Cheshire Phoenix: Kinu Rochford says the 'sky is the limit' after winning weekend

Kinu Rochford believes the 'sky's the limit' for him and his Cheshire Phoenix team-mates after emerging from a tough weekend with back-to-back wins.

The Nix executed their game plan to perfection on Friday night at Worcester Wolves to stun one of the BBL's strongest sides, snapping a 15-game winning run for their opponents at home and ending a five-game losing run head coach John Lavery's men with a 94-76 success.

And they followed that victory up with their first win at the Cheshire Oaks Arena, defeating Bristol Flyers 72-60 to book their place in the semi-final of the BBL Cup, setting up a two-legged final four showdown with reigning champions Newcastle Eagles.

But with the Nix having struggled at the start of the season, Rochford, who joined the club in early October, believes that things are looking up for the squad and hailed their togetherness of the group.

“I just felt we needed to taste that first victory and now its like we're gelling,” said power forward Rochford, who played his basketball in France last season with French Pro-B side ESSM Le Portel.

“As a team we stay together, whether it's hard or not we stay together and keep focused. I'm loving the experience right now.

“In the house we do a lot of bonding. Everybody wakes up together and has breakfast together and we're just trying to keep the team chemistry.”

For 25-year-old New Yorker Rochford, who played his college basketball at NCAA Division One school Fairleigh Dickinson University, the win over Bristol brought a huge sense of relief to him and his team-mates and thanked the Nix faithful for sticking by him.

“There was no greater feeling and I felt like it was a roar of relief,” said Rochford, who hit 16 points in the win over Bristol.

“We have been coming weekend after weekend and we knew it was going to pay off. We told them to stay with us and the fans, they always come. It's a beautiful feeling and I'm just happy they came.”

With a cup semi-final on the horizon against the all-conquering Eagles, Rochford believes that the Nix have only scratched the surface and believes that when the two meet again, Fab Flournoy's Newcastle will meet a wholly different Cheshire side that the one they faced last month at Sport Central, where the Eagles dished out a heavy 118-80 beating to the visitors.

Rochford added: “I feel like the sky is the limit. When I was with my team in France that was their first time ever going to the French Cup final so I'm kind of experienced in these cup games. I know if we can just stay together then we can do something magical.

“I feel like Newcastle is the best team in the league because of their experience and they are the definition of a family and they know what they can do and what they can't do. But I feel like going to Newcastle, the castle got to get overthrown sometimes and it's time to take down Newcastle. Like I said, the sky's the limit for us.”