After losing their first six games of the season in NBL Premier South, Wolves U-14 girls have now won three games on the bounce following a thrilling 71-68 overtime victory at Reading Rockets, on Saturday..
Wolves led 18-12 at the first break but let the hosts back into the game with some turnovers and saw their lead reduced to 30-28 at half-time. A string third period saw Wolves lead by 12 points going into the fourth quarter. But on of the Rockets got hot, draining three triples and the home side by three with 73 seconds on the clock. Rose Marsh blocked what would have been a game clincher for Reading and Woles got the ball to Jane Yu who nailed a trey with 1.2 seconds on the clock to tie the score. Somehow Rockets missed from point blank range after a timeout to send the game into overtime and the hosts hit a three to open the extra period.
Grace Betteridge hit the go-ahead shot as the seconds ticked down and a Rockets player stepped out of bounds as she attempted to send the game into a second OT period, leaving Yu to dribble the ball out for the win.
Yu finished with 28 points, with Marsh and Lois Levenston scoring 15 apiece as Wolves gained revenge for their opening day loss against Rockets.
Another team to avenge a defeat on the first weekend of the campaign were the U-16 conference side team who beat Bedford Thunder Blacks 94-78 on Saturday lunchtime.
Ibrahim Gariba's side did most of the damage in the first period as they blew into a 27-16 lead against a Bedford team who had only lost one league game this season. The teams shared 40 second quarter points before Wolves edged the third frame 20-19 and wrapped things up with a 27-23 final stanza. Albert Dye (31) and Zac Butterworth (26) both finished with season high points tallies to lead Wolves.
Wolves U-16 premier team repeated their opening day victory against Greenhouse Sports as the London team were beaten 78-47 at Oaklands on Saturday afternoon.
Michael Ball's team built on a 19-15 first period lead to take a 40-27 advantage into the locker room at half-time. The teams shared 22 points in a low-scoring third period before Wolves pulled awy with a 27-9 final frame to reach the midways stage of their East Premier campaign with a 7-4 record.
Wolves U-12 boys A ended Kingston Lions' perfect start to the season as a dominant third period paved the way for a 61-50 home victory, on Sunday.
George Walker's side trailed 10-9 at the first break before shading the second period to take a 25-23 lead into the locker room. But the visitors were over-ran with a 21-6 third period and Wolves could afford to only score five points in the final ten minutes and still wrap up their seventh win in eight games. Josh Butterworth led Wolves with 21 points.
In contrast, it was another tough game for the U-12 B team as they went down 70-42 against Brentwood Leopards despite a good third period where they outscored the visitors 15-13. The U-14 conference side also tasted defeat as they never recovered from a 25-9 first period, eventually going down 85-45 at North Herts Knights.
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