It was a weekend of contrasting emotions for the West Yorkshire Hawks, as the Men’s side delivered a record-breaking win at home while the Women’s team battled hard but fell short on the road.
At the Hawks Nest at the University of Huddersfield, the Hawks Men stormed to a dominant 113-41 victory over Cheshire Wire, the biggest winning margin in club history.
From the opening tip, the Neon and Navy dictated the pace, overwhelming Wire with fast breaks, defensive pressure and balanced scoring.
While the visitors stayed close early with accurate perimeter shooting, the Hawks ended the first quarter 13 points ahead.
In the second, they completely took over, pouring in 36 points and holding Wire to just 7, making it 59-21 at the half.
There was no let-up after the break, with coach Danny Byrne rotating all twelve players and each contributing with energy and execution.
By the end of the third, the lead had ballooned to 60 points, and the final ten minutes followed a similar script as the Hawks closed out the historic win.
Rob Donaldson led all scorers with 17 points, supported by Dave Walsh (14), Chris Sibbett and Joe Heyes (13 each) and Charles Olusunmade (12).
“It was a great team effort,” said Byrne. “Every single player made the most of their minutes and it showed in our performance.
“It feels as though we are really starting to gel as a team and I hope that continues over the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, on the road in Hertfordshire, the Hawks Women showed plenty of heart in a 70-55 defeat to North Herts Knights.
The game opened with both teams trading baskets in a competitive first few minutes, but the Knights pulled away late in the first quarter to take a 12-point lead at the end of the quarter.
The Hawks hit back strongly in the second, scoring 25 points and cutting the deficit to just four at half-time.
But the Knights came out of the locker room firing, using sharp ball movement and offensive pace to build a 19-point lead heading into the final period.
Despite tightening their defence and holding the Knights to just 8 points in the fourth quarter, the Hawks couldn’t find their offensive rhythm and ultimately came up short.
“It was a tough game today,” said player-coach Millie Oates. “I’m proud of how hard we battled but we just didn’t quite have enough to pick up the win.
“We’ll go back to the practice court and continue to work on our development as a team.”
The Hawks Women have a weekend off before returning to action on Saturday November 22 away to Hemel Storm, while the Men are back on the road this coming Saturday (November 8) to face Nottingham Athletic.
