GRIMSBY Snaprats basketball team suffered a convincing defeat against Hull Hornets at Havelock Academy.

After their previous match in the Humber Development League, against LT Ravens, the Snaprats nearly pulled off a big shock.

It was therefore expected that the visit by Hull Hornets would be another nail-biter – but instead they were beaten 81-33.

On the day of the match, the main Snaprats strikeforce had to be changed after three regulars declared themselves unavailable due to injury and illness. Replacements were drafted in and two 15-year-olds, James Parrott and Chris McDonagh, stepped up from the junior Lincs Lightning Under-16 squad to make their debuts.

Without leading points score Jean-Louis Plaajties, it was down to point guard Andrew Armstrong to take on the mantle.

In a tight first quarter, the home team held the Hornets and, at one point, were matching basket for basket and finished the second quarter only ten points down.

A bad third quarter for the home side saw heads drop and club captain Jamie Hewitt wisely used his time-outs to try to rally the team.

The two debutants played really well and Armstrong (15 points) was always looking for a chance to score, but a problem rebounding under the home basket was to be the Snaprats' undoing.

An injury to Liam Sankey caused further problems and the Hornets took advantage of some sloppy defending to pull away into a lead that became too large for the Snaprats to claw back.

Coach Robin Russell said: "After last week it was disappointing, as I expected a win, but reshuffling the team so close to tip-off was a little unsettling."

The Snaprats' next home match is against Kingston Panthers on Monday from 7pm at Havelock Academy.