Storm begin home trio with visit of Newcastle Knights
Hemel Storm’s first of three consecutive season-ending home games sees them host Newcastle Knights on Saturday. Read on for all you need to know…
Head-to-Head Record:
Games played: 10
Storm wins: 9
Knights wins: 1
*All competitions, since start of 2021/22 season.
British Championship Basketball League Positions:
Storm: 11th
Knights: 2nd
Opposition Scout Report:
The Knights’ charge to the title has hit a bump in the road in the last couple of weeks.
Successive defeats across the last two weekends has seen them surrender top spot to Reading Rockets, whom they were defeated by on Saturday.
Nonetheless, it’s been an impressive campaign to date for Mark Elderkin’s Northerners.
American Jaron Thames leads the league in points per game with 25.4, and fellow countryman Bradley Dean is not too far behind with 20.3 in fifth.
Hafeez Abdul, formerly of Storm as well as Worthing Thunder and Thames Valley Cavaliers, is averaging the same mark, but has played only nine games and was last in action in January.
Elsewhere, British-American Sam Trunley has had a good rookie year with 18.3 points per game.
Memorable Meeting:
Saturday 11th January, 2025
National Cup Semi-Final
Hemel Storm 108-77 Newcastle Knights
Storm’s first game of 2025 saw them advance past Newcastle Knights and into the National Cup Final.
The game was hastily rearranged following postponement owing to the cold weather the previous week, but Storm were far from frozen out here.
Seven men were in double-digits point-scoring, including Trent Monkman who had 22. Sam Newman worked his magic with 15 assists as his side controlled the contest and won all four quarters.
They edged the first period by two and then pulled away in the second, extending the lead to 14 by the half-time break.
A 32-point final quarter added some gloss to the scoreline, as a sold-out StormDome began dreaming of a Manchester final the following week.
It wasn’t to be in the showpiece event, as Storm were beaten 108-83 by Reading Rockets. Nonetheless, Mark Clark’s side would go on to achieve success, crowned NBL Division One champions later that season.
Last Time Out:
Storm dented London Cavaliers’ top-four hopes with a dominant win at Uxbridge College on Saturday.
One of the toughest venues to play on the circuit caused Tom Baker’s side no problems, as they matched the Cavaliers’ physicality blow for blow and controlled proceedings throughout.
Darien Nelson-Henry was key to their success with 25 points and 15 rebounds, while the accurate Matt Norman and Brayden Inger had 26 and 24 respectively as their side eased to a 101-83 win.
The following day’s trip to Bristol Hurricanes was postponed following discussions with the officials.
The Knights’ title ambitions took a blow, as they were obliterated by fellow hopefuls Reading Rockets on Saturday evening.
It was always going to be a long way back after losing the first period by 21 points at Loddon Valley Leisure Centre and so it proved, beaten 112-71.
Thames had 28 points and was one of only three men to make double digits, with Trunley’s 12 the next best.
From The Locker Room:
Sam Newman: “Both on and off the court, we are night and day from where we were since we regrouped and adjusted after christmas.
“It feels good to have won a handful on the bounce, but these have been coming from how much better as a collective we’ve looked for a while now.
“A weird one to not be fighting for the playoff positions but we’ve got to keep improving nonetheless and keep our upwards momentum going, with three more wins to finish the year on a high.”
When, Where and How to Follow:
Tip-off at the StormDome in the first of three consecutive home matches is at 7pm, with tickets available on the Fanbase app.
If you can’t make it in person, feel free to follow along on either the livestream or livestats.
Written by Callum Humphrey
