The u16:1 Bobcats’s travelled into London last weekend to play one of the leagues high flying teams, Eastside Eagles.

The Bobcats made a confident start as Gallagher, Merryweather and Dodunski got on the score sheet early as they led 10-6 in the sixth minute. Eastside, led by captain Suka, hit back though with a powerful run of ten points after coach Laviner called a time out.  Edgeller managed to hit both her free throws before the end of the quarter but Eastside’s patience in the half court saw them settled at the end of the first ahead 22-12.

The second quarter was a closer match up as Merryweather, returning to the court, found space penetrating well to the basket. Yapp also hit a good mid range shot and though the quarter score saw only one point difference the half time score was now 33-22 to the home team. The half time stats also showed Ipswich were winning the boards an excellent achievement considering their height disadvantage.

The second half saw Otabo and Moonie for Eastside linking together well as again their patience in the half court saw them wait for the best advantage often from the pick and pop or roll. The Bobcats head dropped and It was left to captain Merryweather for the blues to keep finding space to get to the basket.

The last two minutes of the game saw Eastside become a little sloppy, uncharacteristic of their otherwise solid performance as Ipswich took eight unanswered points. As the final whistle blew though, it was Eastside who took the game 70-48, deserved winners.  Finally I would like to make a complimentary comment about the two female referees Charles and Lewis, competent and fair, can’t ask for more than that.

Leading scorers, Merryweather 15, Gallagher 10, Dodunski 9.