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England’s
Under 18 National team played a perfect 3-0 record in the BP Junior
Women Four Countries International Tournament held in Arbroath,
Scotland. The tournament, which was played April 25th and 26th
at the Arbroath Sports Centre, included host country Scotland,
Ireland, Luxembourg and England. The long drive to Scotland’s
east coast obviously wouldn’t dampen England’s performance
as each of the matches were won quite convincingly.
Their first match on Friday evening was against Ireland. England
put full court pressure on them early in an attempt to match Ireland’s
traditional ‘in your face’ and scrappy style. This
defence had an obvious effect on the Irish as England jumped out
to an early first quarter lead. The lead would decrease to 6 or
7 points throughout the game, but England’s pressure proved
too much and they eventually won 63-47. Kate Butters scored an
impressive 20 points with Laura Calder chipping in 12 of her own.
England’s second opponents, Luxembourg, also showed great
intensity to start the game. This game was closer in the beginning
with England winning the quarter 13-12. However, coach Michael
Ball had the girls revert back to their full court pressure and
take their opponents by surprise. Again, this defence wore Luxembourg
down physically and mentally as England won by a higher margin
each successive quarter as the game finished 64-40. Point guard
and team leader, Jenny Leedham, scored 15 points while there were
three great efforts from the bench including Kayleigh Read (11
points), Kanda Rogers (10), and Laura Perry (10).
The third and final match was against the host country. Scotland
had great fan support for a match that has a strong rivalry in
many sports. Our Under 18s began this game with some very poor
shooting as the first half ended with the lowly score of 32-20
in favour of England. Helpful halftime comments by Michael Ball
showed a huge rejuvenation in the Junior’s performance as
they won the third, 38-9! This run was sparked by England’s
defensive pressure and a great sense of team effort. Jenny had
another great game scoring 23 while Laura Calder had her tournament
high of 19 points. England overwhelmed their opponents again through
their defence and team play winning 98-39!
Coach Ball admits that Jenny Leedham’s leadership and motivation
together with an incredible team effort resulted in a very successful
weekend. With the absence of Kate Loftus, Andrea Holmes, and Jennifer
Fields due to injury, many of the less-experienced players ‘stepped-up’
and performed exceptionally.
Below, are the scores from the other matches played in Arbroath:
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Luxembourg 58 Scotland 57
Scotland 46 Ireland 53
Luxembourg 70 Ireland 66
Source:
EB
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