Big win for unbeaten Wolves

Oaklands Wolves go into the first international break of the campaign with a perfect record following a 85-73 home victory against Caledonia Gladiators, on Saturday.

Dani McCray led Lee Ryan's team with 17 points and five rebounds as Wolves broke open a close game down the stretch, while GB international Shanice Beckford-Norton also had five boards to go with her 15 points. Lavinia Da Silva and Tay McGhee-Pleasant each chipped in with ten points.

Ryan was understandably delighted with the victory: "This was a huge win for us! We have aspirations to compete right at the top of this year's SLB and getting the result against a really strong Caledonia team shows we are on the right path" he said. 

"The game was in the balance throughout, the teams defence was exceptional at times and gave us the base we needed to pull away at the end to get the win. The crowd were unbelievable, their energy played a huge part in the result today."

 Maria Albiero's trey opened the scoring for Wolves but it was the visitors, who were pre-season favourites for the SLB title, started strongly and took a 22-15 lead into the first break.

Beckford-Norton launched a good second period for the hosts and they gradually chipped away at the deficit .Terri Battle made it a one-point game at the five-minute mark before she iced a pair of free-throws to give Oaklands their first lead since the opening minutes.

There was little to choose between the two teams for the rest of the quarter, and McGhee-Pleasant's lay-up sent Wolves into the half-time break tied at 47.

An Albiero triple opened the second half scoring and with Da Silva also scoring from downtown the hosts led throughout the period before Ella Fotu hit a triple to send Wolves into the final break with a 70-63.

Beckford-Norton make it a nine-point game with the opening score of the fourth period but Gladiators hung around and it was 78-73 with 3:15 remaining.

But Beth Sarson stole the ball after the Gladiators' time-out and Fotu converted a lay-up and McCray sunk Wolves' seventh triple of the evening to seal the victory. 

In contrast it was a day to forget for Wolves' academy side as they suffered their first WNBL Division Two South defeat of the season with a 74-37 loss at London All-Stars.

The hosts edged a tight first period 19-13 but Wolves offence, led by nine from Caitlin Ryan and six from Darcey Woodman, dried up after that as the home team closed out the win.

Home sweet home for under-16s

There were big home wins for both Wolves U-16 teams as the boys destroyed Southend Scorpions 120-40 while the girls continued their perfect start to the season with a 72-51 victory against Northants Lightening.

Michael Ball's team never looked back after a 20-9 first period and the game was as good as over by half-time as the hosts led 50-14. They didn't let up, with a 33-10 quarter period before a 37-16 final stanza completed their biggest win of the campaign. 

Captain Otis Lau-Johnston led Wolves with 21 points, seven rebounds and six steals, while Sam McCree added 17 points and seven boards. Liam Schertel finished with a 16 point, 12 rebound double-double while Titouan Vimeux added six steals to his 14 points as all 12 Wolves got on the scoresheet. 

Eunice Wong scored Wolves' first eight points of the game against Lightening, capping the run with a triple, before Jane Yu hit back-to-back threes to help Wolves lead 21-17 at the first break. 

A 19-12 second quarter put Wolves firmly in charge and they never looked back with a 15-12 third period before wrapping things up with a 17-10 final frame.

Meryem Kuscuoglu hit a pair of treys in her team-high 15 points, with Wong and Daisy Golan adding 14 each and Yu eight.

In contrast all three U-14 teams suffered defeats on the road. The boys premier team found London refereeing again somewhat erratic as they went down 88-79 at Newham Youngbloods, while the boys conference side lost 77-45 at Aylesbury and the girls were defeated 70-23 at Solent Kestrels

George Walker's side trailed 22-16 at the end of the first period at Newham but fought back to lead 43-42 at half-time. Newham fought back to lead 65-58 at the final break, and with leading scorer Jacob Edrupt [pictured] fouling out with three minutes remaining, Wolves were unable to close the gap down the stretch. 

Edrupt had another big game with 39 points, while Thomas Starkey added 11 and Harry Regan 10.

The U-14 conference side trailed 40-16 at half-time before cutting the deficit to 54-36 at the final break but that was as good as it got for Wolves as they were outscored 23-9 in the final period.

The long trip to Southampton ended in disappointment for Beth Sarrson's girls as they never recovered from a 17-3 first period deficit. Lois Levenston led the visitors' scoring with 11.

The U-12 girls had a tough first home game as they went down 70-24 against Reading Rockets while the U-12B boys lost 76-38 at Enfield Scorpions.  

Ryan expects tough Caledonia test

Oaklands Wolves coach Lee Ryan is ready for a tough test as his side host Super League Basketball Women's title favourites Caledonia Gladiators, on Saturday (7pm).

"Caledonia are the leading programme going into this years SLB competition, a really strong organisation and flying the flag for the UK in FIBA Eurocup for a second year running" said Ryan. 

"They have our respect and admiration for what they are doing, especially with a strong Scottish core to the team. It won’t stop us preparing to beat them, the players are locked in and focused on game and making sure we leave it all out there in the last game before the international break.

"The game is going to be a tough one and we will need the crowd there to give us the support we need to get the win!"

The Scottish club finished second in the league behind a dominant London Lions team in each of the last two seasons, but with Lions having drastically cut back their expenditure this season, Caledonia are expected to challenge for honours. 

After qualifying for the SLB Trophy semi-final with victories against Durham and Newcastle, Gladiators were shocked in their opening league game as they went down 86-76 at Leicester Rider on Sunday. 

Tickets are available for the game at www.oaklandsbasketball.com.

It was a disappointing weekend for Wolves men as the first team went out of the National Cup with a 100-83 loss at Essex Charge and the second team lost 83-71 at Bedford Hoopers.

Liam Jefferson's side never recovered from a 31-11 first period in Colchester despite outscoring the hosts during the rest of the game. A 25-21 second period save the deficit cut to 16 at half-time before the teams shared 44 third period points and Charge edged the final frame 26-25.

Lore Adekeye led Wolves' scoring with 16 points, while La'Quarne Sayles, Gavin Mitchell and Dan Kostadinov all finished with 15.

In contrast Sayles'' team were only four down at the final break but were outscored 26-18 in the fourth quarter as they lost in Bedford.

Wolves led 27-26 at the first break, but the hosts edged the second quarter 15-13 and the third 16-13 before extending their advantage in the fourth quarter.