Ipswich Bobcats u14s expected a tough encounter on Saturday when they travelled to Brentwood to take on the Fire.   Although they had beaten them by 28 points in their home game, they were aware that Brentwood’s star player Ellie Warden had got into foul trouble early and only played half the game.

Ipswich started tentatively and it wasn’t until the 4^th minute that they managed to convert one of their chances, while Brentwood were full of confidence and scoring almost at will.  Although Brentwood committed a lot of fouls, the Ipswich players were unable to punish them from the line and the first quarter ended with Brentwood leading 29-15.

Amber Cook was introduced to the game at the beginning of the 2^nd quarter and produced an excellent defensive performance, limiting the talented Warden’s points to only 9 in the next 2 quarters.  When she committed her 5^th foul towards the end of the 3^rd, Bethany Catchpole took on the responsibility of marking the Brentwood captain and also made an excellent defensive contribution.

However, despite their efforts, Bobcats were unable to reduce the deficit by more than 8 points and continued to struggle from the free throw line, missing 26 free throws throughout the game…

Although Ipswich won the last quarter, Brentwood finished the game with a 94-80 victory.

Players and scorers:

Bellingham 9, Giddings, Spall 14, Housego 20, Leather 2, Cook 2, Mackenzie 4, Sellar, Rigby 5, Catchpole 4, McLeod, Edgeller 11.

MVP: Amber Cook