Storm downed by high-flying Knights
Hemel Storm fell to a first defeat in three as Newcastle Knights emerged victorious at the StormDome on Saturday evening.
Tom Baker’s side struggled to contain the quality of the title-chasing Northerners, who took the high-scoring affair 119-104 as Storm saw two men ejected.
It was a much-improved second-half showing from the hosts, winning the last twenty minutes by eight points, but the damage was done early on.
Storm simply could not stop the Knights in the first half, conceding 67 points to trail by 21 at the interval.
Not many have halted American duo Jaron Thames and Bradley Dean, the league’s first and fifth-highest scorers respectively, and they caused more issues here. They both ended on 40 points, with Dean’s precise shooting accumulating him 24 in the first half alone.
Storm, off the back of impressive wins over Worthing Thunder and London Cavaliers, were perhaps guilty of sleeping early on, and Mark Elderkin’s men were in no mood to let them off the hook.
Nonetheless, their second-half performance provides evidence of the progress they are making, taking the game to one of the league’s frontrunners to briefly threaten a dramatic comeback.
Mathematically, there is little left to play for, with the playoff positions out of reach. Try telling Brayden Inger that, though.
The Kiwi showed trademark fight, playing with his heart on his sleeve and battling for every loose ball as though it was a final. Coupled with accuracy, shooting 78% from the field, his tenacity earned him 27 points, a continuation of his stellar season so far.
Two others whose hard work deserves mention are Kai Walker and Darien Nelson-Henry. Walker’s energy at times appears endless and he hustled for 19 points and nine rebounds.
Nelson-Henry pounded away in the post and looked his side’s most threatening option under the basket. He had 14 points and nine rebounds, before any hopes of a Storm comeback were severely dented as a technical foul, following an earlier unsportsmanlike offence, saw him depart with five minutes to play.
Sam Newman followed seconds before the final buzzer, as two technicals ended his evening early.
From the get-go, the pattern of the game was obvious. High-pace, end-to-end action with little time to catch your breath.
The Knights seemed to thrive in the chaos, pulling away after a tight start to lead by nine at the first break as their offence caught fire - the score 31-22.
The flames only rose in the second period, three-point efforts raining down from all angles as the lead grew to a game-high 25. Three baskets in under a minute from Veron Eze narrowed it to 21 as the half-time hooter blew at 67-46.
A reaction was required from Storm, but the Knights weathered it. Sparks of life were soon doused as Newcastle’s unflappable offence failed to falter, and the margin was 22 at the end of the third, 96-74.
A 13-2 Storm run early in the fourth awoke the crowd and shrunk the difference to 11, before Nelson-Henry’s work came to an abrupt end with five minutes on the clock.
His ejection allowed the guests to stem the flow and maintain a comfortable buffer, 15 points victors as Newman’s marching orders were delivered late on.
View more photos from this game here.
Storm round off the season with a further two home games, first welcoming Yorkshire Dragons on Saturday before bowing out against Derby Trailblazers on 11 April. Tickets for those clashes are available on the Fanbase app.
Written by Callum Humphrey
