Oaklands Wolves started 2025 how they ended the previous year with a win as hosts Nottingham Wildcats were beaten 89-73 on Sunday.
Wolves led throughout the game to extend their perfect league record to 7-0 and coach Lee Ryan was able to give all ten players - including debutant Bo Guttormsdottir-Frost - at least 13 minutes of court time while limiting his starters to an average of 22.
A Wolves side missing GB international Sam Ashby were led by Lavinia Da Silva's 19 points and five rebounds while Beth Sarson added 13 points and four assists. Danni McCray had a 12 point, ten rebound doubled-double as all ten visiting players scored at least four points and collected a reboundeam opened with a flurry of three-pointers as Sarson, Shanice Beckford-Norton and Tay McGee-Pleasant all scored from downtown to help their side lead 24-6 after just over six minutes of action. Wolves took a 32-12 lead into the first break as Abigail Raffety converted a lay-up, and Sarson converted two from three free-throws as her team add a point to that lead to take a 53-32 advantage into the locker room at half-time.
Free-throws from Da Silva and McGee-Pleasant opened the second half scoring for Wolves and they shared 32 third period points before the hosts managed to chip five points off the deficit in the final frame. But it was too late to prevent Oaklands' tenth straight win in all competition.
Coach Ryan was understandably pleased with the victory: "It’s great to start 2025 with a win and keep the streak alive!" he beamed,
"The team put the result out of question in the first period, we were excellent early on, however huge credit to Nottingham for the way they continued to compete. They grew in the game as we tapered off. We have to find ways to keep our motivation in these games, something we will improve for sure. We move on to a huge game at home next week and hope to see a packed gym to support the team!"
That win completed a good weekend for the St Albans club as their Division Three men's team and Division Two women also won on the road.
The men's 86-71 victory at Derby Trailblazers II on Sunday was certainly a shock as they inflicted only a second defeat of the season on the promotion-chasing side and gained revenge for an 88-79 home loss against them earlier in the campaign.
With Nestor Saa dropping 30 points on his Wolves debut, Liam Jefferson's team did most of the damage in the third period as they outscored the hosts 33-19 before wrapping up a shock win with a 16-12 final frame. Earlier in the game, Wolves had led 22-20 at the first beak only to see the hosts fight back to go into the locker room leading 40-37.
La'Quarne Sayers added 22 points and both Deji Adekunle and Lore Adekeye finished with ten apiece to leave Jefferson a very happy man: “We were really pleased to pick up a win to start the New Year and against a strong Derby side who are currently higher than us in the table" he said.
"We’ve been working over the holiday period to be ready for this second half of the season and you could see it paying off towards the end of the game. Great to see Nestor Saa make such a huge contribution on his debut for the team and excited to see how that can grow the more accustomed he becomes to the team.”
Saturday saw a depleted women's academy side travel to Division Two strugglers London Thunder but they kept up their push for a top four finish and a place in the post-season with a 69-38 victory against the struggling capital side.
Beckford-Norton's side scored the first six points of the game and never looked back as they took 25-15 lead into the first break. A 23-4 second period put the visitors in charge at 38-19 and Beckford-Norton was able to run her bench for much of the second half as Wolves wrapped up the win with a 16-6 third frame,
Captain Caitlin Ryan hit four triples on the way to 17 points, eight rebounds and five steals while Paris Mitchell-Tyson had 15 points an five boards. Amye Swinney finished with six assists to go with her 11-point, 13 rebound double-double.
Wolves U-18 women kept up their push for the South Conference title with a second straight crushing of Greenwich Phoenix as the London side were defeated 97-30 at Oaklands on Sunday.
The result was never in doubt after a 19-6 first period and the lead grew to 39-12 at half-time before Wolves piled on the points with a 35-7 third period and wrapped things up with a 23-11. What is effectively a Wolves' second team go into a mid-season break caused by multiple league withdrawals sitting top of the table with a perfect 8-0 record.
Wolves' men's NBL second team were unable to complete a clean sweep for the "senior" sides as they went down 77-67 at home against county rivals Stevenage Royals on Sunday.
Rodney Bryn-Hussey's depleted side - which included 15-year-old debutants Zac Butterworth and Albert Dye - made the visitors fight all of the way but paid the price for poor starts to both halves.
The visitors scored the first seven points of the game before Wolves fought back to only trail 16-13 at the first break before going into half-time with a 42-33 deficit. Royals opened the second half with an 8-0 run and it looked to be all over as the visitors led 63-42 going into the fourth period. But a furious comeback saw the deficit reduced to two points with four minutes on the clock only to see Wolves run out of steam down the stretch.
Kajus Gasperas led Wolves with 18 points, with Tristan McIntosh adding 14 and both Femi Boyejo and Ayden Amini finishing with nine each. Royals were led by James Cummings (24) and Jerrell Layne (11), both of whom played Division One basketball for Wolves and their predecessors Leopards.
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