from the game can be viewed here.
That’s a ninth league loss of the season for Storm, who remain in 11th, and things don’t get any easier as life without Johnson begins with a trip to second-placed Reading Rockets next Saturday.
Tickets for that one are available on Reading’s Fanbase site.
Storm return to home action on Saturday 24th January against City of Birmingham Rockets. Tickets for this home game are available from our Fanbase app.
Written by Callum Humphrey
