Image by: Lauren Teesdale

The Sacramento Heatwave took its first win of the season against the Modesto Hawks on Sunday night at Natomas High School with a final score of 132 to 93. Despite the opponent’s strong shooters, the Heatwave players delivered excellent defense, which helped them control the game and take the win.

“Overall it was a great game and our best effort in this season so far,” said Reggie Davis, CEO, owner and head coach of the Heatwave. “The team is really starting to get looser, and the defense effort they put out tonight really made a difference.”

The first quarter started off with a close match. The Hawks scored the first shot of the game and seemed to be carrying the momentum.

Within minutes, power forward Michael Selling of the Heatwave scored the first eight points for the team. Selling scored 24 points for the Heatwave by the end of the game, more than any other player on the team. 

With two minutes and 30 seconds to go in the first quarter, the pace of the game picked up. The intensity increased with a close game, with the Heatwave trailing 20-19.

Image by: Lauren Teesdale

In the last minutes of the first quarter, shooting guard Brian Parker forced a turnover and sank two free throws, putting Heatwave in the lead by one point. 

In the second quarter, the Heatwave increased its defense with forcing the other team out of bounds and running out the shot clock. The game really revved up, ending at halftime with the Heatwave leading the Hawks 55-40, giving the Heatwave the confidence to keep up the momentum in the second half of the game.

Only scoring 16 points in the second quarter, compared to 24 in the first, the Hawks were losing the energy they had at the start of the game. 

Image by: Lauren Teesdale

“We played really good defense, and that was the difference between tonight and the last two games of the season,” said Brandon Smith, assistant coach of the Heatwave. “To get the Hawks knocked off put us in a good place in our division.”

Image by: Lauren Teesdale

In the third quarter, guard Greg Doyle scored two three pointers in a row, and the Heatwave controlled the game. The Hawks lost the strong play that they had in the first quarter.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the Heatwave was in the lead, 88-66. The Heatwave led by double digits with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

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Shooting guard Kendrick Grace tried to get the Hawks back into the game by scoring a three pointer after two consecutive three pointers by the Heatwave. Grace scored 33 points overall, the most of all players on his team and the Heatwave players. However, it wasn’t enough to change the course of the game.

The crowd went wild when Parker of the Heatwave dunked with a minute and 17 seconds left on the clock.

Grace made a jump shot in the remaining seconds of the fourth quarter, ending the game with a solid effort, but the Heatwave took the win with nearly a 40-point lead.

“We were confident that we were going to get the win. We had a lot of big shots tonight and really got it together,” said guard Don Moorman of the Heatwave.

The next home game for the Heatwave is Dec. 10 at Natomas High School when the team goes up against the Richmond Rockets. For more information about the Heatwave, visit the website here.  

Image by: Lauren Teesdale