It was a mixed weekend for the Junior teams, with wins for the U14 Girls and the U18 Men, and close defeats for both U16 sides.
U16 Girls 66-75 Oaklands Wolves
U16 girls suffer a heartbreaking loss against Oaklands Wolves. However, the team really pulled together after last weekend’s game and redeemed their own standards. The team was filled with confidence for this game and it really showed. With great teamwork from everyone, the Ipswich side were up by 12 going into the half. With Oaklands conducting the basic fundamentals better than Ipswich in the second half, unfortunately saw the 16s to a narrow loss. The score line is only one part of the game and really doesn’t represent how the girls played. Today marked our best team performance to date and definitely gives the team hope for the future.
Abbie Yorke 15, Olivia Manning 14, Alicia Boddy 11
U18 Men 68-61 Brentwood Leopards
U18 men win at home to Brentwood Leopards but being down by 6 at the half could have meant another embarrassing home defeat. Confidence was restored during the half time talk and Jacob Morgan dropped 3 consecutive 3’s but Brentwood still went into the 4th up by one point.
Thankfully normal service was resumed between the 4th and 7th minutes with an uncontested 14 points from Ipswich. Brentwood rallied in the last few minutes to bring it back to 7 but too late.
Jacob Morgan 26, Emmanuel Onwuka 9
U16 Boys 81 - 84 Northamptonshire Titans
A poor start yet again was the Achilles heel for Ipswich as they travelled away to Northampton for their Premier Central clash. Giving up 31 points in the first quarter just proved too much of a gap for Ipswich to make up, though they did not lose without trying.
Given Northampton’s position in the table, Ipswich will be disappointing yes to drop this game, however credit must be given to the home side who led from start to finish. Ipswich drop to 6-9 in conference play despite 33 points from Harry Syrett and 22 from Seb Mobee. Ipswich have a double header next weekend to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Harry Syrett 33, Seb Mobee 22
U14 Girls 126 - 22 Northants Lightning II
Ipswich entered the last time stretch of their regular season with the first of four home fixtures that close out the campaign. This game offered an opportunity for some of the younger squad members to have extended minutes against a side in the bottom half of the conference.
Early exchanges indicated the direction of the game... Ipswich ran up a 32 unanswered points in the 1st Qtr which developed to 60:6 at the half. The 3rd and 4th Qtr played out in similar fashion. A professional job, done well. Scoring came from all 12 players with 72 points from the hands of the non-starters.
Hannah Gray 18, Ella Hawes 16, Maia Wiseman 16
