HUDDERSFIELD Heat Basketball club have their sights firmly set on silverware this season.
For the first time in their history the club have reached a national final after defeating Barking Abbey Leopards 79-54 in the National Shield to set up a final appearance in Leicester on February 23.
Barking Abbey visited the Heat with an impressive pedigree, top in the vCars Division IV North East Conference, and having knocked out three Division III clubs already in the Shield.
At half-time the scores were level at 29 apiece but following coach Eduardo Perez’s talk at the break his side came out with a completely different mentality, suffocating Barking Abbey to just eight points in 14 minutes, while at the other end Heat’s offence went into overdrive.
The match was decided during this period and Perez was full of praise, both for the visitors as well as his own team.
“We beat a very, very good team, and our achievement probably means more because of this,” he said.
“I’m sure they will be very successful as they bid for the Division IV championship.
“My players were fantastic, and the togetherness is not to be underestimated.”
Heat have been in impressive form in the vCars Division III Championship, climbing to the top of the table with four wins in a row.
They are now tied at the top with Derby Trailblazers and Rossendale Raptors, but Heat have the fewest number of defeats and played fewer games.
Heat now face the final eight league games of the season as they bid to win the conference and gain promotion to Division II, and in the process obtain top seeding for the championship play-offs.
They travel to the Sheffield Saints on Saturday (4pm, All Saints) and follow up with a league trip to the Nottingham Hoods (5.45pm, Nottingham Wildcats Arena).
