Recap

The Eagles girls were determined not to take a step backwards following their win yesterday as they took on Milton Keynes Breakers in their second home game of the weekend. With their previous encounter ending 106-33, the girls knew the game was going to present as a challenge but they had their sights set on an improved performance and a narrowed gap. With U16 coaches Chloe Gaynor and Paul Nilsen on the bench alongside head coach Marina Fernandez, good advice was definitely not in short supply and the girls responded well, doing their best to execute the instructions they were given and working hard at both ends of the court.

In the first quarter, the team put in a performance which pleased Coach Marina Fernandez.  They were a long way from allowing the Breakers a first quarter score of 1-43 which they had seen in their previous clash. Lexie Walton put on an impressive display of ball handling and shooting as she added 8 points to the board.  Grace Rae worked hard at both ends with some strong rebounding alongside Seraphine O’Neill who also put in the effort to box out the taller opposition.  Katherine Bird picked up some fouls as she drove to the basket, making her shots from the free-throw line and adding to the first quarter score which ended 20-25.

Good ball movement throughout the second quarter was backed up by some well-executed transition defence. Milton Keynes managed to intercept some long passes forward from the Eagles on offence creating a high number of turnovers.  In response, Ava Bensley stepped up on defence and, alongside other team members, hustled well to regain possession of the ball.  Two 3s from Seraphine O’Neill and a 3 from Lexie Walton gave the Eagles some much needed points and reignited their scoring. At half time, Breakers lead with a score of 34-44.

In the second half, there was a continued high number of turnovers for both teams and over two minutes passed before a basket was made. Seraphine O’Neill and Lexie Walton made a further two 3s while Katherine Bird continued to hustle well and forced her way to the basket taking on some strong opposition.  In response, the Breakers stepped up at both ends of the court giving them an opportunity to widen their lead. However, supported by the bench, the home team continued to fight hard with Cleo Wealleans-Watts making some good baseline drives and passes and Ellison Burke continuing to use her strength to successfully find her way to the basket. Sophie Hawkins used her adept ball handling skills to implement an end to end drive and in the final minute of the game, a similarly determined Grace Rae added to the points total to get the Eagles over their target of 60.

With a final score of 62-85, the Eagles Academy were praised by the coaches for a resilient team performance and a significant improvement on their previous match against Milton Keynes. Next weekend they hope to build on their achievements from this weekend as they take on Nottingham Wildcats at home.