Sonics fall short against Griffins in Albany Basketball Association women’s A-grade competition

Griffins jumped to top spot on the Albany Basketball Association women’s ladder after an emphatic 33-point win over Sonics on Tuesday night. Bouncing back from their sole loss of the season to Barking Owls last week, Griffins took the lead against Sonics early and never faltered to finish 60-27 winners in round six. Sonics tried to reduce the deficit late in the first half but the margin never got back to single digits with the lead ballooning out towards the end of the contest. Lauren Spinks was a key cog in the win, hitting three triples along with two field goals in a hot-shooting display of 13 points. Indy Rogers (15 points) was superb with four field goals and two three-pointers while Danielle Carne (12) was also a strong contributor in the win. With scores at 37-15 at the 14-minute mark of the second half, Sonics’ Aleesha Narkle tried to grapple control back from Griffins. Narkle defended tenaciously and continued to attack the basket in the face of adversity, hitting two free throws to cut the lead back to 20. But Griffins had too many options across the floor with Rogers intercepting multiple loose balls while setting up her team the other way. Rogers hit a perfect triple followed by Danielle Carne with a driving layup to push the margin out further. Sonics’ Narkle scored the last points for her side but Spinks capped a brilliant team performance with a wide-open three in the final seconds of the game. Narkle (12) was the shining light in a losing affair and she had plenty of support from the hard-working Sheridan Kowald (9) in their second loss of the season. Meanwhile, Raiders under-18 recorded their first win of the season in a tense encounter with Sonics Blue, finishing 29-28 victors. Dakota Brenmer was the top scorer for Raiders with five field goals while Imojen Gill (5) and Angelina De Giambattista (4) also provided plenty of attacking support. Telikah Collins finished as the game’s highest scorer on 13 points, including five successful free throws, and Tamara Ditchburn (8) also buried two three-pointers in the narrow loss. Infernos forfeited their match against Barking Owls in the other A-grade fixture.