Summer League

WEYMOUTH BANDITS 59 BLANDFORD ARMY 49

WEYMOUH Bandits maintained the momentum in their Summer League campaign following their first home win of the season.

With fewer players than expected, the hopes were still high for the Bandits going into the contest, despite Blandford having arrived with a full 12-man squad.

Looking to solidify a spot among the top teams in the league, the Bandits made a strong start with Jeff Robertshaw converting multiple fast breaks and playing at a high intensity.

While the offence was rolling, the Bandits’ defence was lacklustre and they allowed easy points around the basket.

The first quarter finished with the Bandits ahead 14-11.

Going into the second quarter, Weymouth’s offence was a lot more patient than before and more half-court basketball was played by using a pass and cut offence.

By applying this, Weymouth were able to get open for many mid-range and long-range shots that Craig Sorrell and Chris Canham were converting with confidence.

However, the Bandits’ defence was still lacking the intensity that would let them pull away from the Blandford team.

The first half finished with Weymouth still on top but only by two points.

Going into the second half the Bandits focused on limiting Blandford’s offence to mainly outside shots and that was working well in slowing down the scoring.

While the problem on defence had been solved, Weymouth also started to attack the basket more and were looking to be more aggressive with their scoring, allowing Steel and Carter to get good position under the basket and add to the Bandits’ lead.

The third quarter ended with Weymouth being up by eight points and looking to increase the lead.

The fourth quarter showed fatigue and, despite Blandford having a full team, bad turnovers were caused by both sides.

Although both sides were not looking as great as they were in the first three quarters, the Bandits continued to push on with more experience behind them, looking to find each other for better shot opportunities.

The experience behind Weymouth pushed them on to eventually win the game by a clear 10 points.

Bandits: Craig Sorrell 16, Jeff Robertshaw 15, Chris Canham 10, Andy Steel 9, Carl Carter 6, Jay Willson 3, Jamie Dixon