2013/14 Game Report
Game:
Competition:
Date:
Newcastle Eagles Under 18 Women vs. Leeds Carnegie Under 18 Women
EBL Under 18 Women North Premier
18th January 2014
Score:
Newcastle Eagles Under 18 Women - 48, Leeds Carnegie Under 18 Women - 63
The Eagles had a storming first quarter, probably their best quarter of the season at home. They were firey and full
of controlled energy from the opening second of the game. Carnegie played full court press, but this did not prove to
be the problem it’s been in the past for Newcastle — they dealt with the pressure well and got the ball up court
through the traps. Despite this, Carnegie managed to make the most of some early scoring opps and went up by six
at the five minute mark. But then the Eagles got the measure of the Leeds offense and pretty much closed down
their key shooters for the remainder of the quarter with some beautifully coordinated and intelligent D. They were
great on the offensive end too, with accurate, unselfish passing and strong moves inside bringing some great looks
and an 8/zero run for Newcastle. The score difference would have been higher if the Eagles had been able to make
more capital from the free throw opportunities gifted by Carnegie’s no-nonsense defensive style. Quarter highlights
included an ‘I think you’re standing in my space’ back-in move from Sophie Heslop and a pinpoint long pass by Amy
Ridley from which Kendall Barclay made maximum capital with a quick-release layup.
The second period, unfortunately for the Eagles, was a very different story. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what
went wrong here, but Newcastle seemed flustered — Carnegie’s D tightened, but there was also just less movement
on and off the ball, and a return to old, bad habits of settling for low percentage outside shots (seven out of the 18
attempts were away from the basket). There were some sweet moments in this quarter — as when Levi Williams
made a great thread-the-needle pass to give Sophie Heslop an easy shot in front of the basket in the eighth minute
— but these were spread too thinly. Carnegie scored 17 points in this period, the Eagles only 3, giving a half-time
score of 19 to 28.
If there’s one thing that you can rely on from the Eagles, it’s a fight from behind. The third showed a return to the
form of the first for Newcastle. They played some great ’ball in this period, with bustling energy and unselfish team
play bringing lots of high percentage looks (18 shot attempts, only 2 of which were outside). The Eagles outscored
Leeds 20 to 18 in this quarter, and pulled back to within 6 points on a couple of occasions. Quarter highlights
included two great moves by Bethany Rumble — an end-to-end lay-up after a lightning steal in the third minute, and
a swished 3 in the fifth — but pretty much the whole team contributed to this fight-back, with six other players
sinking shots in the period.
The opening of the fourth saw Leeds taken off-guard and edgy. They racked up four team fouls in two minutes,
giving away six free throws from which Newcastle gained two points. A two from Amy Ridley brought the Eagles
within 5, and it looked like the Eagles might just turn the game round. Carnegie, however, dug in hard, and the
Eagles were shaken, both by the assertive fight-back from Leeds and some decisions that went against them, and
just couldn’t exploit Carnegie’s foul trouble. A great 3 from Levi in the sixth minute looked like it might mark the start
of a final rally from the Eagles, but Leeds scored steadily in the final minutes and closed out the game with
Newcastle 48 to 63 at the buzzer.
This was an exciting and sometimes inspiring game. The Eagles should be proud of their performance on the court —
at least the first and the third quarters of this game saw some of the best team basketball they’ve ever produced. It’s
worth noting that if they’d just kept up something like their first-period game, they would have won this match-up
by 5 points or more. They’re more than capable of that, if they can just keep focus and composure.
Top scorer for the Eagles was Bethany Rumble with 10. Levi Williams and Kendal Barclay got 9 each and Sophie
Heslop scored 6. Morgan Lee was top on rebounds, pulling down 8 — 7 of these on D; Sophie and Beth grabbed 6
boards each. Bethany Rumble made 4 steals out of an impressive team total of 16. The Eagles blocked 5 shots in this
game, Amy Ridley making 2 of these.