1st game of the afternoon was always going to be tough against the Wales National Team 2, it didn’t fail to disappoint and our biggest loss of the day but a lot learnt by everyone.

Worcester Wolves in game 2 and we started to show the signs of a team forming with a lot of passion and the intensity needed to compete at both ends of the court, leading at HT and finished with a narrow loss.

3rd game we came up against Stroud Sharks which was evenly matched and stood at 10-10 with a minute or so to go, we then went 12-10 up and amazingly held on of for a nail biting WIN!

4 out of our squad of 9 made their competitive debut for the Eagles and played with true Eagle spirit. Shout out to Jack G, Noah T, Ollie and Will.

The rest of the team took these players under their wing and supported them on the court and from the bench - thanks team.

These full court matches against other teams, in a busy loud sports hall offer a very different proposition to a Saturday morning training session. Everyone pulled together, played their hearts out and did an amazing job.

On Sunday, Coach Phil took the U14NL team to play the Jedis!
“The U14s travelled to Hackney for another close game. We played well in the first quarter but too many shots came back off the rim while Hackney shot well from 3 point range. The highlight play was where Dan put pressure on the ball handler, stole the ball and drove from our own half to the basket, getting fouled while shooting and then scoring both free throws. This gave us a 1 point lead going into the 2nd quarter, which was equally as close. The lead changed hand 7 times as Kaden scored followed by a great drive from French. Malachi and Harry continued the scoring while Nico played very well defending the Hackney big man. 28-28 at half time and all to play for.

We played our best basketball in the 3rd quarter. Lorenzo and Leo hustled well while Oli hit an excellent 3 pointer from outside the top of the key. Hackney were forced into a 24 second violation more than once and Sam got a couple of nice assists. Harry continued to play aggressively and shot well from the line as we took a 15 point lead. Hackney started the 4th with 5 straight points, but an aggressive drive from French stopped the run and kept us comfortably ahead. Hackney continued to put the pressure on but 2 baskets from Harry and another from French secured an excellent 60-52 win.”

Two games for the U16s saw a win vs East Herts Royals and a fine battle vs top of the league and unbeaten Luton. Not only did Steve coach the U16s in both games, he went on to play in the men’s game vs Triple Double.

Here he reports on all 3 games:

A crazy weekend of basketball weekend for the U16 NL players. Began with he KAs players playing a tough National Schools game on Friday in London which mean they missed training. Then on Sat the boys played East Hertfordshire Royals the only team they had not payed this season Despite being bottom of the lEague this team sorted an 6ft 11 inch player! The tallest in the league and at least 7 inches bigger than the tallest Eagles player.

Harry Sellick was given the unenviable task of marking this giant of a 16 year old, and proved as did Harry Lovett later in the game (see Facebook video), that great defence (boxing out) works even against the tallest of players.With only 1 referee the boys were never going to their usual calls. It was great to see James Bourva on the table doing a great job as a young table official.

It was a slow first quarter by the Eagles who were getting used to playing against such a big player for the first time.  14-13 up at the quarter and the Eagles were stuck in first gear. The Eagles proceeded to dominate the next 3 quarters with the highlights being Harry Lovett’s boxing out of the big guy, Joe’s blocks on the big guy and some excellent outside shooting from Harry Sellick. Alex Westbrook scored well driving tot he basket and it was great to see Vinnay get on the scoresheet.  Sam Cheshire once again took over the scoring where needed and was unstoppable. All the boys contributed to a solid but patchy performance which was probably due to some players being tired and also players having their minds on the Luton game the following,  Final score Eagles 92 East Herts Royals 51.
 
All in all it has to be said that the scheduling was against the Eagles as on Sunday some of the boys played their 3rd game in as many days. This was the big game against an unbeaten Luton team and the Eagles were definitely up for the challenge.  The Eagles were outsized in the ‘big guy’ positions making player rotation difficult for the Eagles. Luton had a lot of home support ensuring an intimidating environment for the boys to play in.  The brief for the Eagles was to stay composed and be patient.
 
It was a tale of 2 halves.  In the first, Luton physically dominated the Eagles and the Eagles were not afforded any protection from the referees.  The Eagles were down after the first quarter by 10 points and in the second quarter Luton went on a run.  Luton’s England ball handler hit 3 3-pointers in a row, and this combined with some dunks off sloppy turnovers.  All this could have easily over-whelmed the Eagles.  Every time Luton scored the crowd went wild and finally the Eagles lost their discipline and were penalised with 2 technical fouls.  Joe C was now on 3 fouls and it was looking bleak for the Eagles.  The Eagles were down 58-27 at the half!
 
Despite being down and very tired at the half the Eagles did not drop their heads.  In fact quite the opposite as they dug deep and showed everyone what a great team they are in the second half.  The referees started calling fouls on Luton and this helped the Eagle’s resolve. There is no special mention for any player because they were all outstanding.  The support from parents and the bench was immense.  The Eagles won the third quarter 17-15 and also the fourth 21-19.  I doubt Luton have lost any quarters this season.  If there is just one thing to remember about this game it would the strength of character shown by all the players.  They wee down, outsized and very tried and, despite all this, they dug deep and won the second half against a very very good Luton team.  The players were a credit to themselves, their Club and parents.  Losing a game like this will make the team stronger and better.
 
The men played on Sunday evening against a strong Triple Double team at Cheney School.  It was great to see Callum playing for the Eagles for the first time adding some much needed size.  Despite this and the recent addition of Rory the Eagles were still outsized.  The highly physical Triple double team simply out hustled the Eagles and just sat in a zone.  With no protection against their physicality the Eagles struggled and had a very slow start.  Local league is very much a learning process for the Eagles and throughout the game the Eagles got better and better. Had it not been for such slow start the Eagles could’ve competed.  The Eagles need to learn how to deal with this sort of physicality and read better what the defence is giving you.  It was  loss but the Eagles will learn from this and will get better.  Good luck to Tom Willets in becoming a Dad for the first time very very soon.