Game Reports
Suns U18s move to 2-0 in the League with wins over Salisbury and Southend.
Defending National champion Sevenoaks followed up an easy win over Salisbury the previous week with a hardfought win over rival Southend Sunday evening 74-66. Salisbury were no match for the Suns, going down 77-28 to a strong U18 Suns team.
The much more important game was Sunday’s. Southend and Sevenoaks have had some memorable battles over the years and Sunday was no different. Sevenoaks got off to a good start and opened up an 8 point first quarter lead. The Suns stormed out to a 21 point second quarter lead and looked on their way to a blowout before Southend came back with 11 straight points to stay in the game. Having said that, team coach Len Busch made sure he gave extensive minutes to his bench players including U14 player Anna Surrey. In the 4th quarter Southend managed to get within 7 points late but could get no closer. Nadine Abbey had a double-double for the Suns with 10 points and 16 rebounds. She was also 6-6 from the free throw line. Renee Busch had 24 points and Timeyin Oritsesan nearly had another double-double with 23 points and 9 rebounds. The U18 women next play at home, November 23rd against Wandsworth Sting.
Suns Division 2 Women stun Swifts in League opener 76-66.
The Suns D2 Women staged a remarkable comeback Saturday evening over traditional rival Southend, overcoming a 13 point deficit in the 4th quarter to win by 10. The Suns were quite sloppy for three quarters, committing 31 turnovers. The team settled down and only committed 1 turnover in the fourth quarter and closed out the game with an unbelievable 25-2 run over the last 6 minutes of the game.
Renee Busch led the Suns with 32 points on 5 of 7 from the three point line. Timeyin Oritsesan and Sophia Popov both had double-doubles. Oritsesan had 13 points and 12 rebounds while Popov added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Femi Hamilton was nearly the third double-double with 9 points and 12 rebounds.
Suns D1 Women Lose 2 on First Road trip up North
The Suns Division 1 Women traveled to North to face two traditional Division 1 powers, Nottingham and Northumbria. The Suns first faced Nottingham and the team found itself in the game until very late. Nottingham could only manage to lead by one after the first quarter and by three at the half. Five straight points by Renee Busch in the third quarter got The Suns within 1 at 43-42 but that was as close as Sevenoaks would get finishing the quarter down by 10, 59-49. Arek Deng had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, Renee Busch added 20, Andrea Wanstal 8, and Kristine Lewis contributed 10 rebounds and 4 steals. The team is looking forward to the rematch in Sevenoaks on January 24th. The final score was 74-63.
After playing Nottingham, the team traveled to Northumbria. Northumbria is clearly one of the Division 1 favorites this year. Their two American imports, Sabra Wrice and Louise Hall were very impressive. The Suns struggled from the field in this one managing to make only 3 of 11 three pointers while Northumbria was hitting 9 out of 13. Northumbria also shot over 50% from two point land which proved too much for the Suns, sending them to defeat by a score of 82-61. Once again Arek Deng carried the load for the Suns scoring 24 points and grabbing 9 boards. Kristine Lewis added 14 points and 7 rebounds. Monika Molnar added 7 points and is beginning to look more comfortable, a good sign for the Suns. It was a long weekend for the Suns but all in all an encouraging one for the young Suns team.