Recap

The under 16s Eagles were back in action this weekend against Northamptonshire Titans. The league leaders had only lost one game and the home side knew they were in for a real battle against a good team. With the tip-off delayed because of Northamptonshire’s late arrival the Eagles felt well placed to get off to a good start, and despite the Titans scoring straight off the tip off, the Eagles would compete really well over the first quarter.

The first quarter was a high scoring affair. Both sides were able to get to the hoop with relative ease and the Eagles managed to draw a number of fouls on the Titans after some good strong drives. Whilst the Eagles managed to put up 27 points in the quarter they also really struggled to make an impact on the Titans offence. The away side were able to score far too easily in transition and this saw the visitors leading by five at the end of the period 27-32.

The second quarter was really tough for the home side. Northamptonshire were beginning to really impose themselves on the game and it was clear that any rustiness the visitors had shown in the first quarter was now firmly out of sight. The main issue for the Eagles was a lack of production on offence, but again, transition was killing the home team as Northamptonshire got numerous easy scores in the full court. (3-18)(30-50)

After halftime it was much of the same as the home side again struggled to score despite creating a number of good opportunities. The Titans began to look inside more to take advantage of their greater size and strength, something that would pay dividends as the visitors scored a number of baskets in the paint, with the quarter finishing 10-21 in favour of the Titans (40-71).

The final stanza would see the Eagles finally finishing some of their opportunities on offence. Both sides would again score quite freely but it was pleasing to see the home side moving the ball with real purpose and exploiting a number of poor rotations from the Titans. The visitors would still go on to win the final quarter 20-24 but the damage was all done in the second and third quarters. Final score 60-95.

The under 16s are in action next weekend, away to Manchester Magic. Let’s hope the fledgling Eagles can put in a real performance at the Amaechi Centre.

Scorers: Mamuini 25, Kande 20, Proctor 5, Fetherston 4, Jones 3, Lewis 2, Sukys 1