Boys: Charles Hays vs. Handsworth

Written by Julie Bauman 

Charles Hays Rainmakers were coming into this game following a decisive victory Friday over Collingwood. Handsworth Royals were also on a roll after beating Belmont in their opener. There was a lot of royal blue on the floor as both teams share the same colours. 

The opening tip off gave the Rainmakers possession and a quick first bucket.  And right away the game was stalled due to troubles with the scoreboard.  But there was no momentum to be lost and once things were underway both teams were going end to end with not much scoring in the first quarter.  Handsworth looked to be stronger on the boards.  Rainmakers were initially making some nice passes around the perimeter.  The first quarter was a draw tied at 12-12. 

Start of the second quarter brought lots of energy to the floor.  #11 from the Rainmakers drew an offensive foul and the coach called a TO to regroup.  The play resumed with some very scrambled play on the floor.  The Royals, at times using a press with some effect, managed to pull ahead.  Half time score was Royals 27 - Rainmakers 18. 

The second half was punctuated with lots of vocal support from the Rainmakers bench and the boys on the floor looked more composed.  Handsworth only had a 7 point lead with 5:39 left in the game.  But a time out gave them the spark they needed and the Royals began to really pull away using good rebounding and managing to score most of their shots.  Solid defence kept the Rainmakers from scoring for 2 minutes.  With three minutes to go the Royals were up by 13 and not looking back.  Rainmakers #12 came out of the game with an injured knee and that was that. 

The final minute of the game slowed considerably and the Royals took the win 76 points to the Rainmakers 57.