Hawks travelled to Stevenage to face the rival Royals in a game they knew they’d have to start strong to win.
However, the Hawks did not start well. They started the game poorly with 8 consecutive turnovers and were already down by a sizeable score. The only saving grace in the first quarter was the rebounding by the two Hawks big men (M.Haddow and R.Norkeliunas).
In the second quarter, Harlow finally figured out how to play defence and stopped what was a poor East Herts team from scoring. With some great cuts from the Rookie (Evans), offensive put-backs
(Norkeliunas) and some outside shooting (Morris), Harlow clawed their way back into the game and finished the first half down 34-28.
In the second half the scoring slowed down and the defence intensified, poor trash talking got the Royals nowhere and the Hawks took advantage and closed the gap more by drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line. With guard B.Marsden slashing and disrupting the Royals defence allowed the Hawks big men to have more space inside and score some more points. The Rookie was also having a great game.
The fourth quarter started to get feisty and tempers were flaring, but two ‘3 pointers’ from Morris pulled Hawks within touching distance of the lead, but a botched out of bounds play to tie/win the game for Hawks was enough to down the hopeful Hawks and leave them still winless on the season. However, this was a strong defensive showing from Hawks and with a good display from a younger player and some of the veterans, the future looks bright and the rest of the season looks hopeful.
Written by: Will Evans
