BASKETBALL
AYR STORM
Ayr Storm’s Junior Women took a weekend trip to Inverness for a double header in the National League with Highland Bears.
Game one saw a keenly contested first half, and thanks to two three pointers from Caitlin Anderson, the visitors found themselves 41-29 ahead.
It was the third quarter that proved decisive and Storm extended their lead to 70-37, behind 11 points from Louise Fisher, who also amassed 15 rebounds during the game.
The fourth was more evenly matched, but Ayr ran out 90-53 winners.
Top Scorers: B Beveridge 25, L Fisher
21, A McIntosh 14, L Cooper 13. FT: Highland Bears 53 Ayr Storm 90.
The teams would return the following day to do battle again, and after another tight first quarter it was Storm, who would once again take control of the game thanks, in large part, to great team defence.
A game high 26 points from Brooke Beveridge, and a season’s best scoring performance from Eileen Boyce (12 points) helped see the away side win by a margin of 89-22.
Head coach, Laura Nisbet, said: “We always enjoy our trips to the Highlands as our teams treat them as great team bonders, and on this occasion it’s particularly nice to head back down the road to Ayrshire with two wins under our belt.”
Top scorers: B Beveridge 26, L Fisher 18, E Boyce 12, L Cooper 12. FT: Highland Bears 22 Ayr Storm 89.
Ayr Storm’s U14s were also in action and put in a spirited performance against a strong Falkirk side in Grangemouth.
The home side turned the screw in the final quarter and took a hard-earned win 59-42, but the Storm youngsters could take a lot of positives from the way they played.
Top scorers: R Fisher 20, A McHarg 6, L Clark 5, E Hunter 5. FT: Falkirk Fury 59 Ayr Storm 42.
After an excellent victory over SBC rivals St Mirren on Friday evening, Storm U14 boys were in SLBA action on Sunday afternoon against Glasgow Fever.
Storm were very much up against it in the first period and struggled to cope with the height and physicality of Fever centre G. Mitchell; Fever ran out to a quick 8-0 lead forcing Storm coach Scott Robertson to call a time-out.
After some offensive adjustments and an increased focus on defensive intensity, Storm clawed their way back into the match.
Guard Luca Smyth spearheaded the attack, racking up seven points in the period to give Storm a 14-10 lead.
The second period was equally as tight, with both teams cancelling each other out for most parts.
Under-13 guard Angus Shanahan shone on offence for the home team, chipping in with four points personal on his debut for the team.
Storm narrowly extended their lead during the quarter and led 24-17 at the half.
Storm were able to step up their intensity and offensive rhythm during the third period, racking up 16 points.
Storm got four different scorers on the sheet during this spell, showing their strength and depth.
Yasin Delgado, Luca Smyth, Lenny Beveridge and Maceo Bartholome all chipping in with four points to extend the Storm lead to 40-30 going into the final stanza.
Storm started the last quarter the better and extended their lead to 16 points thanks to baskets from Rory Wilson and Beveridge.
However, this was short lived, as Fever came right back at Storm, closing the gap to only four points with just over five minutes to go.
Another time-out and refocus from Storm seemed to do the trick as they came out on fire, scoring at ease thanks to Smyth and Beveridge. Storm closed the game out winning by 54–39.
Team: Lenny Beveridge (16 pts), Luca Smyth (15), Devlin Blacklock, Maceo Bartholome (4), Yasin Delgado (6), Michael Clark, Stuart Anderson (capt 3), Sammy Joyce (2), Alex Smyth, Rory Wilson (4), Joshua Baird, Angus Shanahan (4). FT: Ayr Storm 54 Glasgow Fever 39.