Nick Wright previews this weekend's clash between York City Knights and Hull FC
Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
James Tompkinson reviews an excellent pre-season victory for the York City Knights against Yorkshire rivals Leeds Rhinos
In their third match of the season, the women’s basketball team really hit their stride, methodically destroying Sheffield Hallam with total domination throughout. Seemingly inevitably, York reached a century of points before the final quarter, but the game was over even before the first period had finished.
From the outset, through successive fast breaks, point guard Claire Dinan and Lydie Mariutto racked up an astonishing 24 points between them and propelled York to a 38 – 0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter. Everything worked perfectly for York, both offensively with sharp passing and good positioning, and defensively with a good, solid zone, forcing erratic shots from beyond the three point line by the poorly trained Hallam.
By half time the score was a ridiculous 74 – 2 and York never slowed down, with break after lightning break increasing their lead, supported by their total control in defence. Dinan sat out for the entire 3rd quarter, but the York rampage continued unabated, with substitute Daphne Bar scoring 12 points. And with just under three minutes left in the third quarter, the team cracked the 100 point threshold, going in at the break with a 102-4 lead.
By this point the match had turned into a training session, with the women practicing their passing, shooting and cutting as if Hallam weren’t even there. Dinan returned to the court and resumed her systematic scoring, finishing with a whopping 40 points, while counterpart Bar got an impressive 26 and teammates Lydie Mariutto and Marta Marscionkaite picked up two dozen each.
The final score stood at 136 – 10 and what struck home the most was the sheer methodical skill of the women’s team. As Maro Kim remarked, “They look like women who’ve been trained to play basketball,” not simply trying to play netball with different rules, and this really showed on the court. Their systematic defeat of Sheffield Hallam really bodes well for the future and their exciting style of play was well worth a watch.
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