If Mystics U14s were to continue our club’s enviable long interrupted run of National Final Four appearances at this level, we would have to overcome Endeavour Ipswich in the April 12th Quarter Final knock out tie. As part of our preparation, James and I had assessed their results in the Southern Premier League where they had finished 4th. Their moderate 9 wins and 9 losses appeared mediocre but something didn’t ring true. They had been acutely inconsistent, losing to some weaker sides yet running most of the stronger teams close.
I found out why in the car park 2 hours before tip off when I conversed with their esteemed coach. He coaches 3 other teams besides the u14s (which he had possibly also taken on because his daughter was in the side). Consequently, he had been unable to coach a large chunk of their fixtures due to clashes. This was likely to mean that the task before us had become tougher than anticipated. It was!
From what little else I had ascertained, I expected Ipswich to press us from the outset, to rely on their 2 high scorers, #7 and # 13, for the majority of their points and to shoot plenty of 3s (probably led by the coach’s daughter #4.) I did not expect them to have as much height as they did or for them to cause us so many problems in the early stages.
They certainly began in a manner befitting their name. I take endeavour to mean having a go and doing one’s very best. Their bright start took us by surprise and forced me into an immediate change of plan. Our first five was out-heighted and Ipswich immediately used this to good effect to score inside. This prompted me to waste no time in introducing Chichi in an attempt to address the balance. It did.
The next problem we faced came from early foul trouble. It meant that the influential Emmanuela needed to sit which provided Olivia with the opportunity to step up. She did so most impressively, as did Zoe when Chichi also picked up her second foul early on.
On the positive side, although Ipswich did press, it prove ineffective thanks to Adele’s, Christiana’s and Darcie’s ability to break it without any mishaps. Their #13 was an early threat inside, scoring 8 points in the opening quarter. Their highly talented point guard, #7, also contributed 9 points via strong drives and free throws. The 3 pointers did come from #4. She missed 1, bricked 1 and swished 1 in the last minute to help give her team a 17-23 lead.
This was only the second occasion we had lost the first quarter this season and 23 points was many more than we had conceded previously. Despite being like Tiger Woods on a bad day- well below par- we had remained in touch thanks largely to Christiana’s and offensive skills. Nevertheless, either a Churchillian type speech or a JCB was required to help the players dig deep in order to raise our game.
We had created more openings than our opponents but had missed several put backs. This was far less of a concern than our leaky interior defence (which had more holes in it than a large cullender) and our mounting foul count. In an attempt to rectify this, I changed some of our match ups. I switched Elsa from one of their bigs on to the other. She had rendered #5 scoreless and was now detailed to try to subdue the more threatening #13. She did such an amazing job that her opponent could only add 1 more basket in the entire game!
Christiana was now detailed to do all she could to put the breaks on #7 with Adele and Emmanuela looking to subdue Ipswich’s long rang sharpshooter. What a transformation! Our team defence stepped up that many notches that Ipswich were restricted to a mere 8 points in the entire quarter. Outstanding defence led to easier offense as Christiana, Adele, Emmanuela and Chichi registered a combined 23 points to give us a deserved 40-31 half-time lead with Alycia having entered the fray and fitting in seamlessly.
Such a magnificent team response now meant that it was foul trouble that was our John Dillinger- public enemy number 1. Indeed, by the final whistle we had somehow managed to have been accused of committing what could be an entry into the Guinness Book of Records for a staggering 30 team fouls (cf Ipswich’s 12.) We had 4 players on 4 fouls and 1 on 3. Fortunately, our strength in depth came through for us big time in the third quarter. Olivia and Zoe continued their excellent work from the first half and Maisie W also contributed positively, as did Morgan and Maisie I latterly.
All 12 Mystics helped us control the third period to the tune of 28-13 as Emmanuela and Chichi ran riot to build a virtually unassailable 24 point lead going into the final stanza (a posh word for period.) This enabled me to share minutes more equitably throughout the last 10 minutes which Ipswich took advantage of to win 13-18 and give a touch more respectability to the 81-62 outcome.
Sincere congratulations to the girls for making it all the way to the Final Fours with an unblemished record at U14s and many thanks to James and Annmarie for their invaluable assistance. Thank you also to the parental support we have been fortunate enough to have profited from all season as well as to the 4 Mystics who did not play this time but who still turned up to support their teammates.
Best wishes,
Jim