Next to Oxford Hoops, our greatest rivalry has to be the Reading Rockets! On Saturday, our U18NL team were ready to get their revenge for their earlier defeat this season. Here, Coach Chris talks us through one of our best performances this season!

"Strewth! Nail biter, we went up 6 - 0 early but this was a tough game. But, we lead from start to finish. Rockets pressed most of the game and at times it worked for them but ultimately Joe C got us over the line with 4 clutch free throws.
This was a team win with great contributions from all but a special shout for Gerry playing hard on both ends and Harry Lovett for giving up blood and sweat ??
We hustled more and played harder and the team should be proud of themselves for reversing the result from the first game of the season. Top of the table Surrey Rams away next Saturday"

Beforehand, the U16s were up against West Herts Warriors. A win should have been on the cards. Coach Steve tells us how it panned out.
"The U16s took on a very capable West Herts Warriors on Saturday who had beaten the Eagles earlier in the season. This game swung each quarter and was played at a high level. The Eagles came out slow in the first, down by 9, but then matched WHW in the second coming in 10 down at the half. A huge performance from the Eagles' bench brought them right back into the game in the third quarter and the Eagles led by 1 at the start of the 4th. In the 4th the bench held their own and the stage was set for the starters to take the team onto a great win. Unfortunately, WHW did not read the script and stepped up their game in the last 5 minutes. Overall, this was an excellent game of basketball between 2 very good teams. The Eagles need to channel their disappointment into working harder and beating Reading next weekend."

On Sunday our girls really stepped up their game and came the closet to a win we've seen all season. Coach Hayley talks us through their performance.
"It was another near miss for the Girls this week who were away to London Warriors. The Warriors, who are currently in 3rd place, had beaten us at home by 27 points and were expecting an easy win. They got a shock! The Eagles showed how much they’ve improved over the last few weeks; they came out strong at both ends of the court and it was neck and neck throughout the first half. It was a rollercoaster of a second half, with the Eagles initially struggling to keep their composure against a full court press resulting in a string of quick turnovers giving the Warriors a 14 point lead at the end of the third. However, the Eagles had no intention of letting the Warriors off lightly and they battled back, with fierce offence and full court defence. The Warriors found themselves in foul trouble and unable to penetrate the Eagles' defence. With less than a minute to go there was just 1 point in it and it looked like we were heading for a win, then the Warriors swished the only 3 of the game to give them a four point lead! Unfortunately, with only 14 seconds remaining, we just couldn’t pull it out of the bag but this was by far the best performance from out girls to date and they should be extremely proud of themselves. It was a real team effort with everyone putting points on the board. Sobiah’s footwork under the basket made her the biggest threat on the court and it was great to see Aibh and Jeanne taking their opportunities to attack the basket. Both Jeanne and Brooke played excellent transition defence, slowing the ball and keeping the Warrior’s shooting guard locked down. And all this with only 7 players! Well done girls."

To round off our NL action, the U14s had a 'bad day at the office, as they travelled away to Harrow. Coach Andy reports:
"On Saturday the U14s travelled away to Harrow. Similar to the reverse fixture, the Eagles struggled to score, whilst Harrow had no problem, with the final score 87-28.
The game started positively with the Eagles playing good, tough defence. However, once Harrow scored and played a press on our inbounds, we struggled to get the ball out of our half which allowed Harrow to dominate. From there on, it seemed like the boys head dropped, and easy passes to team mates were picked off by Harrow who were able to fast break at will.
The Eagles missed too many open shots, or chose a harder path to basket rather than the direct route. This combined with multiple unforced turnovers, led to a bad afternoon on the court for the Eagles.
We go again on Saturday against Rockets."

And finally, our U10s enjoyed a Sunday afternoon of basketball playing competitive fixtures against Kennet Kingfishers and Winchester Royals. The future looks good!