GIRLS UNDER 14 NATIONAL LEAGUE – MIDLAND DIVISION

SOUTHEND SWIFTS 111  IPSWICH BOBCATS 50

A busy weekend of club games for Southend Swifts started with a home fixture for their under 14 girls team when they met Ipswich Bobcats.  Ipswich went into the game just one place behind Southend and recently recorded a very narrow defeat against league leaders Northants.  Swifts went into the game missing lead guard Emma Pallett as well as Bethany Wheeler and Karis Allibon, so had to expect a very difficult encounter.

A large crowd saw Southend take an early lead through Charlotte Bennett and Daisy Herd and with a further four points apiece from Bennett and Megan Jones, it was 12-3 after three minutes.  Bobcats made a foul shot before the hosts made their initial break.  Led by some superb skills at point guard by Summer Osborne, Swifts had 10 straight as tenacious offence was turned into very quick offence as the lead went to 22-4 and the personnel changes starting to be made.  Ipswich had their best
spell, with three successive baskets from Lindsay Arthur, but a score from Emily Gaskin calmed matters and at the end of the first quarter it was 24-10.

A pair of Osborne foul shots and a Gaskin lay-up took the lead to 18 and from 29-14 Southend exploded again, making a stunning 14-2 run in a three minute spell, with Zoe Willis scoring the last six.  Indeed 12 of the 14 points came from year 8 pupils giving some idea of the strength in depth.  Ipswich replied with the next  three but the big girls took over as Jones made a lay-up, Bennett likewise and then a pair of foul shots before a Jones three-pointer made it 52-22 at half time; a stunning 20 minutes against a team with both considerable skill and height.

But the Essex team were in no mood to relax.  Amber Evans, a tower of strength defensively, scored the  first basket and a Bennett put back and two Jones foul shots made it 58-24.  Frances Musson made a three-point play for Bobcats before came a four minute spell of play far beyond what is expected from such youngsters.  With relentless defence, Swifts dominated possession to make a 19-2 run to lead 77-30 after seven minutes of the third quarter; Bennett with 14 of the points as she got on the end of some superb passes from her team mates.  The score with one quarter remaining 83-36.

With Bennett coming out of the game to prolonged applause after two minutes, Southend continued to show their mental toughness.  Georgia Logan had her best outing in a Swifts shirt as she showed some tenacious defence as well as getting into the right position at the offensive end.  From
91-48, Swifts had their final flourish scoring 12 straight, with six from Herd including an outrageous left-handed hook shot.  Willis took the opportunity to chip in with four as well as some excellent assists and with Logan getting the final basket, this was a quite magnificent performance against very competent opposition.  Bennett with 39 points, Jones 20 with numerous rebounds and assists and Herd and Willis with 12 apiece on a day when teamwork was to the fore.

BOYS UNDER 14 NATIONAL LEAGUE – SOUTH DIVISION
SOUTHEND SWIFTS 40  IPSWICH TOMCATS 76

 After arguably their best performance of the season last weekend  against Brentwood Fire, the Southend Swifts under 14 boys welcomed Ipswich Tomcats to the Eastwood Academy.

Ipswich boast England development player Freddy Ratliff in their ranks, a centre who stands at 6’7” so Swifts knew they would be under pressure from the inside.  However, they couldn’t quite have been prepared for the onslaught they suffered in the opening quarter of the game.  Time and again the visitors went inside to Ratliff, who dwarfed his Swifts opponents, and at the end of the period Swifts trailed 22-10; the visiting centre with a personal haul of 12.  Swifts’ own centre Declan
Gould was putting in a valiant effort on both ends of the floor and had 8 points in reply.

If Swifts thought the first period was difficult, they would suffer further in the second.  It took 5 minutes for the home side to register points in through Dan Davies, but the lead had already been stretched to 34-12 by that point.  Captain Reece Gunn would be the only Swift to trouble the Ipswich basket for the remainder of the quarter, as his solitary basket left the score at 51-14 at half-time.

With the boys staring a heavy defeat in the face, one that would have been uncharacteristic given their recent play, they came out with a different mentality in the second half; albeit against a mixture of Ipswich starters and bench players.  Swifts showed much more fluidity on offence and the improved movement allowed for scores from Connor Summerhill, Gould, Gunn and 5 points for Scott Williams, including a three-pointer.

Going into the final ten minutes the score stood at 64-27 in favour of the visitors, but Swifts were determined to claw back some degree of respectability on the scoreboard as scores from Connor Adams, Williams, Gunn and Gould meant that they won the final quarter 13-12.  With the final score standing at 76-40 to Ipswich, the Swifts team will be desperate to put this result behind them.

Gould led the way with 17 points, followed by Gunn on 6 and Williams with 5.

BOYS UNDER 16 NATIONAL LEAGUE – SOUTH DIVISION
BEDFORD KNIGHTS 31  SOUTHEND SWIFTS 59

Still maintaining an outside chance of a play-off position, Southend Swifts under 16 boys travelled to Dunstable to take on the home town Bedford Knights.  Southend are currently in 3rd position whilst Bedford sit in 7^th place in the table.

Both sides scored freely in the first quarter with Swifts holding a narrow 10-8 lead after five minutes before an 8-2 run gave a little breathing space; Brad Wood with four.  Knights had the next three but
baskets from Dan Okoh and Nathan Smith took Southend 22-15 at the end of the first period.

Neither team could score in the opening three minutes and a revival from the home side reduced the deficit to just 26-21 but nine unanswered points in the final five minutes gave Southend a 35-21 lead at half time; Dan Okoh with four and Louie Davies with a three-point shot.

The third quarter was equally stingy in terms of points scored with Jordan Smithers doing an outstanding job on guarding Knights’ captain Sabaliaushas.  Bedford managed just four points, whilst Swifts managed 13 to lead 46-25 going into the final period.

Again defence was on top as Knights managed just six further points as Southend finished decisive victors by 59 points to 31, with Okoh on 21 points and Wood 14 but it was the defensive work from Smithers that was certainly decisive.

GIRLS UNDER 16 NATIONAL LEAGUE – SOUTH DIVISION
SOLENT SUNS 35  SOUTHEND SWIFTS 90

Southend Swifts under 16 girls made the journey to the South Coast for their latest league fixture. Here they would meet Solent Suns, a club of long heritage in girls basketball, but whose teams are struggling in this season’s competitions, so Southend could rightfully have expected a comfortable afternoon.  The Essex side had Abbie Jones back in their line-up since she suffered a broken wrist in mid December.

And so it proved as Swifts scored the first 14 points of the contest to effectively settle matters with just four minutes played.  Despite being well below their best, it was one way traffic with the lead at
the end of the first quarter standing at 32-3; Lucy Lawless being particularly energetic with nine points personal.

With the starters sitting out, the intensity dropped , but this didn’t stop Southend scoring the next 13 points that took them 45-5 ahead at half time.  Unsurprisingly, things slackened off even further with the teams managing just six points between them in the first four minutes of the third period.  A burst of scoring gave Swifts 12 straight, with Amy Rodgers and Megan Jones finally finding their range and with one period remaining it was 66-18.

Megan Jones, who had captained the under 14 team earlier in the day, showed her great energy levels as she kept the scoreboard moving and with Louise Corfield and Fay Solkhon also chipping in, the game ended at 90-35, that keeps Swifts firmly in contention for a play-off place.  Jones 31 and Lawless and Rodgers with 14 each leading the scoring.

GIRLS UNDER 18 NATIONAL LEAGUE – SOUTH DIVISION
SOLENT SUNS 66  SOUTHEND SWIFTS 45

The final game of a busy weekend saw Southend Swifts under 18 girls visit unbeaten Sevenoaks Suns.  Southend were coming off a very good win the previous week but knew they would need to be at their best against the team tipped to be this season’s national champions.

Both teams made a subdued start with the score just five all after four minutes.  The teams traded baskets until Sevenoaks managed eight in a row on their way to a 17-11 first quarter advantage.  Another run of nine made it 26-11 but Swifts found some resolve and they restricted Suns to just two points in four minutes to trail 32-22 at half time.

But there would be a disastrous start to the third period as Sevenoaks connected on four successive three-point shots to lead 52-24 and seemingly on their way to an overwhelming victory; the lead 56-28 with one stanza remaining.

But led by Ellie Warden and Shannon Matthews, Swifts at least gave a better account of themselves but there was really no way back as they fell to a disappointing loss by 66 points to 45 that leaves them in 3rd place in the league table