Sevenoaks Suns’ season ended in defeat in the WBBL play-off semi-finals as they lost 74-49 at the defending champions London Lions.
The Suns were looking to make it back to the play-off finals for the second season in a row, but fell just short of the final hurdle to last year’s opponents, who will be looking to complete a domestic quadruple in a weeks’ time.
Despite the unfortunate result, Araion Bradshaw produced an impressive performance which included 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, as she led the team in scoring.
It was actually a strong start from the visitors, who quickly jumped into a six-point lead in the first three minutes in the game.
However, up against a team as good as the Lions, they would not be down for long. A 10-0 run knocked any momentum the Suns had as they suddenly found themselves behind four. The hosts did a great job of getting to the free-throw line, going 7/8 in the opening quarter, which helped them take a six-point lead into the second. This was a lead they would not surrender for the remainder of the game.
They did not appear to slow down in the subsequent period, once again getting to the line to score the first point of the quarter. The Suns got some free-throws of their own to cut the deficit back to three, but that was the closest they could get.
London Lions uncharacteristically struggled from beyond the arc, only scoring three of their 18 attempts in the entire game. Although, it wasn’t a weakness Len Busch’s side could take advantage of as they could only convert 25% of their own (5/20).
At half-time it was a 13-point gap, still a feasible one, but a huge uphill battle against the strongest team in the league.
A 7-0 burst seemingly put the game away at the start of the third, as they extended their lead to 20. Despite their best efforts, the Suns couldn’t get enough production on both ends to make any runs and perhaps shift momentum back in their favour.
The dominance was epitomised when they stretched their advantage to a game high 28 in the closing minute of the game. A Janice Monakana three on the final possession meant in ended in a 25-point defeat.
Although the season did not end as the Suns would have hoped, they can be proud of their efforts throughout the campaign.
Author: Angelia Ronayne
