Hemel Storm to hit the road in post-season

Vanarama-sponsored Storm went down 87-80 at home to league champions Team Solent Kestrels on Saturday before losing out 90-82 at Nottingham Hoods 24 hours later.

It means Storm will have to hit the road in the post-season as they head to Derby Trailblazers on Saturday.

Last Saturday’s game saw Storm face a very tough Solent Kestrels team, who they had beaten in December in the reverse fixture.

Despite Storm leading after a battling first half, Solent managed to regroup and go on some vital scoring runs to turn the game in their favour.

Storm did try to fight back but the Kestrels defence was simply too strong for them, resulting in missed shots especially in the second half.

Desperate to turn their loss into a win the day after, Storm headed to Nottingham Hoods, another team who were looking to finish in the top four and gain the home advantage.

Although Storm led by 20 points in the second half, some costly mistakes in the third quarter made the game all to play for with Nottingham back in it.

Storm only scored seven points in the last quarter compared to Nottingham’s 22 which ultimately won them the game.

The same three players led the Storm scoring on both days with Taylor Johnson (26 and 39), Greg Poleon (24 and 21) and Bode Adeluola (10 and 11) showing good form.

Despite the disappointing end to the regular season, Storm can now look forward to their play-off quarter-final at Derby Trailblazers, which will be played on Saturday (7.15pm tip) at Clarence Wiggins Sports Hall at Noel Baker School in Alvaston.

Storm do have one final home game this season when they face Great Britain Over-35s in an exhibition game on Saturday, April 16 where they will welcome back stalwarts Simon (Spud) Kearney, Tom Adorian and Walid Mumuni as well as celebrating Adeluola’s 10th year at the club. The end of season player awards will be announced at half-time in that game as well.

Tickets are available at the door, on the night or in advance at www.stormbasketball.net