Reigning premiers Sonics produced blistering second half to record emphatic victory over Raiders

Reigning premiers Sonics got their season back on track with a vital win over Raiders under-18s in round seven of the Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade competition on Tuesday night. Sonics had lost four of their first five matches this season, but a superb second half powered them to a commanding 57-point victory. Matthew Jerrard and David Arthur led the way in their second win of the season, starring with 28 and 21 points respectively. After leading by 20 points at the main change, Sonics put their foot down in the final 25 minutes, outscoring their younger opponents by 37. Sonics had slowly increased their margin in the first five minutes of the second half before Arthur put on a long-range shooting display. He knocked down back-to-back triples inside a minute before Gabriel Ang halted his momentum momentarily with a lay-up. But that didn’t faze Arthur as he scored two more from long range in the space of 30 seconds to push the margin to 35 points. Five straight points from Jerrard pushed the margin to 40 for the first time in the game, but Raiders responded with five of their own. Sonics had all the answers, though, netting 16 straight points in a five-minute period as the deficit ballooned to 51 points, and despite some late baskets from Raiders, they fell well short, losing 30-87. Jerrard scored 22 points in the second half and Arthur added 19 in the same period to lead their side to victory, while Xavier Brenton-Reed and Liam Murdock were strong supports with 15 and 14 respectively. Ang top-scored for Raiders with 14 points, and Zac Beeck added seven, but they suffered their sixth straight defeat. Infernos remain on top of the ladder after notching their fifth win of the season against Barking Owls, 76-59. Jaylen Beattie scored four three-pointers on his way to 14 points in the 17-point win, while Lewis Bosch also added 14. The winners also had great contributions from Thomas Edwards (13 points) and Yero Elliott (11). Jordi O’Neill did everything he could to get his side across the line with 26 points and Lucas Ravenhill added 19, but his side were unable to overturn a 14-point half-time deficit. Ambassadors held off a persistent Tigers outfit to win by nine points, led by 20 points from Caleb Carman and 18 from Calum Dixon, who hit four triples. Danial Abbott scored 12 for Tigers and James Watters added 10, but they suffered their fourth loss of the season, 46-55.