Highland Bears league title bid is over after defeat in Inverness
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Highland Bears Under-16 girls slipped to their second defeat this season losing 90-67 to Boroughmuir Blaze at Inverness Royal Academy.
It was a result which saw the end of their league title aspirations as they now concentrate on the Cup when they travel to St Mirren next weekend.
Both teams had an epic first quarter battle with the lead changing hands and the score tied four times each.
Bears dominant centre Emily Hill (7 points) won the tip but with the home side failing to score from the possession it was the visitors through their top scorer Norah Salah (22 points) who opened the scoring converting her first two attempts.
Baskets were then exchanged for the next four minutes before the Bears took their first lead from the free-throw line through another outstanding performance from the league’s prominent scorer Grace Alexander.
Hitting nine from 10 free-throws along with four three-pointers towards an outstanding 45 points put Grace on top of all the national scoring charts for total and game averages by the end of the game.
With further baskets exchanged the home side thought they had the upper hand in the quarter through their captain Charlotte Alexander (10 points) scoring near the end with another dynamic lay-up. But with blaze going back up the court to score just before the buzzer it was the visitors edging the quarter by 17-16.
The second period was just as tense with early exchanges of baskets and with another tenacious defence performance from Ruth MacKay ensured the visitors still only had a two-point lead with three minutes of the half left.
A golden period then ensued for the Blaze with them denying the Bears any field baskets while hitting most of their own shots along with their last on the buzzer on a 1-15 run to lead 25 – 41 at the half-time stage.
Positive coaching from the Bears Head Coach Anna Macarthur during the break fired up the home side with renewed confidence. Further intricate dribbling and assists from Emily Seago (5 points) had the visitors rattled as the home side eroded into their lead. With only a couple of minutes into the half and the Bears about to cut the lead to single figures disaster struck as the Bears captain Charlotte Alexander was inadvertently knocked to the floor and the deafening thud of her head hitting the wooden floor was painful for all to see.
Unable to continue the resultant loss of their talisman player, the Bears were emotionally rocked and any chance of a comeback slipped away to trail 44 - 67 at the period end.
The Bears composed themselves for the fourth quarter with Olivia Brechin along with sisters Mackenzie and Emily Bell linking up well to enable numerous scoring opportunities for their team mates.
A period of good quality basketball skills from both teams displayed what talent there is and what could have been as the period was tied 23 - 23.
Head coach Anna MacArthur said: “It was a tough loss but an even bigger loss is of captain Charlotte Alexander who is now out for at least two weeks with concussion protocols.
“Though I am confident in my squad stepping up for our Cup game this weekend as we have previously defeated them by over 50 points.”
