The Manchester Mystics U12 Girls (Year 7 and below) went to Northants for a Tournament on Saturday. Despite being the youngest team participating, having only two Year 7 girls with the rest of the team being made up of Years 5 and 6, the girls were joint winners after a three-way tie with Sheffield and Northants. Nine teams took part in the Tournament and the Mystics were only beaten by Sheffield.

Teams were:

Northants, Southend, Shenley, Hounslow, Sheffield, Bucks, Brentwood, Ipswich and Manchester Mystics.

Pools of 3, and play-offs.

Results were:

Manchester 25 – 20 Brentwood

Manchester 22 – 20 Ipswich

Manchester 21 – 12 Northants (play-off)

Manchester 17 – 31 Sheffield (play-off)

A very strong Sheffield Hatters came to the ABC on Sunday with a view to going through the 2017-18 Northern Conference programme unscathed. Their proud record became ‘scathed’ following a contest which was more thrilling than any Agatha Christie novel and was a wonderful advert for junior girls basketball. Every aspect of the encounter oozed quality. (That includes the after-game refreshments!) The game was played in tremendous spirit by both sides, it was superbly officiated by referees C Hindmarch and K Johnson plus table officials C Andrew and F Vourliotis and the standard of play was of a very high standard for this age group. Even the spectators made a positive contribution. They elevated the occasion with their enthusiastic support and were on the edge of their seats or benches throughout.

Things initially looked as bleak as the beast from the east (which put me in mind of a girl I once meant in Norwich many moons ago!). Sheffield’s starters are bigger and stronger than ours with 3 players who hold their own (in the absence of servants) in the u16 Premier League and they utilised their physical superiority and experience to power into an ominous 3-11 lead 5 minutes in.

I shook things up by way of a couple of changes in personnel and we upped our game significantly enough to win the remaining 5 minutes of the opening stanza 13-10. For a change, I won’t be mentioning any names in this report. There are 2 reasons for this – I don’t wish to single any individual out because  every Mystic deserves equal praise for this heart-warming display and I don’t want to give too much away in case any future opponents are so bored that they read this drivel!

The second quarter began almost as if it was the first quarter. Instead of a 3-11 deficit, it was a 6-11 one which put us on the back foot at 22-32 mid-way through the period. Did our young team have the resolve to dig deep to do what King Canute couldn’t do and turn the tide? Oh yes! They are so adaptable and determined that they did just that. A super-human all-round team effort amazingly restricted Sheffield’s talented sharpshooters to a measly 2 baskets over the next 5 minutes and actually rendered them scoreless for the final 3 minutes of the half. This enabled us to go in at half-time on a high at 34-36.

No prizes for guessing what happened in the first part of the third quarter. Offensively, Sheffield are far from predictable. When you come to grips with one aspect of their mode of attack they switch to another. Effective use of the high post caused us sufficient problems to go 11 points down before we put theory into practice well enough to counter it. We responded yet again with a 9-4 run to give us what Salford General Hospital used to be called. We were still behind, as we had been for the whole contest, at 49-55 but had shown so much mental toughness that even William Hill wouldn’t have accepted any bets on us coming out on top.

I, for one, remained optimistic. The girls had fought so hard to stay in touch and Sheffield had had – is that a stutter? – to battle for supremacy for much of the time that something had to give. I felt that a principle reason for the repeated patterns of the first 3 quarters was down to fatigue. Our opponents had used only 7 of their 12 players; we had used as many as 11. This could well be why they ran out of steam in the latter stages each time. If so, could we make them pay?

We could. We managed to prevent them pulling away during the opening 6 minutes of the fourth quarter but were still 5 down at 57-62 with only 4 minutes to play. What a time to go on an 8-0 run! We took the lead for the very first time in the 39th minute and showed great composure, togetherness and maturity in our end game to hold on to the slender lead we had forged. To limit a team with the offensive power of Sheffield to only 10 points in the final 10 minutes when the outcome is in the balance speaks volumes for Mystics’ never-say-die attitude. This was an outstanding display from our girls of which we should all be very proud.

Many thanks to all who helped in so many ways- again no names as I’d probably miss someone out.

Jim

Manchester Mystics’ Dominique Allen and Rheanne Bailey make the WBBL Stat Stars list for the month of February.

WBBL Stats Stars for February
Mystics’ Dominique Allen (@dom_allen12) has been crashing the glass, grabbing 14 rebounds per game (3rd)https://t.co/JjO13JKY0F pic.twitter.com/av4AwRka5Q — Manchester Mystics (@Mcr_Mystics) March 1, 2018

Allen grabbed an average of 14 rebounds per game (3rd).

WBBL Stats Stars for February
Mystics’ Rheanne Bailey (@rheannebailey) has been picking pockets, averaging 3 steals per game (2nd)https://t.co/JjO13JKY0F pic.twitter.com/qk4YMs2RRA — Manchester Mystics (@Mcr_Mystics) March 1, 2018

Bailey picked an average of 3 pockets (steals) per game (2nd).

8 out of the 10 Mystics on duty for last Sunday’s home game against Tameside Royals Juniors have at least 1 more year at U14 level. However, even they looked positively veteran compared to the aptly named opposition. For once, we actually out-heighted the other team and had a distinct edge in rebound potential. Lily Hayes, Esha Nayar, Eleni Vourliotis and Zara Masadeh-Tate all certainly took full advantage of this without having to stand on any boxes for a change.

In the absence of Charli Wroe, Kizzy Spence and Lily Gilronan, I detailed Daisy Bryan and Nia Molloy to share point guard duties with Lily H and Olivia Forster. Both Lily and Olivia both showed great maturity and a sense of ‘team first’ by willingly taking something of a back seat on this occasion. The composure and level of skill shown by Daisy and Nia, our 2 youngest players, bodes well for next season.

Even though we were facing, or more accurately, looking down at very inexperienced opponents, there were plenty of positives to be drawn from the game. Top of the list is the fact that no less than 6 Mystics scored in double figures with Jo Vourliotis, Esha and Emily Wood leading the way. That said, it was Lia Vourliotis who got us started as she, her younger sister Eleni, cousin Jo (we like to keep it in the family!), Esha and Lily moved the basketball quickly and accurately enough to register a creditable 18 points in the first 5 minutes, conceding 7.

This quintet were then replaced by the 5 bench-warmers- Daisy, Nia, Olivia, Emily and Zara. Their tally was marginally less at 16 but they did restrict Tameside to just 1 point. The second quarter followed on like most books written by Barbara Cartland- it was a similar story. The younger Tameside players had been unable to match up physically or skill-wise but, unlike for Ann Boleyn, no heads dropped and they never stopped hustling.

Nothing was to be gained by seeking to double our score after the break. Restrictions were laid own. Lily, Olivia and Emily made sure they were implemented throughout the remaining 20 minutes. Tameside deserve praise for their spirited display in the fourth period and can look forward to a far more successful campaign next time round.

Mystics now go from the equivalent of being faced with a very mild Thai Red curry to having to cope with a very fierce Vindaloo in the form of the undefeated Sheffield Hatters. Mad or not, if we can overcome them by 9, we will be seeded 2 for the play-offs. if not, it will probably be number 7 seed for us which is obviously less favorable but is by no means what Christopher Columbus thought America was – the end of the world.

As usual, thanks to all helpers and supporters. Hopefully, you will all be in good voice next Sunday at 12.30pm.

Jim