ISACK U13 Girls Basketball

TES 32 v 14 ESF

Our U13 girls kicked off 2019 with a great win over ESF. After their one unfortunate loss to NES, the girls have quickly picked themselves up and put themselves in contention for a place in the final!

The game started off badly for us, however, as we were 2-0 down in the first 7 seconds. Nevertheless, this was the only time we were behind as the girls quickly retaliated with two baskets, to make the score 4-2 in the opening minute. Much of the first quarter was spent in the ESF half, as the girls picked off baskets, courtesy of some superb ball handling skills, passing and movement around the 3-point line. ESF didn’t shut down though, as on a couple of occasions we were caught out defensively, allowing ESF’s number 21 the opportunity to score a couple of easy baskets- credit must be given to this player, as she played superbly!

In the second and third quarter, TES dominated, barely putting a foot wrong, keeping possession and defending well. But the baskets just weren’t falling for us today! 50/50 would be the stat to describe quarters 2 and 3- 50% scored, 50% missed. But the girls never gave up and soon, we started scoring racking up the points. Every girls featured in the game today, and substitutions were made thick and fast, to ensure that everyone got equal game time. The final quarter was very scrappy, with neither team doing a particularly good job, but TES still remained the stronger, forcing ESF to take long shots from outside the key, courtesy of some excellent defense. We picked up a few more baskets under full court rules, making it win 3/4 this season. Not their best performance, but I suppose a 2.5 weeks break can’t help that! They face BSK next week in their final fixture, before the semi-finals. Well done, girls! Don’t stop now- a place in the final is well and truly on!

ISACK U13 Boys Volleyball

TES 2 v 0 ESF

The boys made it 4 wins from 4 in the ISACK volleyball season, with a win versus ESF. The first set started a bit scrappy with both teams making simple errors and the TES boys serving was not at the usual high standard we expect from them. ESF were able to take a 3-2 lead early but Sam came on to serve at 3-3 and then built a 8-3 lead for TES with some excellent serves, and TES looked in control of the set and match from then on in. James also added a run of points with 5 consecutive points from his serving and the boys were 15-5 up. There were a number of very good rallies during the match with both teams throwing themselves around to keep the ball alive. Truman was providing great height for the team with his sets and Ciaran and Maxwell played with control and composure. At the net, Sam and Jad were able to finish with some excellent smashes to win points. Midway through the set, Maxwell played an unbelievable one handed shot from off the side of the court, which resulted in a momentum building point for the team. It was good for the boys to win more rally points than they were used too, showing some excellent 3-touch and attacking shots. The first set was won with a score of 25-15. In the second set, the boys made less errors from serves and communicated much better during the set. We won the serve back on the first point and Maxwell went on a 8-point serving streak, giving us a 9-0 lead and closed out the match from a competitive sense. There were excellent digs, great team play and superb finishing shots to win points during the second set and the boys played with confidence and were a pleasure to watch. Being in complete control of the game, Haydn, Theo and Chad all entered the game and kept the high standards up for the team. Set 2 was a dominant 25-9 win for the boys. The final set brought Dexter and Ollie onto the team also and the boys looked far superior to the competition. The third set was a very comfortable win for the boys, ESF could not rise to the challenge that the TES boys offered and we were serving well and finishing 3-touches for winners, regularly. A 25-8 win in the final set was well deserved and we look forward to the final group game, before the semi-finals, next week against BSK. Another excellent effort lads, well done!