The Rockets KitKing Trophy run has come to an end in the semi-final as Hemel Storm dominated the Reading side 100-69.
Hakeem Sylla and Taylor Johnson were a deadly combo for the Storm, combining for 48 points on 92% and 69% shooting respectively. For the Rockets, Troy Cracknell once again led the scoring. Cracknell put up 16 points on 50% shooting, with 13 rebounds and two assists.
Hemel came out of the blocks firing with a layup by Aaryn Rai and then a defensive stop, followed up by a layup by Sylla. This was a sign of things to come in the first half as 12 of their 13 made field goals in the first quarter would be layups.
Just three minutes into the first quarter, the kind of game that would unfold was shown to the packed Reading crowd when Jermiah Jenkins missed a three that was rebounded by Cracknell. Troy immediately put it back up, which rolled out. He collected the offensive rebound again, put it up again and missed again. But Cracknell showed excellent hustle by managing to stay with it and snatching the rebound once again, which he put up and in.
The Storm managed to pull away with four minutes left in the first quarter and never looked back. A trio of turnovers turned just a five point deficit into a double digit deficit. Despite Jordan Jackson pulling the lead back down to eight, Hemel continued to go on a run which ended as a 15-6 run until the end of the first.
Both teams broke the poor shooting from three at the start of the second quarter, with Tayo Oyefusi hitting a three for Hemel and Lewis Champion hitting it for Reading. With 7 minutes left in Q2, both teams were 20% from three but Hemel were shooting 78% on twos compared to the Rockets 50%, and that’s what was making the difference in the game as the Storm continued to balloon their lead, which reached 18 by the end of the half.
Down 51-33 at the start of the third, the Rockets would go on a 15-10 run to the halfway point of the third, instilling some hope into the Rockets fandom. However this was squashed with force to end the third with the Storm storming to a 79-51 lead going into the final quarter after an 18-2 game killing run.
The fourth quarter was merely a formality for both teams with both coaches emptying out their benches for most of the final 10 minutes. Turnovers were a big issue that coach Samit Nuruzade may like to key on going into the NBL season as the Rockets lost the turnover battle 19-10.
The Rockets bow out of the trophy with their heads held high after multiple great performances throughout the tournament and will look to build on this in the coming week for the start of the NBL season.