Recap

Following the improvements in the previous weekend’s games, the Eagles girls knew they had the potential to take on the Nottingham Wildcats and narrow the defeat they’d suffered in their previous encounter when they lost 33-70. With a final score of 52-69, they did exactly that. However, a frustrating and disappointing start to the game gave the visitors a 27-point lead at the end of the first quarter that was hard to come back from and made the win difficult to attain.

Wildcats played hard showing their strength at both ends of the court, getting the rebounds and making their shots.  The Eagles, meanwhile, suffered from some poor passing alongside some rushed plays and a lack of communication which caused significant frustration for Coach Marina Fernandez who knew the potential for the win. With only 30 seconds to go of the first, Sophie Hawkins finally gave the home team their first points on the board with a free throw.

A much-needed, strong team talk from the coach sent the Eagles out with a renewed sense of determination as the second quarter got underway. Cleo Wealleans-Watts managed to find some space on offence and got the first layup of the game which was quickly followed by a strong drive from Ellison Burke which gave her the ‘and one’.  Lexie Walton called the plays which the team responded well to and the baskets continued to fall.  Ava Bensley moved well on the court and found her way to put up a two. Walton got her own rebound and put up another while Grace Rae added to the score with an end-to-end drive and Katherine Bird drove middle to get another 2. At the other end of the court, Ellison Burke and Seraphine O’Neill were strong on defence, boxing out and getting the rebounds.  With an improved performance from the Eagles, the teams drew the second quarter 17-17 which gave a half-time score of 18-45.

The second half continued with a sense of fight from the Eagles girls while some frustrations grew in the opposition resulting in some technical fouls being awarded. The home team stuck to their game plan and began to take some pride in their performance, communicating and working better as a team. Grace Rae continued to show her strength on offence repeatedly finding her way to the basket. Lexie Walton made two consecutive threes, one of which was a buzzer beater, giving a third quarter score of 34-59.

Seraphine O’Neill knocked down a three to get the fourth quarter scoring underway. Lexie Walton rebounded well on defence with a long pass to O’Neill for an open layup.  Grace Rae, strong on offence, rebounded her own shot twice before adding to the points total.  Sophie Hawkins drove well to the basket drawing fouls from her defender who struggled to stop her. The team continued to put in the effort at both ends of the court supported well by the bench, winning the last quarter 18-10.

Again, the first quarter let down the Eagles girls and impacted on their ability to get the win. The challenge for Coach Fernandez is to continue to analyse the first quarter regression in the hope of getting a strong performance for the whole game from the girls and ultimately the win.