Recap
On Saturday 22nd October Newcastle Eagles U16 girls played against Manchester Mystics II in their first league game of the new season. Having lost to the same team in the first round of the National Cup a few weeks ago, the girls had worked hard under Coach Marina’s guidance with a focus on ball movement, free-throw conversions and different plays that could be utilised and they approached the game determined to improve on their previous performance, which they did!
In the first quarter, the Eagles’ girls went out with a focus on ball movement and defence and quickly realised they needed strategies to stop the three-pointers being taken and made by two of Manchester’s key players. After a time out called by Coach Marina, man-defence helped to reduce the impact of these players on the scoreline whilst the Eagles attacked the basket with some strong driving by Grace Rae and Katherine Bird. Erica Elsom tried hard on defence closing down some drives from Manchester. The Eagles girls gave up too many turnovers though and despite their hard work, the first quarter ended 27-18 to Manchester leaving the Newcastle Eagles needing to dig deep in the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Eagles’ defence improved resulting in a much closer quarter which the Eagles won 10-13. Manchester continued to rebound their missed shots on offence but improved defence from the Eagles girls made it harder for them to get to the basket. Sophie Henderson found some good space enabling her to put some shots up. Manchester defended strongly against Cleo Wealleans-Watts as she drove to the basket but Cleo managed to drive the baseline, finding the space to kick out to Lexie Walton who was able to take the shot. Ava Bensley moved well on court finding an open drive to the basket when Manchester had a momentary lapse in defence and double marked one of Newcastle’s shooters. The second quarter ended with a half-time score of 37-31.
After a strong talk from coach Marina at half-time, the Eagles girls went out fighting in the third, narrowing the gap to within one at some points. Their focus was on boxing out and they reduced the number of offensive rebounds that Manchester were able to make. Ellison Burke found many open drives to the basket heading for baseline as Manchester’s help was clogging the middle. Katherine Bird headed to the free-throw line on more than one occasion, easily converting the points. Seraphine O’Neill was left unmarked and took the opportunity to score a 3-pointer along with an open drive to the basket. Grace Rae continued to be strong at both ends and the quarter ended with the Eagles girls up again – a score of 23-24.
Sustained support from the girls on the bench continued to lift the spirits of the Eagles and they tried hard to put in a strong performance in the 4th with a high-scoring quarter of 28-25 to Manchester. Sophie Hawkins continued to distribute the ball well and the number of turnovers reduced. However, a high foul count from the Eagles resulted in Grace Rae and Ellison Burke being fouled out as the team continued their efforts to narrow the scoreline further. Manchester Mystics were able to convert successfully from the free-throw line giving them an extra 12 points. Coach Marina called a timeout in the last minute to try and make a play that would bring back the score. However, their efforts were unsuccessful as Manchester closed the quarter with strong defence giving a final score of 88-80.
Newcastle Eagles U16 girls head to Sheffield on Saturday 29th October.
