Today all of junior teams were in a action, on the road, in the Youth Basketball League. Up first our under 11s travelled to Shrewsbury to compete in the final CVL of the regular season. Coach Johnson and Coach Salmon’s Report:
The first game was excellent, we came out string and with a good team effort, particularly defensively.
The second game was against league leaders City of Birmingham Rockets. A tough first half saw us go down 10-0. A strong second half performance saw us outscore COB 11-0, taking a narrow 11-10 victory.
The last game was a comfortable win with all players playing well and contributing.
The win secures second place in our group and a semi final place. The semi finals take place in two weeks, Saturday 30th March at Bloxwich Active Living Centre, Walsall.
Up next the under 13s were in action taking on the Worcester Bears. Coach Cameron’s Report:
We travelled away to Worcester Bears toady. Having two of our guys back for this game, we were all felling confident. We started out strong winning the first quarter 21-12. Worcester won the second quarter by two cutting our lead to just 7 at halftime. In the third quarter I decided to press. This worked as the players forced turnovers and converted easy lay ups as a result, winning the third quarter by 20 points. Heading into the fourth quarter the game was ours to win or lose so I made it clear that we had to make smart decisions and look after the ball. The players did just that and were able to come away with the win. Joseph O’Driscoll led the team in the fourth quarter with some big offensive plays, capped off with a deep 3 pointer. Final score 86-48 West Brom win #BromBall.
The penultimate game of the day saw our under 15s travel to Bournville Bears. Coach Preware’s Report:
Another good win for the under 15s. The game plan was to defend hard and push the ball in transition and that’s what we did. In the first half the defensive intensity wasn’t quite where we wanted it but we kept the opposition to 20 points. Despite a series of missed open lay ups we kept Bournville to 3 points in the third and came away victorious 111-33. Contributions came from everywhere including a big 3 point shot from Ignas in the fourth. Osman paced the team with great defensive energy. Nathan rounded things off with outstanding play at both ends of the floor. A great team win.
The final game of the day saw the under 17s travel to league leaders, Shropshire Warriors. Coming off a narrow three point loss in the teams previous meeting the under 17s were optimistic they could come away with an upset. Coach Poole and Coach Sheridan’s Report:
A good team performance from the under 17s today against top of the league who are undefeated. A slow start by the team saw us trailing by double digits in the first quarter. A big defensive effort saw us fight back and reduce the deficit to just two points, trailing at the end of the first quarter 23-21. A slow second quarter is where the game was lost scoring just 8 points and struggling to contain Shropshire’s offence. Shropshire would go on to win the game comfortably.
Tomorrow both our mens teams take to the court with the Prem team travelling to league leaders Shropshire Warriors while the Division 2 team host Birmingham Blazers in a fight for second place in the league. Come down and support us at West Brom Leisure Centre from 6pm!