Last year, Sevenoaks Suns marched to the WBBL Championship and Playoff titles losing just one game in the process. Their current form this season is much the same having played seven and won seven, and sometimes you can play below your own expectations and still achieve the win.
On Saturday afternoon Sevenoaks were back at the Sennocke Centre to face a team hotly tipped to challenge for the title this year, Newcastle Eagles.
This was the Suns first game in a month, due to an enforced international break and WBBL Cup games, and this you could tell as they started slowly for a change, going into the second quarter with a slender 17-10 lead over their opponents. Sevenoaks managed to slightly extend their lead by the half to 37-25 however with only eight offensive rebounds from 30-odd, this could have been a lot more.
The Suns started the second half in a more familiar fashion and it wasn’t long before their star quality began to shine through on the court.
Janice Monakana came off the bench to score 17, whilst Cat Carr and Judit Fritz put together compelling displays with 13 a-piece. By the end of the third quarter Sevenoaks were 62-33 up on their opponents.
One key stat was that Newcastle were only able to shoot just 25% from the field as the hosts held them to 10 points or less in three of the game’s four quarters.
Monakana provided the key spark off the bench, scoring a game-high 17 points from just 11 shots. Carr also shone for the Suns, adding to her 13 points with nine assists.
Now, Sevenoaks’ offensive percentages in the game were not anywhere near what they have achieved previously, so perhaps we can put down to their four week break. They won this match on their defensive capabilities, whilst still managing to score 73.
Now they have that game out of their system, we fully expect a much brighter and solid performance at both ends of the court on Sunday, when Newcastle return the favour and host Sevenoaks in the WBBL Cup.
You can be sure that the Sevenoaks Suns will be fighting on three fronts this season; The Championship, the WBBL Cup and the Trophy as well. On current, and perhaps below expected form, we can’t see anyone challenging them for their title.
