Basketball: Highland Bears record massive victory over Dunfermline Reign
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Highland Bears under-14 girls continued their unbeaten season with another emphatic victory at home over Dunfermline Reign 81–30 at Inverness Royal Academy Sports Complex.
Winning the tip-off through their dominant centre Chloe Sanderson, the Bears opened the scoring through the secure hands of the preeminent force in Scottish Basketball, Grace Alexander, who after converting the set play went on to top score with 29 points in her coach limited 18 minutes.
Reign though answered on their first trip up the court to imply a contest was on the cards. This was quickly quashed Emily Seago whose adroit dribbling eased her past the Reign defence and along with her accurate long-range shooting finished on another worthy 26 points.
As the Bears went on a 12-0 run this was led by the captain Lexi Kershaw (8 points) whose leadership enthused confidence throughout the home team. Along with strong rebounding and inside plays from Chloe Sanderson whose creditable 12 points enabled the Bears to finish the quarter 27 - 6 up.
Second quarter defence from the Bears was spectacular with Esmee Wilson (4 points) Hannah Thomas and Lucy Sanderson restricting the visitors to only one successful free-throw.
While the secure ball handling from Isla Webster and the power moves from Olivia MacLennan (2 points) ensured the Bears led emphatically 33–7 at the break.
Throughout the second half the Bears continued their dominance with creditable contributions from future stars Eva Skinner, Isla Devlin and Jessica Waldie.
With Head coach Ross Waldie adding “Today was an outstanding performance from the whole team. All the players made good use of their court time. The Highland Bears future is looking very bright with these girls on court”
The Highland Bears u-16 girls then followed up with another impressive performance by sweeping aside the Caledonia Gladiators by 93-38.
Excellent ball control and distribution from Ruth MacKay (3 points) along with her tenacious defence was inspirational in the opening period. With Mackay feeding the ball into Emily Hill whose adept footwork then enabled her to score with ease finishing with a season best of 22 points. More deft dribbling from Emily Seago (8 points) further consolidated the Bears opening period dominance to close well on top by 35 – 10.
A welcome return from injury for Baileigh Matte was short lived as a Gladiator crashed into her at the start of the second period and forced an early retirement with a recurrence of her knee injury. This though allowed guard Lexi Kershaw to step up and show her ability at the older age and distribute the ball purposely into the forwards. Strong performances from Mackenzie Bell (4 points) and Olivia Brechin ensured the Bears stretched their lead to go in at the half 58–24 ahead.
Any thought of a Gladiator come back in the second half was quashed with the inclusion of Bears Lexi MacLeod and Emily Bell whose secure ball handling and defensive knowledge was unwavering.
The Bears u-16 squad now travel to City of Edinburgh BC this Saturday in what should be a close and exciting encounter.
Head Coach Anna MacArthur said: “The girls are now gelling well together and producing the performances I expect and know they can produce. I know it will be a tight game but if we can keep out of foul trouble, we should edge it as we did last season.”
