Georgia Jones and Rheanne Bailey dropped in on Manchester Mystics U14 training on Monday, just 24 hours after their 71-60 victory over Nottingham Wildcats in the WBBL Cup final.

#inspiringthenextgeneration

Manchester Mystics made basketball history by becoming the first ever WBBL Cup champions with a 71-60 triumph over Nottingham Wildcats at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.

Dominique Allen put in her best performance of the season, posting a double-double of 21 points (on 80% shooting) and 11 rebounds on her way to being named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Most importantly, Allen played a crucial role on the defensive end keeping the WBBL’s leading scorer Ashley Harris quiet. Harris mustered just 12 points on 33% shooting from the field, way below her season league average of 26.3 points per game.

Rheanne Bailey also played out of her skin, recording an even bigger double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds in front of her hometown crowd, while Georgia Jones brought control to Manchester’s play, combining with Allen on an array of slick pick-and-roll plays. Jones finished with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Mystics started the game in the ascendancy, opening with a 6-0 run, and it took Nottingham almost four minutes to trouble the scorers through a three-pointer from Siobhan Prior. Jones responded instantly with a three of her own, but neither side really made an impact from behind the arc thereafter.

Having opened up an 18-13 lead after the first quarter, Manchester began the second with back-to-back baskets from Allen and their superior energy allowed them to briefly extend to a double-digit advantage.

Nottingham, the reigning WBBL champions, had a rosier spell either side of half-time. Entering in the third quarter down by eight, they flexed their muscles through Harris and the lively Melisa Mendes to tie the game at 37-37 with just over six minutes to play in the period. 

The comeback ended there, as Mystics re-asserted themselves through the tenacity of Bailey and finesse of Allen, ending the third with a strong run of their own and a taking a 52-40 lead.

Jones and Allen went back to their trademark pick-and-roll at the start of the fourth, extending Manchester’s advantage to 16 points. A few nerves followed, with careless turnovers leading to Wildcats fast breaks, but once Jones took control of the ball she was able to provide the composure to see Mystics over the line.

Coach Jeff Jones said after the game that he sees this first trophy as “the first step on a pretty long journey,” and that the win owed much to the character of the team, who were without leading scorer Amy Browne.

Wildcats’ Prior agreed, saying: “Credit to Manchester – they came out, they’re working hard, they were getting to all the loose balls and offensive rebounds in the first half. It gave them confidence and they played really well, but we allowed that to happen and you can’t win a final if you don’t fight hard enough.”

Meanwhile for Bailey, who was unlucky to miss out on the MVP award, the previous week’s loss to Sevenoaks Suns in the league – which ended a run of 10 successive victories across all competitions for Mystics – helped to inspire today’s landmark win.

Bailey said: “Nottingham are a tough team to play against and we knew we had to come out ready. On the back of our loss last week, we knew how it felt to lose and we didn’t want to feel that again. I think that was part of our journey into today.

“What a team effort! The girls bought in, we worked hard in practice and the results showed today. So well done girls – great job!”

Report by Graeme Roberts

Just like a well-made vinyl record, Mystics U14s slipped seamlessly back into the groove after the Christmas break (which drove me crackers!) Our expressed aim of getting through to at least the last 16 round of the play-offs came one step closer thanks to an all-round team display last Saturday against Hatfield (Doncaster), 78-29, which reminded me of a shiny shoe. It was polished!

Following a gameless (apart from turkey) gap of 4 weeks (which made it nearly 8% of a Gap Year) and on the back of only one practice session, I was concerned the girls might struggle to approach the heights they reached in their previous game when they excelled themselves against Stockport u16s. I needn’t have worried. This group is far more reliable than most builders and used car salesmen!

Whenever possible, which will probably work out at about 75% of the time this season, I do manage to treat all 10, 11 or 12 players on duty like judges and give them plenty of court time. This tends not to be as easy when facing the top sides like Nottingham, Tameside, Sheffield and Derby but having already beaten Hatfield comfortably away, I felt it would be a goer on this occasion.

With this in mind, I opted to split the first quarter with 2 pre-determined fives and follow the BBC’s lead with a repeat in the second period if nobody realised! I also needed to somehow include our eleventh player somewhere along the line. I started with Beth McLoughlin, Lauren Addy, Elli Hatton, Lilja Toland and Olivia Forster. They performed like a good cake mix -blended well- to give us a 10-4 lead against well-organised opponents. When I turfed them off, it was the turn of Courtney Kenyon-Betts, Holly Bryan, Lucy Bryan, Ellie Atherton and Charli Wroe. They were as fluent as a good linguist and won their little cameo 11-4.

The same process was less successful over the next 10 minutes, due mainly to our inability to remember our left from our right and giving the opposition too many free throws by committing unnecessary fouls through not being in stance and reaching in. This meant that we were only able to increase our lead by 5 to 39-21 by half time. Our normally water-tight defence had sprung a leak and required plugging. Offensively, we had moved the ball effectively and had created  plenty but needed to use the backboard more effectively to turn chances into points.

During my half-time monologue, no one fell asleep as I laboured on about not fouling and that Hatfield’s talented number 9 really was left-handed. I set the girls a target which was like my back- it was stiff! I asked them to try to keep our opponents to under 30 points. This is a very obedient squad and they did just that, just. They put on a 20 minute defensive clinic to restrict Hatfield to a mere 2 baskets in the third period and only 1 plus 2 free throws in the fourth. All 11 players, and that includes the yet to be mentioned Kadeja Mohamed, contributed impressively but Ellie A, especially, and Courtney deserve special mention for their outstanding effort. 

Courtney also shot as accurately as Robin Hood while Beth did a fine William Tell impression from the 3 point line. These two along with Holly, who controlled the event without anyone noticing, displayed a maturity way beyond their years to ensure that this victory went down as a team performance. They could easily have dominated proceedings but chose to do all they could to maximise everyone else’s input. Ellie H and Charli both took full advantage to register double figures while Olivia, Lucy and Lilja all made the most of what fast break opportunities there were. These were less frequent than is usually the case because Hatfield, as you would expect with a player named Swift in their team, were quick to get back on defence. If they hadn’t, we may well have run riot but they did so we didn’t!

We now face 2 away trips to Leeds and Leicester before facing Sheffield. If we come out on top in these 3 fixtures, we would be guaranteed a home tie in the first round of the play-offs so let’s practice well and learn from every game. Enjoyment and improvement by keeping things simple and efficient! Thanks to James and Sammy for their usual invaluable help and to all parents etc for your support.

Jim Carnegie

Jeff Jones has been named of Molten WBBL Coach of the Month for December after guiding Manchester Mystics to three wins from three games.

It’s his second straight success after landing the November award.

The Mystics started December with a 74-59 success over title rivals Leicester Riders at the National Basketball Performance Centre, then recorded a 67-58 victory over the same opposition in the semi-finals of the WBBL Cup.

Jones rounded off another successful month with a thrilling 82-79 success over Westfield Heath Sheffield Hatters, with Amy Browne nailing the win with a three-point buzzer beater.

Mystics U14s continued their impressive run of form to see out 2016 with 2 more convincing victories, firstly in the Northern Conference at home to Lancashire Spinners, 93-26 and then in a friendly 2 days later against Stockport U16s, 68-43. The high quality of the 2 performances owed much (as my credit card always does) to excellence in the neglected art of passing. As was to be expected, this was easier to achieve in the first game but was equally proficient when up against the bigger, tougher, more experienced u16 side who have some talented players.

In both games, the increasingly influential duo of Holly Bryan and Courtney Kenyon-Betts pulled the strings like skilled puppeteers. This talented pair have become far more composed than they were at the beginning of the season and have now learned to minimise the counter-productive unnecessary dribbling which stifles offensive fluency. They have a knack of seeing and delivering the right pass at the right time which is a compliment which can also be applied to Ellie Atherton and Ellie Hatton who both share the ball generously. (Certainly more than Harry Kane does or Scrooge would.)

When such good ball movement is combined with their willingness to run the floor as well as the boundless energy and finishing ability on the break or from medium range provided by Lucy Bryan and Charli Wroe (who, unbelievably still has another year at in this age range), watching this team could be a cure for conjunctivitis. (It’s a sight for sore eyes!)

Against Lancashire Spinners, everyone played with a maturity beyond their years with Holly and Courtney ensuring that everyone got plenty of the ball so that 5 players, led by Lucy, scored in double figures. Spinners competed well during the first half, benefiting from being allowed to advance the ball without being pressed, but were out-spun in the third due to the pin-point passing and well-timed cutting contained in Mystics’ offense.

The Stockport game was expected to provide a much sterner test for our youngsters. It did but a number of the girls shot so unerringly from medium range that it could have been mistaken for a William Tell master-class. This proved to be a major reason why we were able to get off to such a flying start. The basketball played by the team throughout the first period was by some distance the best of the season so far and seemed to catch our opponents completely off guard. They resembled a petrol station which had been hit by a surprise robbery. (Shell shocked!) This, allied to excellent team defence, exemplified by all of the above mentioned plus Lilja Toland whose lateral speed and willingness to listen enable her to mark virtually anyone and Lauren Addy who gives us the essential physical presence that her team-mates can’t provide, all resulted in a 23-7 blow out in the first quarter.

Our more senior opponents did tighten things up in the second stanza but we still bossed this to the tune of 13-6 to make the half-time score 36-13. The third quarter was much tougher. Stockport were a different animal after the break. They were now growling rather than baaing! They were much more aggressive offensively, using a big high post to good effect and driving hard at every given opportunity. This approach afforded them 14 points in just 6 minutes before we were able to stem the flow and finish the quarter strongly so that our lead had only diminishes by 3 points. The final period saw our opponents start well but we showed a steely resolve and won the period 16-11 to finish 25 points to the good with Charli leading all scorers. 

This was an exceptional team performance by a talented group who are learning to understand one another- which isn’t easy with all the different accents!- more with every passing game (pun fully intended!). They seem to understand the value of working hard at the defensive end and should be proud of the fact that no team in the 14 games played up to now, including friendlies, has managed to scored more than 48 points against them. There is still much to learn and improve upon but hopefully, we can kick off 2017 with similar intensity.

Many thanks, again, to my 2 side-kicks, James and Sammy for all they do for the team. Thank you also to all parents for your much-valued support and lack of grumbling. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all and to both of my regular readers!

Jim Carnegie

Last Saturday, Mystics U14s travelled to Derby to face the Trailblazers yet I couldn’t find any cowboys on view. (I could now go for a cheap shot and say ‘apart from the refs’ but that would be unfair!) I took 11 players, an awkward number to give meaningful minutes to, even in easy games. I did manage to get all 11 on court in both halves which, in a contest which was relatively close throughout, is no easier than climbing Mount Everest in flip-flops!

On a day when each of our 5 starters, Courtney Kenyon-Betts, Holly Bryan, Ellie Atherton, Beth McLoughlin and Lucy Bryan, made major contributions at one end or the other (and at both for 2 or 3 of them), it was they who were guilty of ignoring one of the 10 Commandments in that they stole the show. We won the game for two main reasons. We played superb team defence and we generally did the simple things well. Mega-talented Serbian superstars are able to thread bounce passes through the eye of a needle but most connoisseurs of the game will agree that u14 girls tend not to be able to.(Lol.) When they over-use the bounce pass, it usually results in a turnover or a spillage. Either one causes a mess so we actively encourage our youngsters to use it sparingly. (Very sparingly.) During this game such passes were spotted as often as the cowboys. This, plus less frequent attempts at forcing difficult passes, meant that we turned the ball over on fewer occasions than we did in our one lost game versus Nottingham.

There are still spells when wearing bibs of a non-sporting kind would have been useful due to unnecessary over-dribbling but, thankfully, the message seems to be slowly getting through that, in a team game, it is essential to share the ball and give as many people as possible the chance to contribute. Most of our number have also come to realise that good defensive footwork and pressure on the ball regularly results in opponents presenting us with the ball so that there is no need to risk silly, unwanted fouls by going for tentative steals off the dribble.

Against a significantly taller team blessed with quickness, it is very much to the girls’ credit that they were able to run such a devastating fast break so often in the first quarter. Devastating, that is, until it came to putting the ball through the hoop. We missed enough chances for any severe critic to label as as ‘hoopless.’ Whilst being far from that, we must become more clinical and finish lay ups ‘with our eyes.’ Instead of a comfortable lead, we finished the first period 6 less than that well-known lemonade, 7-up, at 13-12. Courtney and Holly were as reliable and brilliant as ever in their roles of subduing Derby’s two main offensive weapons (a canon and a flame-thrower!) while Beth’s pin-point, bounceless, passes to Lucy and Ellie, who were both back to their best, were a joy to behold (and to catch!) I was, however, concerned that the opposition’s impressive number 6, Katie Januszewska might end up scoring as many points as her name would get in a game of Scrabble!

Our first five remained influential as they mixed with our six other players, Lilja Toland, Charli Wroe, Olivia Forster, Lauren Addy, Elli Hatton and Kadeja Mohammed, all of whom contributed to some degree to our domination of the second quarter. Derby could find no way through our team defence which proved as unforgiving as any wife is when her husband forgets her birthday. A team sufficiently talented to average almost 70 points per game, failed to score any for the first 9 minutes of the quarter, giving us a 27-15 advantage going into half-time.

We came out a bit too complacently after the interval, giving up 3 baskets due to defence which was as slack as the over-sized jumpers my mother used to knit for me.This was addressed via a time-out and with lessons learned, the girls reminded me of that car programme on tv as they went into top gear. Ellie and Lucy benefited from more passes that were slicker than a hair smeared with Brylcream from Beth, Courtney and Holly to notch 12 combined points in a mere 3 minutes and u13, Lilja subsequently gave a promising all-round display which bodes well for next year as we raced into a 43-21 lead. Holly then rubber-stamped proceding with 4 baskets in a row to extend the margin to 25 so that the remaining 9 minutes could then be devoted principally to the 6 non-starters who gave it their all and only allowed the hosts to eat gently into our lead so that we eventually ran out 57-36 winners against very worthy opponents in a game played most sportingly in great spirit.

I want to finish by praising our bench. We win and lose as a team. I was so pleased to see nearly all of our players encouraging one-another, cheering each other on and generally being very positive when waiting for their opportunity to shine. As everyone is aware, even though we are a National League team rather than a Community one, in our less demanding fixtures, I always ensure that every single player gets to play almost equal minutes. This is not possible in tougher games and I do appreciate that the vast majority of parents and players accept this and put our team first. Thank you for that.

Thank you also to my able assistants James and Sammy for all their time and effort and to all parents for their support, even the ones who almost got red cards!

Jim Carnegie

Mystics U14s’ 2 games over last week-end, although both against ‘local rivals,’ were always going to be as different as ballroom dancing and rugby league. On Saturday we faced Stockport’s young, inexperienced side who never gave up and did all they could to be competitive but found things as challenging as a fridge participating in the Olympic high jump. With no less than 8 Mystics hitting double figures, including 20 from our youngest player, Olivia Forster who still has 2 more seasons in this age group, the 119-14 ‘pressless’ scoreline reflects the fact that our girls weren’t really stretched. (This is a pity because we are in genuine need of more height!)

Such an outing was far from ideal preparation for Sunday’s top of the table clash versus Tameside. They, like us, had gone down only to Nottingham but they had subsequently beaten Nottingham, to leave the 3 teams, plus Sheffield, who we had defeated, all with a single loss following very close outcomes in every contest. This fixture, too, was expected to be as tight as wearing shoes which are 2 sizes too small.

We had a game plan but theory and practice don’t always go hand in hand. After all, the England footballers had a game plan against Iceland and look how badly they slipped up! We suffered a pre-game setback when we learned that the influential Charli Wroe had added a couple more dates to extend her North American tour by a couple of days and so would be missing from our line-up for a third consecutive game. Our starting 5, the ever-improving quintet of of Courtney Kenyon-Betts, Holly Bryan, Lucy Bryan, Beth McLoughlin and Ellie Atherton were like poets in that they were well-versed as to which individual they would be responsible for. These match-ups appeared to be working as smoothly as an expensive Swiss watch early on as we raced into a 12-4 lead with all 5 scoring for us.

From a position as strong as the long-haired Samson, we then faltered just as he did following his schoolboy error visit to the hairdressers because we inexplicably moved away from doing the simplest thing to get the job done to the most complicated. We opted to look for killer passes and forced shots for the closing 2 minutes of the first quarter and paid the price. The watch was now tocking when it should have been ticking which set off alarm bells (which, appropriately is designed to wake you up!) It was now 12-10 (the score, not the time!). Was the timepiece broken or did it merely need rewinding?

I asked the players to slow down and get back to playing no-risk basketball. They did precisely that and this enabled us to totally nullify Tameside’s press which brings them so much success. Offensively, Holly, who was magnificent from minute 1 to minute 37 (when she finally got a well-deserved rest) and Ellie who was almost back to her best following injury, proved as hard to stop as molten volcanic lava while Courtney again showed why I consider her to be as good an on-the-ball defender as anyone I have seen at this level in 43 years of coaching. (I began coaching when I was only six!) At various times in this second period, Lilja Toland, Ellie Hatton and young Olivia also played a big part defensively to limit the normally free-scoring Tamesiders to just 4 points over the entire 10 minutes. This, combined with a willingness to share the ball more permitted us to dominate the quarter to the tune of 18-4 ans go into half-time 30-14 to the good even though, if I’m being critical, and I am being critical, we squandered more opportunities to add to our tally than most women have pairs of shoes that they never wear!

After the break, Lauren Addy and Lucy Bryan did very well to help maintain our defensive intensity throughout the third period during which we created enough situations to be like burglars and run away with the booty but some of our finishing was wayward as a broken sat-nav. Nevertheless, we still managed to increase the margin by 5 by playing with great determination and concentration, particularly on defence. The attitude of the whole team was akin to that of most cyclists at traffic lights – nothing was going to stop us from getting to where we wanted to get to.

The fourth quarter saw more of the same and was notable for the commitment and fighting spirit shown, in particular, by Beth and Ellie H, as well as an appearance by Kadeja who wasted no time in showing what a good passer she has become. The 53-27 victory ultimately turned out to be as comfortable as fur-lined slippers and was achieved largely due to outstanding team defence. This limited powerful opponents, who came into the game averaging a staggering 102 points per game over their previous 7 outings, to a mere quarter of that with no opponent managing to score more than 4 points- an amazing achievement which contained as much energy as a giant-sized packet of Duracell batteries in a display that was as dominant as a giraffe in a ‘which animal has the longest neck’ contest. Next up is Derby away. Stay focused girls!

Many thanks to James and Sammy for the terrific jobs they do as assistant coach and team manager plus all parents for their wonderful support.

Jim Carnegie