Highland Bears tame Inverness Lions to take victory in Inverness basketball derby
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Highland Bears u-14 girls squad remain undefeated and top of the National league after overcoming a very spirited and talented Inverness Lions winning 76-43 at Inverness Royal Academy Sports Complex.
The venue was packed to the rafters with enthusiastic parents and supporters of both squads as Lions hosted Bears in a rare mid-week fixture.
It was no surprise when the leagues top scorer opened the scoring for the Bears as Grace Alexander powered her way to the basket but early nerves saw her miss her first three free throws before going perfect on the following seven to finish with a staggering 44 points.
The Lions quickly countered though their dominant centre India Hanton (14 points) as the home side were not going to be intimated by the Bears and took an early lead halfway through the first period.
The Bears then stepped up their offence through the introduction of Isla Devlin (4 points) and Esmee Wilson (2 points) who helped control the Bears offence and with Emma MacMillan putting the Bears 10 points up it seemed the visitors were taking full control.
But the Lions were not giving up with their own future star Millie Grant (four points) proving hard to stop as they had a mini run of six points to keep the game close, to end the period 12-20.
Second period match-ups proved very even with both teams showing better defence as the Bears Hannah Thomas’s (two points) tenacity led to a few turnovers for assists into their centre Chloe Sanderson (10 points).
Then with seconds on the clock the Bears Olivia MacLennan pulled up for a long range three-pointer that was all net and sent the visitors in at half-time buoyant leading 33-20.
The second half saw the flair and scoring ability of Emily Seago as she came to life for nine points and with team captain Lexi Kershaw and Jessica Waldie shoring up the defence the Lions were held to six points in the third period as the Bears outscored them by 23 points.
A very strong fourth Quarter for the Lions led by young starlet Katie Beaton, showing all of her mother’s previous talent to secure five points but unable to ensure any major comeback.
