York Vikings 3rd team played their first HBA Championship league game ever. The opponents were the Phoenix from Grimsby.

Both teams started the game off quite rusty, with the the first quarter having quite a few turnovers and missed shots. The Phoenix team came down with a strong youthful, team while the Vikings only had one player under the age of 30. The youth and energy allowed the team from Grimsby to win a couple of more possessions than Vikings in the quarter and take it 12 - 8.

The Vikings continued to struggle in the second quarter giving up drives to the Phoenix, while the shots (near the basket or from the three point line, simply didn't drop). As a result Grimsby Phoenix clearly won the second quarter 15 - 7.

Despite employing different line ups the Phoenix kept dominating. In the third quarter, the Grimsby team employed a full court press for several minutes and managed to get another short advantage. Despite managing to break the press Vikings simply could not buy a basket.

A defensive adjustment to begin the fourth quarter with both Dan Day and Tom Marks playing at the same time at the back of a 3 - 2 zone, led to strong start to the 4th quarter. The Phoenix struggled to get to the basket and complete passes with Vikings continuously forcing turnover after turnover and quickly attacking the opponents basket. This lead to a 13 - 2 run to bring the game within 10 points. A leg injury to Nelvin Lau, who was essential to the perimeter defence, stopped the momentun and Vikings ended up winning the final quarter, but were unable to close the deficit.

Game MVP: Dan Day

Notes: Brian Prince, former Chairman, Club Secretary, Coach of Vikings, made his debut for the current iteration of Vikings at the end of the quarter. Brian, managed to break the three point drought the Vikings had, by scoring a big 3 in the 3rd quarter.