After last week’s tough road loss, how would the Warriors 1’s respond against the Basingstoke Blizzards at home?

The Warriors started well both defensively and offensively but so did the Blizzards. Both teams started in their very intense zone defense making everyone earn their baskets. As the game moved onto the second period, the pace was picking up and the match was becoming more physical. The Blizzards decided to stay in their zone defense which opened up the shooting for the Warriors. Ricky “money” Sharma took advantage of the zone hitting some key 3’s which contributed to 6 of his 20 points, leading all scores to close out the half 32-22.

The second half started just as intensely as the first half. This was a physical game all the way through. Sandro Mosquera led the tough physical play as he contributed as the game’s second highest scorer with 18 points. After trading baskets the period ended 44-36.

In the fourth, the game was as intense and as competitive as it could get. The Warriors were for the most part in control with about 5 minutes to go, going as much as 10 up. But the Blizzards wouldn’t just lie down as they came back hitting 3’s and making other shots. They got the lead down to 2 points with about 1 minute left. That’s when Capt. Mark Harris excelled and calmed the troops down with his play. He hit 2 very crucial foul shots with 40 seconds left in the game. Those 2 points out of his 15 couldn’t have come at a better time, putting the Warriors up by 4. After a desperate 3 by the Blizzards the Warriors got the rebound and held the ball until the buzzer.

Overall it was a hard fought match. Ricky, Sandro and Mark lead all scores but everyone played hard and played their role to contribute to the victory. The Warriors prevailed and defended their home court.

On to the next one boys and all we can say is that the swagger is back on!

By: Alex Cartagena