Final Score Eagles 45-42 Swan Jade

The Eagles U19’s first match of the season was against Swan Jade at Kendrick school. It was the 6th and last regional match of the weekend for Eagles and the team was keen to continue the winning streak of the U13s, U14s, U16s and both senior teams.

Rising to this pressure, the U19s got off to a flying start, winning the first quarter 16-7, thanks to 100% shooting from Jemma and from Charlotte, who went on to be player of the match, and great pressure throughout the court. Going into the second quarter we continued to work well and increased the lead further so that the score at half time was 29-16 to Eagles.

After half time Swan changed up their defence and began taking more interceptions, this, combined with a number of mistakes from Eagles meant we lost the third quarter, but were still ahead 38-31. Swan kept up their momentum into the last quarter, and with Eagles struggling to utilise their centre passes or exploit any of their interceptions or the opposition’s mistakes, Swan managed to close the gap to within 1 goal. Determined not to lose their lead, the U19s dug deep and started winning their centre passes again, but were unable to increase their lead, which resulted in a number of incredibly tense minutes, until the last few moments where Eagles opened up their lead slightly to win 45-42.

Match report by Kate Godsmark