Match Reports Season 2011 - 2012
Date: 11th Dec 2011
Score: Blackhawks 32 Haringey Angels 58
MVP: Molly Taylor (16 MVP Points) 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steels.
Joint Top Scorers: Molly Taylor and Leah Parry
Squad: Olivia Archibald, Olivia Spagat (3), Alice Hodge (3), Jade Blackburn (4), Molly Taylor (8), Chloe Alexis (2), Leah Parry (8), Camilla Hallin (4)
Date: 3rd Dec 2011
Score: Blackhawks 58 Bristol Storm 68
MVP and Top Scorer: Leah Parry (27.5 MVP Points) 19 points, 7 rebounds,
1 assist, 2 steels.
Squad: Olivia Archibald, Olivia Spagat (2), Alice Hodge (13), Jade Blackburn (2), Molly Taylor (4), Chloe Alexis (2), Leah Parry (19), Jadé Moronwiyan (2), Katie Fawcett (10), Camilla Hallin (6)
Too Many Errors Cost Blackhawks the Game
Date: 19th November 2011
Score: Hounslow Hawks 60 Blackhawks 48
The Hounslow side, on paper, were a very formidable team with an England u16 squad player and one player over 6’ tall who had scored 41 points against Sevenoaks. However, the Blackhawks came out strong with tough defense to limit Hounslow to 12 points for the first quarter. Scores from Hodge, Taylor and Hallin kept Blackhawks chasing at the end of the quarter 12-8. The second quarter was a lot tougher due to basic errors from the Blackhawks, the biggest issue being the weak-side help defense not being in position on a number of occasions gifting Hounslow baskets. Additional scores from Parry, Taylor and a much needed 3 pointer, from Hodge, at the end of the quarter could not overcome the defensive errors and the girls ended the half down 32-20.
The third quarter was not much better with a number of Blackhawks struggling to make it up and down the court, and still basic errors on the help defense. By the end of the quarter Hounslow thought they had it in the bag with a 16 point lead, 48-32.
In the final quarter the Blackhawks upped the pace and tempo and started to pressure the opposition with quick scores pulling the gap back to just 10 points. However, with the Hounslow coach and refs continually slowing play down at the breakdowns (especially with substitutions taking an age) this allowed them to keep their composure and maintain the gap.
Negatives: another game where turnovers (28) and free throws (9 from 25) hurt the team. We must cut down the sloppy turnovers in open play. We also need to generate more speed in transition in the back court and not hold the ball up.
Positives: the offense had more room to work with and the one v ones worked well. On the whole the man v man defense worked very well especially Camilla, Katie and Leah in defending their big player.
MVP: Molly Taylor (15.3 MVP Points) 8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists.
Top Scorer: Alice Hodge (17)
Squad: Olivia Spagat (2), Alice Hodge (17), Jade Blackburn (2), Molly Taylor (8), Chloe Alexis (2), Leah Parry (5), Jadé Moronwiyan (2), Katie Fawcett (2), Camilla Hallin (8)
Blackhawks Girls Lose to Strong Sevenoaks Squad
Date: 13th November 2011
Score: Blackhawks 40 Sevenoaks Suns 59
Facing a tough Sevenoaks squad with two England development players turned out to be a major challenge for the Blackhawks girls. The game started badly for the home side going down ten points unanswered. It wasn’t until the sixth minute of the game that Blackhawks opened their scoring with a neat drive by Parry for the layup. Following this the girls settled down and with another score from Parry and further scores from Spagat, Hallin and Fawcett keep the Blackhawks in the game. The score at the quarter was 10-15 to Sevenoaks. In the second quarter the Blackhawks stepped up a gear with quick scores from Blackburn and Taylor, and strong defense from Captain Hodge and Alexis, matching the Suns for the quarter 13-13.
Unfortunately the girls could not maintain the pressure and lack of space on the offense made passing and driving a challenge. With only six points scored in the quarter the Suns started to pull away. The final quarter was a closer affair with both sides making baskets but the Suns ran out winners 40-59.
It should be pointed out that the score at half time was 23-28 to Sevenoaks. Up to then Blackhawks had taken 14 free throws and made one. If we had made only 50% that would have given us a 2 point lead! In the game we had a total of 20 free throws and made only 2 (10%)!
43 of the 59 points scored by the Suns were from their two England players: Gabi Nikitinaite (25) and Lucy James (18).
MVP: Camilla Hallin (14.3 MVP Points) with a double double (rebounds and points).
Top Scorer: Camilla Hallin (16)
Squad: Olivia Archibald (DNP Injury), Olivia Spagat (7), Alice Hodge (2), Laura Parry (DNP), Jade Blackburn (1), Molly Taylor (2), Chloe Alexis, Leah Parry (6), Katie Fawcett (6), Camilla Hallin (16)
Girls win the opening game of the National League season
Date: 30th October 2011
Score: Blackhawks 78 Newham All Stars 25
It was a strong and confident Blackhawks starting five (Alice Hodge, Molly Taylor, Chloe Alexis, Leah Parry and Camilla Hallin) that took to the court against a fairly new Newham outfit. Scoring was opened by Parry followed closely by squad captain Hodge. Halfway through the first quarter coach Parry made a number of substitutions bringing on Olivia Spagat and Katie Fawcett. This had an immediate impact with a basket from Spagat. With great passing from Taylor and Alexis, along with strong defense from the whole squad the Blackhawks were 14 points up before Newham got on the score sheet. The quarter was closed out with Hallin powering to the basket for nine successive points; the quarter score was 21 – 4. In the second quarter the Blackhawks took their foot off the gas slightly and Newham came back strong. The main concern for coach Parry was the lack of boxing out when going for the rebound, something to work on in the next games. Even so the quarter was still won 14 – 10.
In the third quarter the girls stepped up the defense to close out Newham while also upping the tempo on offense. The quarter was also marked with the first ever competitive basket for Blackhawks debutant Jadé Moronwiyan; the first of many! At the end of the third quarter the score was 56 – 20. In the final quarter the Blackhawks started playing more freely with great passing from Olivia Archibald, Hodge and Taylor; and finishing from Jade Blackburn and Katie Fawcett (with ten points between them in three minutes of play). Also the quarter marked the debut in the National League team for the squad’s youngest player, Laura Parry age 11, who came on and immediately scored.
The squad is still far from the finished article and need to put in a lot of work over the next few weeks to make sure they can compete against the best teams in the league. However with the final score 78 – 25 to the Blackhawks this was a great start for the team and bodes well for the new season.
MVP: Captain Alice Hodge (26.5 MVP Points), followed closely by Leah Parry (26 MVP Points)
Top Scorer: Leah Parry (18), Alice Hodge (17), and Camilla Hallin (13)
Squad: Olivia Archibald (2), Olivia Spagat (6), Alice Hodge (17), Laura Parry (2), Jade Blackburn (4), Molly Taylor (8), Chloe Alexis, Leah Parry (18), Jadé Moronwiyan (2), Katie Fawcett (6), Camilla Hallin (13)
Girls Give Good Account of Themselves in 1st National League Game
Date: 17th October 2010
Score: Blackhawks 56 London Lady Spartans 67
It is not easy to play your first ever full basketball game in the National League as many of the Blackhawks did. The Blackhawks were also faced with quite a big and physical London Lady Spartans team, with Blackhawks players often giving up six inches or more against certain players. Yet the girls fought like lions before succumbing 67 to 56.
In the early going the Blackhawks shredded the Spartan press with Chloe Alexis going coast-to-coast for a series of layups. This was a gratifying outcome of the two previous practice sessions that were focused on breaking presses. Chloe was our leading scorer with 20 points, shooting 7 for 13 from the floor backed and 6 for 10 from the line. This was an exceptionally efficient performance for an under 14 player.
Blackhawks led 17-15 after the first quarter and stayed in front until the middle of the second quarter before falling behind. Rebounding was always going to be a problem against the bigger, stronger Spartans and Blackhawks will need to improve boxing out technique. Still, Olivia Spaget (the smallest player in the Blackhawks squad) skied for 8 boards, showing how we can overcome our size disadvantage in the future.
The girls worked extremely hard on defense with series of players, led by Leah Parry taking on the Spartans sublime and tall number 8 (R. Lawrence). Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the team consistently provided good help when Lawrence broke clear to the basket. But this is the sort of thing we should be able to improve as our young players mature.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, trailing 49-37, Blackhawks made the last big push. Now we leaned even harder on the creativity of team leader Catherine Tomnay who, having played the entire game, added bringing up the ball to her chores. She had a great all-around game, racking up 16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and a blocked shot. But even this wasn’t enough for us on Sunday.
Alice Hodge also made a notable contribution with 6 points and 4 rebounds. However, this was a great team performance. This first National League game, against a much bigger and stronger team, could have gone badly wrong – but instead the girls fought for the whole game and gave a brilliant performance. They all really tried hard to do the things we have been working on in practice and this effort is starting to pay dividends. An exciting season looms ahead of us.
Squad: Cathryn Tomnay (16), Leah Parry (2), Chloe Alexis (20), Olivia Spaget (8), Eleanor Fettes, Eve Tucker (2), Alice Hodge (6), Lydia Ciccone, Mia Underwood (2), Katie Fawcett (2)
Match Report