THE U16 men and men's second team of Ayr Storm both came back from the Christmas break straight into SLBA league action without any training and were caught cold, especially the U16 men who were playing on the first snowy day of the winter.

After a day of weather watching and one eye on the M77 live cameras, it was great to see clear roads and Glasgow Rocks' U16 men able to make the short trip down to Ayr. This was the team' fourth time of meeting this season (Scottish Cup, national and local league) and the visitors have dominated the fixture and ran out winners 109-28 in the last game of December.

This first game of 2017 saw the Ayr boys off to a strong start and good pressure on the ball by Paul Gibbons forced the mistake that led to Gabriel Lorimer getting the opening basket of the game. The sides traded baskets with Lorimer, Gibbons and Calum Dryburgh keeping the game close, however the visitors found their shooting range and stretched the game to lead 25:15 at the end of the first period.

Period two saw the Ayr offence collapse and while the boys made the right movement and found the right opportunities, the baskets would not fall for them and only Paul with six points and Calum with two ponts got on the scoreboard - and at the other end Rock's Memmott and Thomas were finding plenty of space inside and from the perimeter respectively. Rocks again scored 25 to effectively kill the game by half-time as they led 50-23.

With one eye on two Scottish Basketball Championship games coming up, coach Danny Gibbons mixed the lines and tried some alternate defense strategies.

This led to a better second half where the large support in the hall could see the improvement in the Ayr team. Lee McKay came off the bench and immediately showed his potential in the paint with two quick baskets However Rocks showed why they are the top West side in SBC U16m div3 and now 2nd in SLBA CM league. FT: Ayr Storm 47 Glasgow Rocks 104.

Ayr coach Danny Gibbons said: "I was pleased we showed we have improved since our first game against Rocks back in September and the recent December game. The boys can take confidence from that into the next round of SBC games."

The men's second team hosted Glasgow Storm 3 in an SLBA SM division 4 fixture - and it showed this Ayr group of players have not had the chance to train together since November.

Player coach Kevan McCrorie found the right mix to slow the visitors down when they went on a scoring run - but the home side could not get into any scoring form of their own and the game slipped away from them. FT: Ayr Storm 2nds 36 Glasgow Storm 3rds 71.