Colliers take on undefeated St Mirren 

Under 16 Girls National League        

 

December 15th, 2015 - For the final game for any Colliers team in 2015, the U16 girls travelled to the Lagoon in Paisley to take on league leaders St Mirren. As expected St Mirren got off to a great start with a quick 8-0 lead which resulted in coach Hutton taking a time out to compose the players.

 

The Colliers at this point weren’t doing too badly as they fought against the St Mirren full court press and had several good looks at the basket. St Mirren continued to build their lead and it wasn’t until the 6th minute of the game when Laura Thomson scored the first two points for the Colliers.

 

The second quarter was a very similar story but the Colliers persevered and managed some terrific runs of play but couldn’t quite find their scoring rhythm. Natalie Clark nailed a huge three pointer to get Colliers second quarter scoring up and running with Carla and Laura adding to the scoreboard.

 

Despite being down 54-17 at half time and up against full court pressure and a very strong offensive unit, the Colliers girls battled as they always do with a smile on their faces. Coach Hutton challenged the players to make good decisions as the turnover count was very high and one of the main reasons St Mirren managed to score so many lay ups.

 

In the end Colliers lost out 110-39, their biggest defeat of the season but have shown great character and determination since the season began in getting this far.

 

Laura Thomson top scored for the Colliers with 12 points followed by Carla Crowther 10.

 

FINAL SCORE:   St Mirren 110 SL Colliers 39

 

Head Coach Ross Hutton commented: “Tonights game was always going to be hard.”

 

“We met this same team two years ago in the U14 RDL when our girls were U12 and lost 98-2.

 

“Since then the girls have grown into basketball players and have improved immensely.

 

“It’s a journey that will go on for some time to come and I hope I am part of it.

 

“With only a couple months experience Charlotte King showed just how much she has improved by doing a fantastic job at both ends of the floor and it was great to see Laura Thomson battling in the paint pulling off some terrific footwork to get open shots.

 

“Overall though, if we can lower our turnover count and move our feet quicker on defence we’ll be ok.”