WBBL success for girls

Oaklands Wolves U-12 girls swept all before them as they competed in a competition run by the Women's British Basketball League in Nottingham on Saturday.

Coached by George Walker, the young Wolves won all five games against teams from other WBBL clubs to collect the gold medals at Wildcats Arena.

Wolves made the perfect start to the tournament, which saw 15-minute running clock games, and with Martha Riley shooting well at the foul line, they defeated hosts Nottingham Wildcats 11-2.

The second game proved to be Wolves' tightest of the tournament, but with Francesca Scott's defence setting up Elisabeth Whittaker for lay-ups, Leicester Riders were beaten 11-3.

Game three proved to be one-way traffic as Ruby Meekings and Grace Betteridge caused Cardiff Archers all kinds of problems, and although Wolves too their full-court press off once they held a comfortable lead Lilly Gray's step back jumper completed a 23-3 victory.

The final group game saw Wolves face a Sheffield Hatters side who were also unbeaten in the group stage, but the most successful club in British basketball history had no answer to the Oaklands press as they struggled to inbound the ball. Some good jump shots from Taelyn Benn-Wright and Evie Garvin proved crucial but it was Wolves defence which stiffled the Yorkshire side as  Oaklands ran out 17-0 winners.

That proved to be a dress rehearsal for the final and after a lot of complaining from the Hatters coaching staff about Wolves playing proper defence it was agreed not to press.

Having played under the proper BE rules all season, Wolves initially found it difficult to contain their dribble penetration  but their players fixed those problems for themselves and on offence they didn't miss a beat. Rose Marsh scored on multiple possessions to start the game and steady the nerves with Oaklands winning out 17-12 winners.  

Wolves' squad 0 Francesca Scott  1 Grace Betteridge. 2 Elisabeth Whittaker. 3 Martha Riley. 5 Lilly Gray. 8 Rose Marsh. 9 Evie Garvin. 12 Ruby Meekings. 13 Taelyn Benn-Wright

There were mixed results for the U-14 girls as they started a mini development tournament on Sunday.

The opening game saw Woking Blackhawks win a thriller 47-46, with the game going down to the last shot. Blackhawks then dismantled Braintree Blue Devils 60-16 before Wolves completed a miserable day for the Essex team with a 61-28 victory.

Play-off heartbreak for Wolves

There was play-off disappointment for Wolves U-14 boys as they went down 79-67 at Sussex Storm 

Ibrahim Gariba's side had a 11 point lead at one stage in the game, but the hosts fought back to move a step closer to the Final Four in Manchester.

Wolves first five points in foul strewn game came at the charity stripe as Zac Butterworth and Albert Dye helped the make a good start before Sam Mcree tied the game at 13 going into the first break. 

Six Titouan Vimeux points helped Wolves open a 29-18 lead with 3:37 left in the first half but the hosts reduced that lead to 30-29 going into the half-time break and a strong third period saw Storm lead 55-46 at the end of the third period.

Vimeux hit back=o-back treys, and converted a free-throw for a four-point play, to drag Wolves back into the game as they trailed 69-64 with 2:10 on the clock, but that was as good as it got as Storm sealed the game at the foul line.

Vimeux had 16 points before fouling out down the stretch while Dye added 13. Mcree and Liam Schertel both finished with double-doubles, the former having 12 points and ten boards while the latter having ten rebounds and as many points.  

Tournament success for U-13s

Oaklands Wolves came on top when the club staged a six-team under-13 tournament at the college, on Saturday.

Teams from Abingdon, Enfield, Kingston-upon-Thames, North Herts and Maidstone joined the hosts for a day which saw each club play three 24-minute, stop-clock, games culminating in a thrilling final which saw Wolves defeat Enfield Scorpions 59-56.

The action started with two three-team groups, and Wolves survived a comeback from Maidstone Warriors to win 50-48. The hosts, with five U-12s in their line-up started well and built a double digit lead, only for the Kent side to fight back and it took a basket from captain Alex Ryan to send the hosts into the half-time break with a 27-23 lead, The second half was close throughout but eight points down the stretch from Jacob Edrupt sealed a 50-48 win.

The opener in Group B saw one of the few blowouts, with Scorpions being North Herts Knights 49-20 and they followed that up by edging out a Kingston Lions side that included three girls from their successful NBL team 44-37. 

The second game in Group A saw Maidstone bounce back from their loss against Wolves to beat Abingdon Eagles 66-41, while Lions won a tight game against North Herts Knights 44-38 to secure a place in the third place play-off..

Wolves sealed their place in the final with a comfortable 65-21 win against Abingdon, allowing coach George Walker to give his younger players plenty of court time.

After a break to allow the teams who had played in both the second and third games, the fifth place play-off saw Eagles come back from a 14-point half-time deficit to beat Knights 41-33.

The third place game was also tight as Lions led 25-23 at half-time, before a strong second half from Warriors saw the Maidstone team win 49-42.

Fittingly the final proved to be the best game of the day as the side traded baskets throughout. Edrupt's triple cut Scorpions' half-time lead to 29-28, and Enfield led for most of the game before Ryan tied the game at 54 heading into the final two minutes.

Scorpions' Joshua Ammisah restored their lead before a big three from Edrupt was followed up by an assist from Ryan to allow Edrupt to seal the victory at the foul line,

Edrupt finished with a game-high 31 points, while Ammisah led Scorpions with 18. The medals were presented to the finalists by Wolves National League captain La'Quarne Sayles who started his career with Scorpions. 

Abingdon coach Richard Amin obviously enjoyed the tournament: "Many thanks to Oaklands for organising and hosting the tournament today" he said. "Our team , coaches and parents were made to feel very welcome. They enjoyed the standard of play and sportsmanship showed from all the teams involved. We look forward to doing it all again anytime in the future."

Competition organiser Dave Ryan was delighted with how the competition went: "it was good to see so many kids enjoying the tournament. I think they all got plenty of basketball without completely wearing them out," he said.  "It ran to time and for six of the games to be decided by eight points or less made for some exciting basketball. I'd like to thank the referees and table officials, it wouldn't have happened without them."

Wolves squad: 5 Miles Clark, 11 Alfred Shipley, 14 Lockie Gray, 15 Alex Cofone, 23 Ethan Fraser-Evans, 24 Ted Yu, 34 Danny Tsoutas, 35 Simas Milkonas, 41 Alex Ryan, 63 Jacob Edrupt, 70 Josh Butterworth