Basketball
20 October, 2025
Hornets earn first win of season
The Horsham Hornets men’s basketball side recorded its first win of the season, handily defeating Hamilton 99-74 in Sunday’s round three Country Basketball League clash.
Playing at Hamilton, Jeremy Williamson and Judd Wright joined Levi Munyard, Micah Livingstone and Tarkyn Benbow in the starting lineup in the absence of Cody Bryan and Mitch Martin.
Accurate three-point shooting from Tarkyn Benbow early on saw the Hornets race out to a 15-5 lead early, before entering quarter time with a 26-18 lead.
Team-wide contributions, including eight points from Toby Lakin, helped the Hornets extend their lead to 57-44 at halftime.
Hamilton cut the deficit to seven points early in the third, but the Hornets quickly reassumed control of the game to lead 76-56 at three-quarter time, before finishing 25-point winners.
Seven of the Hornets finished with eight or more points, with Levi Munyard leading the side with 20 points, while Tarkyn Benbow had 16.
Coach Scott Benbow was happy to get the first win of the season, pleased with the team’s execution of pace.
“It was a very good win,” Benbow said.
“Our goal for today was to play with a lot of pace, and when we did that, we looked very, very good.
“We knew Hamilton played last night, too, so we wanted to try and fatigue them out early in each quarter so we could control the tempo of the game.”
Having identified lapses in play as being an issue in their round one games, Benbow was pleased with the side’s improvement.
“The first two minutes of the third quarter, Hamilton went on a small run with six straight points,” Benbow said.
“But it was only minor compared to the previous two games.
“I thought we were mature enough to get it back on our own terms.”
Benbow acknowledged the full team effort, especially as Hamilton gameplanned to minimise Livingstone’s impact.
“Levi and Tim McCormick really controlled the pace of the game today,” Benbow said.
“Judd Wright was amazing and would have been our best defender today, finishing with five or six blocks.
“Jeremy played on guys older than him and didn’t look out of place.
“Toby looked really comfortable out there as well.
“For us to win with Micah not being his normal dominant self is a really good sign, plus we will welcome Cody and Mitch back.
The side will return to action in round five on November 1.