Recap
Newcastle Eagles 80 v Manchester Giants 47
Head Coach – Darius Defoe / Assistant Coach – Dominic Taylor
Starting 5 – Luke Tucker, Billy Crawshaw, Leo Glaholm, Leonardo Wilson, Joseph Flint
This was the final game of the regular season for the Newcastle Eagles who lead from start to finish
The Eagles won the tip in their final game of the regular season. The Eagles got the scoring underway quickly with a 2-point basket from Leonardo Wilson. This was quickly followed by a basket from Billy Crawshaw. Luke Tucker and Billy Crawshaw stood strong under the Manchester basket, sending the ball back down court for a second basket for Leonardo Wilson. Not to be outdone Joseph Flint was next to find the Eagles net. A steal for an inbound Manchester ball gave Billy Crawshaw his second of the game and this was quickly followed by Luke Tucker’s first basket of the game, forcing Manchester to call a timeout. Both teams came back onto the floor fighting. Some excellent ball movement from the Eagles sent the ball to a waiting Leonardo for another 2 points. Manchester finally found their way through the tough defence under their basket for a basket of their own, quickly followed by another. Manchester stepped up their defensive efforts but this ended up sending Leo Glaholm to the free throw line adding 1 more to his game tally. A quick team change sent 5 fresh players out onto the floor. Play flowed back and forth between the teams and Manchester strayed into foul trouble. Tyler Cadete added his name to the scoresheet with a 2-point basket however Manchester answered this with a 3-point shot of their own. Harry Merrifield was next to add his name to the scoresheet with 3 baskets in a row. The quarter ended 26 – 15 in favour of the Eagles
Quarter 2 saw Manchester step up their game and testing the Eagles defensive skills. Leonardo Wilson got the Eagles scoring underway. Manchester found themselves on the free throw line but were unable to take advantage. However on their next play they did manage to find the basket. Again Manchester were on the free throw line for 3 free throws but could only manage 1. Play flowed back and forth with steels at either end from both teams and it was Manchester who broke the scoring drought. Leo Glaholm answered this with an And 1 basket. In a quarter of fouls Manchester were on the free throw line without being able to take advantage. Leonardo Wilson added another to his tally. With 3 minutes to play Manchester strayed in foul trouble once again. Harry Merrifield took full advantage. Manchester answered with 2 quick baskets but Harry Merrifield was having none of that and added another to his tally and the quarter ended 37 – 30 to the Eagles
Leo Glaholm got the scoring underway in the second half. The game was stopped for a moment to correct an issue with the game clock. Play resumed with the Eagles inbounding the ball and Joseph Flint added 2 more points to the Eagles tally, quickly followed by another from Leo Glaholm. Manchester were first on the free throw line in this quarter but could not take advantage. Some well timed ball movement from the eagles sent the ball back down court and with an assist from Luke Tucker, Leo Glaholm added another to his tally. Once again the game flowed end to end and a long pass down court from Billy Crawshaw to the waiting Luke Tucker gave the Eagles 2 more points. Lewis Pinnock was next to add his name to the score sheet. Manchester landed an And 1 basket but could not take advantage of the extra shot. Billy Crawshaw added another to the score sheet but once again Manchester found themselves on the free throw line, this time taking full advantage. Harry Merrifield answered this with 2 points of his own, quickly followed by an And 1 basket. Manchester once again strayed into foul trouble. Another long pass down the court from Luke Tucker gave Harry Merrifield another basket. Tyler Cadete was on the free throw line due to Manchester’s foul woes. And the quarter ended 63 – 35 in favour of the Eagles, holding Manchester to just 5 points all quarter
Leo Glaholm opened the scoring once again in the fourth quarter however Manchester answered this with a basket of their own. After a scramble on the floor Leo Glaholm came up with the ball again to add 2 more points to his tally. Manchester Giants called a time out. When the teams came back on court Manchester found themselves on the free throw line but again, were unable to take advantage. Manchester finally found their way through the Eagles defence to add 2 points to their score line. Ewan Aditjandra answered this basket with one of his own. An unsportsmanlike foul sent Tyler Cadete to the free throw line. Tyler Cadete added another from the free throw line followed by a 3-point shot from Alfie Rhodes. With 3 minutes to play Manchester were once again in foul trouble. Ewan Aditjandra added another to his tally. Manchester did find a way through to their basket to add another to their tally. Alfie Rhodes added another 3 point shot and Manchester’s fate was sealed. Tyler Cadete hammered home the win with another 2 points. The game ended 80 – 47 in favour of the Eagles
There is no rest for these boys as their play off run starts next weekend. The boys have finished 2nd in the North Premier League and will be ranked 5th in the country at the start of the playoffs. This has been an amazing season for this U14s team and for Coach Darius and Coach Dominick
