Cheshire Jets sealed a playoff berth with a commanding 80-68 victory over 5th placed Glasgow Rocks in front of an ecstatic home crowd at the Northgate.
As a team, the Jets dominated the scoring shooting at 56 percent from all areas.
Delighted coach John Lavery said : “ We are happy we’ve clinched a playoff spot. I think as a team we have really gelled together over the last two weeks. We shot the ball really well tonight and as long as the guys are confident and keep playing the way they are I think we will do really well over the next week or so.”
Captain Colin O’Reilly had the hot hand with 31 points shooting over 60 percent including 7 from the three point line. Adam Brown also had an impressive performance with 18 points and 6 assists. The Rocks on the other hand showed poor offensive execution as a team shooting at 32 percent. They were led by EJ Harrison who collected 12 in conjuinction with 10 points from Mychal Green and Danny Huffor.
In the early exchanges the teams traded baskets until a long three from O’Reilly and a score from Brown gave the jets an 11-8 advantage. O’ Reilly was in perfect form from beyond the arc sinking another two triples as the Jets punished their opponents with a 9-0 streak. Harrison managed to cut the deficit before the end of the first quarter scoring on the buzzer for Glasgow to trail by 20-17.
Cheshire continued their offensive onslaught in the next period running on another impressive 8-0 surge with O’Reilly pulling up for his fifth three pointer of the night to run away with the lead at 30-19. With the Jets shooting 7/12 from three point range the visitors could not find a reply as they headed to the locker rooms behind by 46-32.
Harrison sparked a 6-0 burst at the start of the second half for the Rocks but back to back three pointers from Kai Williams and O’Reilly gave the Jets a comfortable cushion at 52-39. Harrsion stepped up for his team again as he sunk a triple but Brown responded with five quickfire points to see the score peak at 67-48 for the period.
The Jets exploded into the final stanza opening a 12 point unanswered run to open up a 24 point lead at 79-55. From there the Jets held on to close out the all important victory.
