2014/15 Game Report
Team
Opposition
Home/Away
Competition
Date
Score
Newcastle Eagles Under 18 Women
Sporting Club Albion
H
EBL Under 18 Women North
7th Feb 2015
Newcastle Eagles
66
- 54
Sporting Club Albion
Report
This was a great game for the Eagles: exciting, fast-paced, and intense, pretty much all the way from the tip to the
final buzzer. It saw Newcastle put on a great display of team basketball in which so many aspects of the game that
they have been working on for a long time seemed to click into place: swinging the ball quickly, getting into the
paint, collapsing the defence and kicking the ball out for easy looks, and fighting hard for rebounds at both ends.
The Eagles took the first basket after the tip, with Beth Wilson cutting into the key and receiving a pinpoint pass from
Jess Ingles, but West Brom came back hard, making a 7/0 run. Newcastle kept in the game with further baskets from
Bethany Rumble and Beth Wilson, and took the lead briefly in the seventh minute with a sweet hoop from Chelsea
Eddowes only seconds after she’d been subbed on. But Albion dominated the last two minutes of the quarter with a
run of three 3-pointers going down despite strong defence from the Eagles. The period ended with Sporting Club up
22 points to 14.
It looked like Albion might run away with the game, but Lucy Phillips came out strong from the break and energized
the whole team with a run of great moves in the first minute of play: a calm set close in; a deft cut in for a leftie
layup; and a wicked steal followed by a solo fast-break to the hoop. West Brom seemed temporarily stunned, and
Bethany Wilson evened the scores in the second minute. But then Albion rallied, and made another six-point run.
The Eagles answered again: Lauren Mumford followed her own shot and fought hard to pull down the rebound for a
second shot that went home. Levi Williams made a shot-fake on the left and drove baseline for a cheeky layup. Beth
Wilson evened the scores again in the sixth minute. Then there was a drought for both teams, with the Eagles
getting good looks, but nothing going down. West Brom broke the deadlock with two minutes to go with a couple of
quick hoops. Levi swished another from a sweet dish out from Bethany Rumble, driving hard and collapsing the
defence. The half ended with the Eagles just behind, 32 to 34.
The Eagles had a great third quarter, maintaining fierce pace and intense pressure. West Brom continued to play
well, but the shortness of their bench started to tell. Bethany Wilson pushed hard in this quarter, sinking a calm set,
going up strong and shooting through a foul for a made and-one, driving in again and again, drawing fouls, and
making the Albion defence work hard all round. Eleven points from Wilson plus hoops from Lucy Phillips and Sophie
Ridley saw the Eagles up 47 to 41 at the end of the period.
The Eagles kept up the pressure in the final period, keeping their nerve, maintaining their pace and intensity, and
keeping their play free and fluid—a quarter highlight was a Tony-Parker-style ‘circus’ shot from Levi Williams, going
up for a contested layup on the right and shooting past the block with an apparently wild hook over her head which
improbably banked in to cheers from the Eagles’ bench. Albion continued to play well, but Newcastle just refused to
let them back into the game. The scores at the final buzzer were a comfortable 66 to 54 to the Eagles.
It was a huge pleasure to watch this game. Newcastle did themselves proud, with excellent team play and some
outstanding individual performances. And they showed tremendous spirit by working long and hard to come from
behind. We’re all looking forward to the next match-up. These girls can!
Top scorers for the Eagles were Bethany Wilson with 21 points, Levi Williams and Lucy Phillips with 12 points each,
and Bethany Rumble with 10 points. Levi led on assists. Beth Wilson led on offensive rebounds, pulling down 5, and
Morgan Lee and Lucy Phillips topped at the defensive end with 6 boards each.