Sunday 10 March 2013 Cheshire Phoenix 90-121 Worcester Wolves

Worcester Wolves completed a fine double of weekend victories when demolishing Cheshire Phoenix 121-90 in Chester on Sunday afternoon. A thoroughly professional display was enough to see the Wolves rise to joint-third place in the British Basketball League, ahead of a near-two week break before the team next sees action.

Just as in Friday’s comfortable victory over the London Lions, stifling defence and efficient offence was the key factor in the success. Ex-Cheshire forward Kai Williams revelled in returning to his former home court, punching in 29 points, while Stan Ocitti posted a double-double of points and rebounds for the second game in a row.

Three-pointers from Chez Marks and his backcourt partner Gabe Haskins gave Phoenix their only lead of the match before Ocitti and Williams did the same, helping the Wolves to a 10-6 lead after three minutes had elapsed.

Influential big man Arturas Masiulis was unable to make the trip north due to a bad cold, but Worcester did not allow this to disrupt their structure, their cause being further helped when his opposite number for Chester, Alif Bland, was forced to the bench with early foul trouble. When Wolves’ captain Carlos Fernandez widened his side’s advantage to 13-8 after six minutes, it was the signal for a Cheshire time out.

However, the team-talk did little to counter the Wolves attack as another triple from Ocitti was accompanied by one from Alex Owumi, and a double of scores for Kalil Irving. In the meantime, the Cheshire offence was restricted to a paltry four points in the remainder of an opening quarter which ended at 25-12 in Wolves’ favour.

Sherrad Prezzie-Blue entered the fray in the second quarter and was soon on the mark with two long-range buckets. But even more impressive was an outburst of scoring from Kai Williams; he skipped around the flailing challenges of Phoenix defenders to lay in simple baskets and then tormented them further when shooting from afar, totalling 15 points in the second quarter alone.

The only notable response in the first-half came from another player facing his former employers, Stuart Thomson. The ex-Worcester forward was able to post nine points, but still had to witness his side trailing at 58-37 by the interval.

Wolves continued to frustrate their opponents as the game progressed. Playing increased minutes in place of his countryman Masiulis, Arnas Kazlauskas joined the scoring party with successive scores and delighted in harassing the opposition into mistakes; a steal and a subsequent three-pointer from Kazlauskas left his side firmly in control at 85-58 going into the final ten minutes of the afternoon.

The scoring baton was passed to Ocitti in the last period of play as he nailed a trio of baskets from outside the arc, adding to the three similarly-made scores he had already tallied earlier. By five minutes to go the Wolves had gone past the century mark at 101-70 following a couple of Fernandez free throws, and coach Paul James took pleasure in emptying his bench.

Teenage English forward Harry Turner immediately floated home a triple and then watched team mate Karl Noyer hit a quick brace of scores. With Owumi the only Wolves’ starter still on court, Cheshire were finally able to give their fans some much-needed scoring cheer as the defensive shackles were eased, giving some respectability to the final 121-90 scoreline.

Paul James was once more pleased with the professionalism of his charges, stating: “I said to the players that this will be the last time we play for a couple of weeks so let’s make the most of it and finish on the right note. We were hot on offence and defensively we were superb. It was a very professional performance.”

Referring to the individual performance of Kai Williams, James commented: “He had a tremendous game. He really showed his repertoire today.”

William’s 29 points led the Worcester scoring, followed by 27 points from Ocitti, as well as ten rebounds. Owumi also registered a double-double with 19 points and eleven rebounds. Haskins and Marks top-scored for Phoenix with 26 and 25 points respectively, supported by 14 points from Thomson

Wolves will travel to new BBL Trophy winners the Sheffield Sharks on Friday 22 March, before returning to the University of Worcester for the visit of Manchester Giants the following day.