Basketball: Pirates hush Huskies

Pirates’ shooting and scoring has been down in recent matches but this was like watching the old Pirates again as they outscored their opponents in every period.

Huskies opened the scoring but Matt Wakeling struck a quick six points under the hoop while Rob Stapely showed his outside scoring skills again with a further six and James Bennett worked hard defending Horsham’s point guard.

Slowly Huskies chipped away to close the period 20-16 behind.

Both teams traded baskets in the second with Matt Sharp showing his speed up the court and making his lay-ups and free throws while Andy Pleskys (still suffering from injury) made a welcome return and scored a quick two points, then two from the free throw line.

At the other end Rich Lowe and Matt Wakeling worked hard boxing out Huskies and picking up nearly every rebound. Half-time saw the Pirates 35-30 up.

Pirates piled on the pressure in the third, moving the ball up the court with great speed thanks to Sharp and Stapely - both adding to their scores and Lowe scoring with his trademark long-arm shot - enabling Pirates to extend their lead to 56-40.

The last period was comfortable for the hosts and Lowe was unstoppable under Huskies’ boards while Pleskys, really enjoying his return game, scored two three-pointers, one from the free throw line, and ten further field points to complete his season high of 24 points.

This was a great win for Pirates and Lowe was MVP.

PIRATES: A Pleskys 24, R Stapely 16, M Sharp 12, R Lowe 10, M Wakeling 8, M Morling 3, J Bennett 3, D Morgan 3, A Robbins 2, C Jackson 2, M Smith 2.

* Pirates’ Ball Again programme (endorsed by England Basketball) gives people a chance to get back into playing basketball having perhaps played at school, college or university.

If you’re interested, go along to one of the Pirates’ casual basketball sessions - they’re every Thursday from 9pm to 10.30pm at The Arena Sports Centre, Bognor - the cost is just £2 per session.