Under 16 Girls fall to Ayr Storm in play-off game
July 21st 2015, Despite a fantastic effort by every player, the Colliers U16 girls lost by 4 points in a thrilling game against Ayr Storm and therefore will not be promoted this season to division 1.
The prospect of division 1 basketball was tantalisingly close for the Colliers as they took on Ayr Storm at the Alistair McCoist Complex on Tuesday night. A win would secure their place for promotion with Ayr already losing out to Boroughmuir Blaze so the Colliers girls were ready for the challenge.
Ayr scored the first points of the game and began to dominate the game early on through their two Scottish internationalists who both stood over 6’0.
However, the Colliers fought hard through some terrific play by Carla Crowther who had just come back from injury. Due to early foul trouble coach Hutton had to sit Carla Crowther out which took away some of the offensive firepower for the Colliers, but working as a team, the Colliers chipped away at the 10 point lead and managed to get within 5 points at the end of the 1st quarter.
Katie McGee and Abigail Paterson showed maturity and experience as they took care of the ball and despite standing no more than 4’10, they battled with players over 6 foot tall without a second thought.
Storm continued their dominance at the basket through their two big girls (Rebecca Morrison and Megan Jones) who scored 12 of their 15 2nd quarter points between them, but Colliers collaboration of Carla Crowther and new signing Valentina Palli kept them in it scoring 12 of their 15 points which kept the lead at 5 points for Ayr.
The third quarter didn’t start well for the Colliers as Ayr caught them on the fast break and dominated the boards. Scoring second and sometimes third chance opportunities didn’t bode well for the Colliers, and Ayr soon opened up a 12-point lead.
Valentina managed another couple of field goals with seconds left to bring it back to 4 points but it was too late and Ayr hung on for the win.
Coach Ross Hutton commented: “I am proud of the girls and praise them for all their hard work and focus coming into this game.”
“We didn’t have much practice time at all so to play the way we did was great.
“A loss is always tough to take but I know we will do well in the U16 division 2 league and make the leap to division one next season.”
“With 5 of our players still only 13 years old and two 12 year olds, the future is very bright indeed.”
“I would like to wish Ayr Storm all the best for their first season in division 1.”
Thank you to everyone who came along to support the girls!
The Colliers girls found it tough to break down the Ayr defence and only managed 10 3rd quarter points to Ayr’s 19.
The huge support at the AMC got behind the girls as they came out for the fourth quarter trailing 57-43. Coach Hutton asked the players to focus on one play at a time and to make sure they make it harder for Ayr to score.
Responding to the crowd and the words of their coach, the Colliers came out fighting and found momentum through some fantastic team play. Katie McGee (the Terrier) managed to force three jump ball situations in a matter of minutes through her determination and aggressive play while all the players managed to be a threat on offence with five players scoring in the fourth quarter.
With the clock running down the Colliers managed to get within 4 points of Storm and it looked like the upset was about to happen, however Ayr dug deep and got a crucial couple of baskets to take the reins of the game back.
