WEYMOUTH COWBOYS 47 JP BARRACUDAS 67
WEYMOUTH Cowboys were left looking for their first win after being beaten by JP Barracudas at Weymouth College Sports Hall.
It was the Cowboys’ third consecutive defeat and second loss to Barracudas after the two sides met in a cup match the previous week.
It left the home-town side failing to truly gel at either end of the court and still searching for their best form after being outmatched by a more physical Barracudas side.
Phil Romano opened the scoring for Weymouth inside the first minute but basic mistakes and an inability to settle into an offensive rhythm then saw Cowboys fail to score for five minutes.
By then the Barracudas had raced into a 10-point lead. Giles Heaman and George Scott both answered back by burying three-pointers, but it was still not enough to stop the visitors ending the first quarter with a lead of 21-12.
The second quarter saw play continue along the same lines as the first with the Barracudas moving the ball around at a fast tempo.
Phil Wilson kept the Cowboys hopeful by drilling two three-pointers and Jack Speary also converted two consecutive lay-ups, but by half-time the Barracudas had doubled their advantage and jumped to a 16-point lead with the second quarter ending 39-23.
The second half saw the Cowboys playing a style of basketball which, if it was still not technically skilful, was at least more spirited and physical after the half-time rocket delivered to the team by coach Alex Fuhrmann.
Romano and Ben Stokey combined to score 17 of Weymouth’s 24 second-half points as the Cowboys finally seemed to realise their potential.
Unfortunately, it was too little, too late, and even though the Cowboys outscored the visitors by five points in the final quarter the match ended with Barracudas the winners by a 20-point margin.
Fuhrmann was understandably frustrated afterwards, but refused to look on the negative side.
He said: “This was only our third game of the season, so I am not too worried and I expect us to bounce back. We know that we didn’t play as well as we could, and that is frustrating.
“The main thing for us is to just forget about this result and move on.”
MVP: Phil Romano
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