The Mystics Under 14s headed to white rose rivals Leeds Force on Sunday and came home with a 95 – 24, victory.

The notion that some of our parents were apprehensive about having to travel up the hill across the border to Yorkshire due to a dodgy weather forecast which predicted wet stuff falling from on high must have been transmitted to our kit because it decided not to arrive until the last minute itself! In the event, we were hindered by precipitation from above but rather than rain or snow, it took the form of an incessant drip (not Michael Gove or Boris Johnson this time) from the sports hall ceiling. This meant we had to move from a spacious full court setting to a more cramped side court which was like going from the Sahara Desert to Blackpool Beach and did not suit our running style of basketball.

To say that we started poorly would be as much of an understatement as calling Donald Trump quite worrying! Having won the home leg of this fixture by about 90, I decided to mix up two fives for the first quarter and split the time between them. The problem with plans is that they have a female side which means they often change their mind! We began as if we were trying to make a sequel to the classic film, Sleepless in Seattle with our very own Fast Asleep in Leeds! During the first 3 minutes, I’ve seen more life in anaesthetic! A fully awake Leeds Force took advantage and pounced to take a commanding 0-2 lead. As one of their girls flew to basket, I thought maybe we weren’t playing the Leeds Force but the Air Force!

Our start had made me take on the characteristics of 1 of the 7 dwarfs and I don’t mean Happy! Being a grumpy old man, I whisked the 5 mixed starters off earlier than intended and replaced them with a new 5 who all seemed fully conscious. They transformed me into Happy by running in 17 unanswered points in next to no time – however long that is!- thanks to foregoing our unproductive over dribbling into the corner with highly productive straightforward ball and player movement. Convinced that the 5 on the bench were now alive and kicking, I granted them a reprieve to even up the first quarter minutes and the responded well at the defensive end. 

I tweeted the combinations during the second quarter and everyone performed to their usual high level at both ends from this point on. The opposition tried really hard to stem the flow but to no avail. Despite their efforts, they were like a student who hadn’t revised for an exam. They had no answers! We shared the ball and court time generously to score 95 points without the hint of a demoralising press which is as unnecessary as Dutch people buying climbing boots! The game was refereed superbly, was played in excellent spirit and seemed to be enjoyed by all. Spectators from both sides got fully behind the players, providing lots of encouragement with no hint of negativity and our victory moves us ever closer to our goal of play-off qualification which would become nearly certain with a win at Leicester Warriors on Sunday. (Let’s hope Attila the Hun won’t be playing for them!) If we can then go on to defeat Sheffield Hatters (who are all mad!)(Not really!), that would be enough to ensure it with 4 further games to still be played.

Many thanks to my major helpers, James and Sammy as well as to our intrepid band of parents who all escaped back into God’s own county unscathed.

Jim Carnegie

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.