With two of our junior teams rounding off their regular season and another two starting their playoff campaigns, there was a lot to play for over the weekend!
The Playoff Picture
Under 14 Boys Premier
Our Under 14 Boys headed to the capital on Saturday for their playoff first round tie against a strong London Elite side.
Coach Afonso Tavares’ side suffered from a slow start at Capital City Academy, with the game quickly getting away from the team in the opening quarter.
Despite the setbacks of the first half, the team came out fighting in the second half and put up a valiant effort – winning the final two quarters of play.
The first half deficit was too much to overcome, however, as London ran out 89-69 winners; with the result ending our Under 14 Boys Premier’s season.
Despite the disappointment of the result, the team should be proud of a fantastic season in a competitive Northern Premier division – finishing with the joint third best regular season record.
Under 16 Boys Premier
Our Under 16 Boys Premier side also began their playoff campaign on Saturday afternoon, with Coach Douglas’ side welcoming Haringey Hawks to Nechells Wellbeing Centre.
Haringey were determined to make their 230-mile round trip a worthwhile one – coming out of the traps quickly to take a five-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Rockets took control of the game after the interval and this second half swing would eventually prove decisive, as Rockets held off a late Harringey offensive to see out a tight game and progress to the next round courtesy of a 72-71 win.
Regular Season Roundup
Under 12 Mixed
Saturday saw our Under 12s finish their season in the best possible way with a 68-63 victory against Birmingham Bears at Nechells Wellbeing Centre.
An even game swung in Rockets’ favour in the third before a late Bears fightback in the fourth quarter threatened to close the gap.
Our young Rockets battled until the end to make sure of the win and secure a seventh-place finish in the Regional 1 division.
Under 18 Women
In their final regular season game of the season, our Under 18 Women played host to a strong Manchester Mystics team who were yet to taste defeat in fourteen outings ahead of Saturday’s game.
Rockets traded blows with our northern visitors throughout the contest – going into the final quarter with a two-point lead thanks to a disciplined performance.
However, Manchester would find a way to keep their winning run intact and ensure they finished the regular season undefeated as they edged Rockets in another close quarter of play to take the win courtesy of a 55-52 score line.
It was a tough result to take for Coach Elfrey’s side after such a strong display against the league leaders – but there are undoubtedly positives to take from the performance into the playoffs in just under a fortnights time.