Hornets, Rockets in classy affair

30 Apr, 2017 - 00:04 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Tinashe Kusema
ONE gets the feeling that something special is about to happen every time Harare City Hornets and Glen View Rockets square off.

Theirs is a good old fashioned rivalry, born on the purest form of competition and, solely based on their debut seasons in the Harare Basketball league.

Their latest meeting, at Richwood yesterday, brought the Basketball Union of Zimbabwe National League to life in emphatic style.The match lived up to every expectation, with Hornet defeating their rivals 52-35.

Hornets’ forward Tatenda Maturure was once again the difference maker, with a game high 22 points, while Nathan Warikanda chipped in with eight.

The duo of player/coach Alan Tegunde and Simbarashe Dongonda were Rockets’ top scorers with nine and 13 points respectively.With both teams destined to meet again in the semi-finals, provided neither team chokes before then, yesterday’s match was more of feeling each other out.

Hornets came out of the blocks first taking the first quarter 11-7, before Rockets rallied back in the second and went into the break with a one point lead (23-22).

The Rockets camp lost it in the second half, missing shots, giving away unnecessary turnovers and quarrelling amongst themselves midcourt.

“It was a pretty tight contest, for the most, but we totally lost the plot deep in the third quarter,” conceded Rockets player/coach Tegunde.“We lost our discipline having started off very well and matched Hornets at every turn.

“Unfortunately, at this level of basketball, and against a team like Hornets, such things like missed shots and unnecessary turnovers will get punished”.

His opposite number, Langton Moyo, chose to play down the win, fully aware that the two might cross paths again very soon.“They (Rockets) are a stubborn lot, and always give us a run for our money,” said Moyo.

“Today was no different and I loved how my boys responded to the challenge.“They kept their shape throughout the match, kept the scoreboard ticking and capitalized when the opportunity arose.”

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