As the Newcastle Eagles prepare to go into the International Women’s Day clash with Caledonia Gladiators in the Vertu Motors Arena on Saturday night Shannon Hatch looked back at last Saturday’s remarkable 86 – 70 victory over the previously unbeaten Oaklands Wolves in the same venue.
It was the annual game to promote the franchise and the Women’s professional side and did indeed turn out to be a very ‘Big One’ as Newcastle took a very notable scalp in a signature win that laid down a marker and would have resonated across the other Super League Basketball clubs.
For Hatch, a current full Switzerland international who has helped her country to qualify for Eurobasket 2025 the first time they have done so for 69 years, it was a particularly satisfying night in the domestic black and white colours of the Eagles.
With USA imports Kendall Currence out injured and Tierra Hodges nursing a sore ankle, Newcastle needed others to step up and with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and great on-court leadership Hatch was on of those who made a huge difference on the night.
Quite how the Eagles managed such a win to stun the Wolves was the first question I put to Hatch.
“That’s a great question. Especially as we looked up at the half-time buzzer and we saw they had 44 points and thought ‘oh my days we’re in for a long night.’ But then we saw we’d scored 47. We grouped in at the half and it was great work after that in the second.”
“That’s because we were finding our shots and hitting good looks and everyone came out with great energy. The crowd were very loud and helped us a ton and we really got some momentum going all game but especially in that second half at both ends of the floor.”
“We played as a team, we moved the ball, we shared it and we found the good looks that we’ve been preaching to find and defensively in the second half we essentially kept them to one and done which was key to us down the stretch.”
One and done is an expression use a lot by both Newcastle Eagles teams men and women and basically I asked Hatch to expand on an expression that basically means only allow the opposition one shot and then make sure they don’t get another if they miss.
“Essentially we’re so small compared to other teams and we don’t want to be giving our opponents two/three possessions and therefore two or three chances of getting a basket. So it was key to get the rebound after they got the one shot and missed and that was it.”
“I thought we secured the rebounds pretty good there and that was huge again as always. It got us running in transition and we could do good work with Jada and Lauren and it was everyone contributing really.”
Defence was certainly the key to this Eagles win. Yes, you have to score more than the opposition to win and netting 86 points was a very good effort but restricting Oaklands to only 70 points and only 26 in the second half was definitely the key to the game.
That included a period in the final quarter where the Eagles only allowed the league’s highest scoring team to score 4 points in the first eight minutes of the final ten. A massive effort from the whole team and something Hatch referred to.
“The defensive rebounding and effort were definitely key to our win. We put a great deal of work throughout the week to scout them and I think we were all locked in on this game defensively. We knew our roles and responsibilities and we executed them perfectly.”
“Especially in the fourth quarter when we were tired. We just locked in and wow what a defensive performance especially in that stretch when we pulled away and stopped them almost completely.”
Hatch herself came to the Eagles with a big reputation as a scorer, rebounder and someone that could bring leadership qualities and defensive impact to the roster. She is the first to admit that she hasn’t shot the ball as well as she would like or scored the points she would have liked.
But against Sheffield the previous week she started to show signs of finding her range and her mid-range game really came to the fore in her performance against Oaklands.
“It’s been a bit of a struggle in the sense that I’ve been getting the looks I want but just haven’t been knocking them down. I’ve been putting in the hard work in practice and seen them go in during practice so I knew it was just a matter of time.”
“It was great to see the 3’s going down against Sheffield and in this game I just stayed patient, kept being aggressive and finally my mid-range which I’m usually very comfortable with finally came in and went down which was good to see for sure.”
Jada Guinn and Tierra Hodges did as always their bit. With Currence out Hatch certainly covered that absence but Newcastle still needed an X-Factor and the Swiss forward was quick to point to Sarah Birkett and her 15 points in only 17 minutes on court.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Sarah. I think she knew it throughout the week that her name would be called upon for this game and I was really proud of her for being ready, staying as aggressive as she did.”
“It was pure confidence in herself and she can do that. She’s a shooter and we all have full trust in her. But it was great to see her have a game like this. She deserved a game like this and full credit to her and I was so proud of her.”
For all the hype and resonation such a massive result would have in the cold light of day it is only another one win in a long hard season but what could it mean for the Eagles moving forward.
“Oaklands had been beating teams quite comfortably and until this game hadn’t lost in the league and they are definitely seen as the top of the league and the team to beat. So, for us to come out in front of a sold-out crowd basically and perform the way we did will resonate around The SLB.”
“I think it will make everyone think twice before they play us. They know they won’t be getting an easy roll-over win. It’s fantastic to be that team that everyone knows they have to bring their best game to beat us.”
That starts with Caledonia Gladiators on Saturday night in The Vertu Motors Arena on International Women’s game where it is hoped another big Eagles faithful fanbase will be in attendance to help their international women’s favourites to celebrate the day with another big win.
