Play-off charge continues for women

Oaklands Wolves II kept their outside hopes of a place in the WNBL Division Two play-offs with a 69-47 victory at Bracknell Cobras on Saturday.

Claire Abbott's young team need need to win their final regular season when they host Thames Valley Cavaliers II on Saturday (5.30pm) and hope that other results go their way to seal a place in the post-season.

Caitlin Ryan led the visitors' scoring with 17 points, Rosie Porter added 16 while both Sarah Adepoju and Katie Nicholson had season-high 11-point games.

After the two sides shared the first 20 points, Wolves blew the game open with an 11-1 run and went into the first break leading 23-13. 

That advantage grew to 36-20 at half-time  and although Cobras shaved a point off the lead in the third period, a 20-13 fourth quarter sealed Wolves' 11th win of the NBL season.

Both men's NBL teams saw their seasons end in disappointment with heavy defeats as the Division Two team lost 98-61 at home against Westminster Warriors while the Division Three side went down 100-60 at Northampton Mavericks.

Wolves trailed 24-18 at the end of the first break against Warriors but they started the second period well and Lanre Pratt's jump shot put the hosts 34-32 ahead at the five minute mark. But that proved to be as good as it got for the hosts as Warriors went into half-time with a 47-34 lead and blew the game open with a 28-12 third period.

Captain LaQuarne Sayles led Wolves with 17 points and six rebounds while Ethan Downing marked his final NBL game with Wolves by dishing out five assists to go with his 14 points. Pratt pulled down an impressive 13 rebounds to add to his seven points and four assists. The visitors were led by Justin Hitchman, who spend several seasons with Wolves' predecessors Leopards, as he proved unstoppable in the paint with a 29-point, 11 rebound double-double while Lukas Volskis, another former Leopard, dished out a season-high 11 assists. 

21 points from captain Dan Kostadinov weren't enough to prevent Wolves' D3 season ending on a low as they never recovered from a 28-9 first period deficit in Northampton. The second quarter saw them knock a point off the deficit to trail 45-27 at half-time, but the hosts comfortably outscored them in the second half. Larry Clark added 11 points and Milic Pavic eight. 

WEABL team reach semi-finals

Oaklands Wolves recorded arguably their best result of the season as they reached the Women's Elite Academy Basketball League play-off semi-finals with a 57-53 at Manchester Mystics, on Wednesday.

Claire Abbott's team led from tip-to-buzzer against the Northern Conference runners-up but survived a frantic fourth period comeback to reach the final four. They were the only team in the last eight stage to win away from home and will now travel to Ipswich on Wednesday March 20 as they attempt to reach the final for the first time.

Rosie Porter split a pair of free-throws with 4.7 seconds on the clock to put Wolves up by four and, after Mystics had called a time-out, Caitlin Ryan blocked a three-pointer to end any hopes the hosts had of a dramatic finish.

Porter led Wolves' scoring with 15 points, adding three assists, while captain Ryan had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steal and three big fourth quarter blocks. Cleo Lewis-Gayle had 12 point, eight rebounds and three assists while Joanna Akpan had nine boards to go with her five points.

Porter opened the scoring with a free-throw before baskets from Ella Brown and Amye Swinney saw Wolves take a 5-0 lead. Five straight Lewis-Gayle points saw the lead balloon to 21-7 before Mystics closed the period strongly to cut Wolves' lead to 24-16 at the first break.

Ryan's three-pointer kept Wolves ahead in what proved to be a tight second period as

Mystics shaved the visitors' lead to 39-33 at half-time before a Porter basket followed by a Ryan tripe put Wolves 44-33 up with 7:11 left in the third period. The rest of the quarter saw a defensive battle as both sides struggled to put points on the board, but a pair of Lewis-Gayle baskets helped Oaklands take a 50-39 lead into the final quarter.

Only Ryan's basket troubled the scorer for the visitors in the first six minutes pf the fourth period as Mystics whittled the lead down to 52-49. But Porter broke the duck as she split a pair at the foul line before Manchester's Hernandez and Lily Harkness exchanged baskets.

Swinney made it a five-point game oly for Escriva Gay's drive to the basket to get Mystics back within a single shot. Porter missed with 26 seconds on the clock but the hosts turned the ball over and Wolves had the ball to set a nerve-wracking finish,

Abbott's team return to senior National League Division Two South action on Saturday with a trip to Bracknell before resuming their quest for academy glory next Wednesday.

The (cheap) weekend preview

Wolves men look to end on a high - and it's only a quid!

It's kids (and adults, in fact absolutely anyone) for a pound as Wolves men wrap up their National League Division Two South season with a home game against Westminster Warriors on Saturday.

Tip-off is 6pm as Faith Karahan's young team look for a repeat of last week's buzzer-beating victory against Ipswich, and they will face a Warriors side who have won four of their last six games - the defeats coming against the league's top two sides, MK Breakers and Solent - to end any relegation fears and move up to sixth in the table with an 8-11 record.

One of those eight wins for a Warriors side containing several players from Wolves predecessors Leopards came at Moberley Leisure Centre as they Oaklands 83-55.

After a tough season the Wolves are looking for a big crowd in what will be a final appearance at Oaklands for several players. SO BRING THE NOISE!

Wolves II will also aim to end a tough season when they complete their D3 East fixtures with a trip to Northampton Mavericks on Saturday afternoon. It will be a revenge mission forthe young Oaklands side as they lost a thriller 0-85 when the teams met at Oaklands in December despite 25 points from Dan Kostadinov.

Wolves WBBL side have a weekend off as the competition stages its All-Star game but the academy team will still be bouncing after Wednesday's WEABL quarter-final victory in Manchester as they travel to Bracknell Cobras.

Caitlin Ryan dropped 17 points and Stella Ekblad-Piscitelli added 11 when Wolves won a bail-biter 56-54 earlier in the season, so Claire Abbott's side will be looking for a double against a team sitting eighth in the league with a 7-12 record. Claire Abbott's team need to win both of their remaining game and hope that Cardiff City win at Thames Valley to reach the Division Two play-offs.

There is also plenty of junior action for the Wolves juniors as the JNBL season reaches its penultimate weekend. Wolves U-12 boys get things going at Oaklands when they host county rivals North Herts Knight at 11am. Michael Ball's side are looking for a clean sweep against all opposition not called Milton Keynes Breakers I, and have already wrapped up second spot in Region IV, so they'll be aiming for a repeat of their 55-26 victory when they travelled to Pendelton Sports Centre in late November.

The 1pm tip-off sees Wolves U-16s face a massive task against London Stars who are still chasing the runners-up spot having won 15 of their 19 games, including a 95-30 victory against George Walker's team when they met on east London.

There's also U-16 action at 3pm as the girls host London Thunder in the first of successive games against the Millwall-based team. Jorjah Smith's team will aim to build on last week's win at Reading which improved their record to 2-16 while the capital side have a three wins from 19 games.

Wolves U-14 boys wrap up their league season with a trip to Barking & Dagenham Thunder where they will aim for a double against the Dagenham based hosts having won a thriller 63-61 earlier in the season. Ibrahim Garbia's team are already safely in the play-offs with a 15-6 record while the hosts are destined to finish sixth and miss out on the post-season having won 10 of their 21 games

Sunday's action sees the U-14 girls looking for revenge when they host a Sussex Storm side who beat them 96-25 three weeks ago. With coach Allison Day involved in the WBBL All-Star game, La'Quarne Sayles will take the team as they look to upset a fourth placed Storm side who are fourth in the South Premier table.

Wolves U-13 boys will be aiming for a double as they host Cambourne Falcons U-14 at 4pm, having won 74-45 in Cambridgeshire earlier in the season. George Walker's teams are currently seventh in the U-14 East Conference with a 7-11 record while Falcons are tenth with three wins from 19 games.

After seeing the game postponed due to a lack of referees last week, Wolves U-16s will complete a long weekend with a trip to Brentwood Fire on Sunday afternoon looking for a win which would realistically end any fears of participating in the relegation play-offs. Wolves face a side who are one place ahead of them in eighth spot. The meeting at Oaklands saw a lopsided 92-43 victory for the visitors but the Essex side go into the game with only two wins in their last nine games.

Last, but certainly not least, Wolves Vets have the first of two successive home games when they face North Herts II in the Herts League Division Two on Sunday evening, tip-off 6.30pm.

The team that grew out of a Saturday morning scrimmage for dads who wanted to shake off the previous night's excesses sit eighth in the table with a 4-8 record having won their last two games. It will be Knights second trip to Oaklands inside a week having lost 78-59 against Wolves Academy on Wednesday.