Solent Suns defied the odds and a 14 point deficit to come back at the death and win a pulsating up and down game by 94-88

By winning the Suns now progress into next weekends ‘Final 4’ Championship where they will play Rhondda Rebels in the semi-finals.

“That might just be the best game of basketball I have ever had the privilege to be involved in”, stated Coach Michael Ball afterwards. “It had everything possible – two teams playing at their best, fighting to stay in the play-offs and high drama all the way through.”

The Solent team, having finished in 6th place during the regular league season, were seeded to play away against Team Northumbria who had finished in 3rd place. However although Solent had lost their two regular season league games against Northumbria, they were heading into Saturday’s play-off game having finished the season on a six game unbeaten run.

The first quarter started straight from the tip-off with Joann Overstreet attacking the basket off the dribble and scoring and then Annika Lohneiss and Quiana Overstreet scoring off put backs. Calder got Northumbria going from the free throw line and was followed up with 3pointers from Vickers and Colbert whilst for Solent Caroline Turner scored a fastbreak layup. The teams continued to trade points with Solent always looking to score in transition and Team Northumbria executing their half court sets and hitting their perimeter shots. A Tuner steal and coast to coast drive followed up by a three pointer off an assist from Lynne Powell gave Solent a 17-12 lead with 4 3 minutes left in the quarter. However the ever dependable Team Northumbria American duo of Hall and Colbert cut the Solent lead before Jess Brookfield scored 5 points in transition and after Allen scored the quarter finished with Solent leading 25-19.

The second quarter started in similar fashion to the first with teams trading baskets. Turner hit a three pointer off an assist from Carrie Jones and Calder replied with two free throws that forced Copeland to sit on the bench with two fouls. Then Kathi Wohlberg committed her third foul and Team Northumbria started on a remarkable offensive run with players knocking down shots from all over the court. In the last four and half minutes they did not miss a field goal and poured in 23 points with Solent only able to respond with 7 of their own. The Solent team, having controlled most of the first half found themselves heading off to the half time talk trailing 37-47 and with the momentum firmly with the home side.

During the half time team talk the Head Coach Michal Ball and assistant coaches CJ Lee and Lee Ryan reminded the team that they still had 20 minutes left to turn the game around and that they had come back from similar situations before – however they had to get back to playing their style of basketball and would have to expect Northumbria, with a 10 point lead and with momentum on their side, to come out fighting. The third quarter saw both teams step up their game further. First Northumbria stretched their lead out to 14 points with another 3 pointer - this time from Colbert, then Solent closed back to 10 points down after successive fastbreak points from Copeland after assists from Brookfield and Overstreet. Although halfway through the quarter and still 11 points down the game had turned into the type of game Solent enjoyed playing and with the tempo raised even higher they started to gradually reduce the deficit. With Overstreet and Brookfield pushing the ball in transition every opportunity they could the Team Northumbria players were beginning to feel the increase in tempo. However it did not seem to affect the ability of the home team to score from the perimeter and in particular Hall was still proving to be a handful for every Solent player assigned to her. When Copeland got a well deserved break with 2 minutes left in the half, Solent had reduced the lead to only 3 points. As both teams headed into the deciding last 10 minutes the score was Team Northumbria 72 Solent Suns 69.

The last quarter was an absolute thriller with 4 lead changes and 5 ties. The pace did not slacken as first Solent hauled themselves level after Overstreet made a steal and scored and then Northumbria answered with yet two more 3 pointers from Hall and Vickers. Wohlberg responded inside for Solent and after an assist from Wohlberg to Overstreet the score was tied at 84 with three minutes left to play. However Solent stepped up their defensive pressure further and first Solent went two up off yet another drive from Brookfield – but this was immediately answered by 2 points from Allen. Then two free throws from Turner were matched by a successful basket from Hall. However after Overstreet was fouled and hit two from two from the free throw line, Solent managed for once to stop Hall inside and then went down the other end and Overstreet found Wohlberg who made the jump shot to put Solent up by 4 points with 52 seconds left on the clock. As Northumbria attempted to score quickly it was Brookfield who came up with the crucial steal and with the clock running down Team Northumbria were unable to find the way back in the last few seconds and Overstreet iced the game from the free throw line to end a memorable Solent second half fight-back.

As both teams left the floor to a standing ovation from the Northumbria fans it was the Solent Suns who could now start to look forward to a semi-final encounter next Saturday at the Sheffield EIS.

“Team Northumbria were outstanding today. They hit 10 out of 15 three point shots and scored 46% of all their field goal attempts. They must wonder how after such an outstanding performance they have ended up on the losing side”, commented Coach Ball.

“I am so proud of the way that we just refused to lose. I guess down by double digits in the third quarter, away, with the home fans on a high it would have been so easy and predictable to bow out gracefully. But we have developed a real desire and absolute belief in the way we are playing over the last part of the regular season and we were just relentless in the second half against a very good team who also played at an exceptional level throughout.”

Coach Ball added, “now we have a week to prepare for the Final 4 semi-final. We have won seven games in a row so why can’t we make it eight? We might not have the experience of playing in these type of games but we have nothing to fear right now – as the sixth seeded team we should not be here – and a team with nothing to lose can sometimes be a very dangerous opponent.”

Points:

Solent: Caroline Turner 25, Jess Brookfield 24, Quiana Copeland 16, Joanne Overstreet 16, Katharina Wohlberg 6, Annika Lohneiss 4, Carrie Jones 3, Lynne Powell, Mandy Gerada, Jodi Jerram, Lianne Miller

Team Northumbria: Hall 30, Vickers 23, Calder 14, Colbert 12, Davison 5, Allen 4, Bennett, Cacheiro, Loader-Young, Murray, Scott, Melville