Recap

The U16 girls had a long trip to Bristol in their first away game of 2023.  As the game got underway, the visitors looked a little lost with a performance impacted by poor communication and some frustrations being shown both on court and from the bench. A high number of turnovers, predominantly caused by the full court press they were in receipt of and the Eagles’ desperate efforts at driving through defenders to get to the basket, gave the home team plenty of opportunity to put points on the board.

Eventually, the Eagles girls began to settle into the game and their efforts were rewarded as they began to find their way to the basket, slightly slowing down the points that Bristol were able to make. At times, they continued to struggle against the tight defence they were coming up against but improved communication alongside a strong team talk from Coach Martin Walton gave the girls a renewed focus and as the teamwork improved, so too did the scoreline!

As the second half got underway, the Eagles girls went out with an increased determination.  They implemented a full court press, fought for the rebounds, closed out their opponents and passed and shot with improved confidence and success making the third quarter their best of the game.  The girls began to believe in themselves and this positivity radiated from the bench and on court.  As one of the players put it, this was a pivotal point in the game.

However, although the visitors maintained their efforts until the end, it was too late to affect the outcome of the game and the Eagles suffered a loss of 90-52.