Mystics Reports

Sometimes things go to plan, sometimes, like when Columbus mistook India for America, they don't. Last Saturday's trip to the Costa del Mansfield provided instances of both for our Senior Women's game against Mansfield Giants. In the absence of a sat-nav (I don't need 2 women telling me what to do!), we got lost, partly because I have the sense of direction of a bat whose radar has been switched off and partly because a local, who was supposed to help us, didn't know her left from her right! Our resultant mini tour of the town's tourist delights (the Odeon cinema, B&Q and Sainsburys), meant that we only had a 10 minute warm up. This was as helpful as a right hander being given left-handed scissors to cut his toe nails blind-folded! Equally beneficial to our cause was the fact that Mollie Campbell had cried off earlier in the day because her breakfast kept revisiting her! It left us devoid of anyone above 5'10 to battle on the boards with Giants' giants! This was a setback but our small team was, nevertheless, full of jewels - we had a squad of midget gems!

Anyone would have thought that the way we began the game that we had had very little warm up time and had no height! Mansfield's second biggest giant put them 2-5 up and for the opening 7 minutes we looked as if we were away with the fairies. (By this, I don't mean that the players had gone off on holiday with Tinkerbell and the Sugar Plum, I'm merely insinuating that some of our focus appeared to be elsewhere.) (At B&Q perhaps?) We now trailed 13-17 and simply were not playing hard enough. (We had previously blown Mansfield off the floor at home and maybe sub-consciously thought we would do so again, particularly as Jade Lucas has recently demonstrated how good she is at blowing off!)

I had been struggling to put a 5 on the floor who could both run the legs off our opponents (that's one way of making them smaller!) and compete on the boards. The introduction of 2 of the Stockport mafia, Cath Stansfield and Megan Collins then helped us in this. They, along with Nicki Blakeway, Leah McDerment and Jamie Curtis put together an 11-0 run to finish the first quarter 24-17 in front. Things now seemed to be going to plan but no-one told Mansfield. They upped their game to score 13 points in the next 9 minutes. This doesn't sound a lot until I divulge that our performance during this time was as effective as an electric car trying to run on gas, affording us just 5 points. The use of a cattle prod in a subsequent time-out did, however, result in 7 points being scored in the last minute so that we went into half-time on a positive note and 36-33 ahead.

This provided the impetus for a much-improved third period display. Threes from each of our talented guards, Jade, Jamie and Leah will have given the watching coach of our Trophy Final opponents, Loughborough, food for thought (a trio chocolate bar, possibly?). These 3 also took it in turn to feed Nicki inside and she increased her already healthy points tally for the season by dint of some excellent free-throw shooting as her marker sought to mark her! Natalie Feurtado and Emma Macready played their part by giving us some much-needed energy and both played very sound defence.

We now led 60-45 and seemed set for a very comfortable victory. 8 available players (Ashley Tensel had also cried off with an injured hand) then became 7 as Leah had to come off with a sore ankle. This was a great pity because she had grown into the game and had helped to open up Mansfield's zone with some accurate outside shooting and was also our leading assists maker on the day. Nicki, on the inside and Jamie and Jade, from 3 point territory, did extend the margin to 21 before 2 late scores from the opposition made it more respectable at 75-58.

The topsy-turvy nature of the day even extended to the journey home. The high winds buffeted the minibus so much that I felt that I was on a white knuckle ride at Alton Towers! It meant that it would have been imprudent to come back over the tops so we had no option but to double our mileage and return home via Cornwall! Given such turmoil, the driver can, hopefully, be forgiven for his use of what can most delicately be termed,'industrious' language. (I know it should be 'industrial,' but, in this instance, he had to work hard to find the correct swear word to use in the company of young ladies!)

Thanks to Aline for her help and support. Next game - Sheffield at home on Saturday 28 January, 3.30pm tip.

Jim.23/1/12

The final section of Mystics long trek down to Reading for our third successive road trip in the Women's Trophy had as many twists and turns in it as an Agatha Christie Murder Mystery. This only served to make some of our players nauseous, so much so that a couple of them looked so pale that I've seen healthier looking zombies!

With 6 of our squad of 10 virtually dead on their feet as a result of their exertions earlier in the day during the U18s double overtime game at home to Haringey, this was as welcome as a visit from your least favourite relative. Consequently, our warm-up for this Semi was as full of life as one of those zombies, i.e. as lively as a dead slug! Fortunately, I had 4 quality seniors to start the game with. Our fifth starter was Mollie Campbell because she was the only U18 who was still awake!

Reading Rockets were sitting at the top of the South Western Conference and had been enjoying an excellent run of form. My spies told me that they had a very strong first five and my scrutiny of the EB stats made it clear who needed special attention. However, neither of these sources prepared me for the fact that they had even more taller players than the appropriately named Mansfield Giants! Even with my failing eyesight, I immediately spotted 5 players of 6 feet plus (compared to our team's average height of 3 feet 10!)

What's that saying about size? So it proved. It did, however, enable our opponents to make it extremely difficult for us to score in the paint. Our normally prolific quartet of non-midgets, Nicki Blakeway, Mollie Campbell, Emma Macready and Cath Stansfield were like surgeons in a very small theatre - they had no room to operate in! We, therefore had to find other ways to score. Jade Lucas and Jamie Curtis, who were both nothing short of brilliant on the day, (Jade's words, not mine. Only joking.) obliged by way of some phenomenal (Megan's word!) outside shooting. They were as accurate as Willibin Hell (a combination of William Tell and Robin Hood!). The pair combined to score no less than 80% of our 20 first quarter points and continued to dominate the scoring thereafter.(Greedy so and so's!) Reading's outstanding player, Becky Lear was proving to be the one thorn in our side so far, making all but 4 of her side's 13 points in the first 10 minutes, including 5 out of 5 from the line, as Nicki and Mollie got into early foul trouble in their attempts to flatten her!

A 3-point play from the now as fit as half a fiddle Ashley Tensel, extended our advantage to 10 and I foolishly envisaged a comfortable victory. Not for the first time - just ask my wife - I was wrong. Sparked by 3s from ex-Division 1 player, Michelle Smythe, and the non-stop Ramona Brown, our lead disappeared as quickly as a pint of Guinness in the hands of a thirsty Irishman, so that with 3 minutes remaining until half-time, it was 25 all. Slipping into my grumpy old man mode, (which I find increasingly easy to do these days!) I harshly questioned the team's desire to get through to the Trophy Final. This is somewhat akin to a husband questioning his wife's love of buying clothes! My grumbling obviously did the trick because we then went 28-29 down! Thankfully, hoops from the ever-reliable Nicki and Jade, who never take any notice of me anyway! spared my blushes to help us shade the half 32-29, as our efficient team defence, exemplified by the ubiquitous Megan Collins, had now honed in on Becky Lear, restricting her to just 1 more basket in the whole of the second quarter.

With this usually fertile avenue now blocked, Reading's principle weapon suddenly put the lights in the sports hall ceiling in severe danger as they opted to heave 3 pointers from down town at regular intervals. Reading is, of course, in Berkshire, but some of these originated in Surrey! ( I exaggerate for literary effect.) 1 went in and couple more ended up as air balls but it did have the effect of energising the sizeable crowd - they were all as tall as the Reading players! This, in turn, lifted the home side's resolve. Reading were demonstrating to us that we would have to fight really hard if we were to overcome them and at 33-32, it was anybody's game, particularly as their key-clogging defence was limiting our scoring in the paint to a minimum.

If the foot soldiers can't make much headway then look to the cavalry! Step up Jade, Jamie and Leah McDerment. Threes from all 3 took it to 44-34 and fast break points from Emma and Ashley made it even more healthy at 51-39 with 2 minutes to go in the third. But when you are playing a team called Rockets you should expect fireworks! They came in the form of two more long-range 3s and 2 free throws from Ramona Brown. She scored again right at the start of the fourth and at 54-49, from being as comfortable as lounging in a 5 star hotel in Cyprus, we were now camping in the rain in the Lake District!

I'm glad to say that our fabulous group of young ladies does have the habit of raising its game when it really needs to, and it did so once again here. Natalie Feurtado played no small part in this resurgence. Her energy and determination served as a catalyst for what was a first-class end game by the team. Yet more precision shooting from Jade saw us sitting pretty (these girls do take a nice photo!) at 66-53 going into the final 5 minutes. Incredibly, the pesky southerners responded for the umpteenth time! The pocket battleship that is Ramona Brown bombarded us with a succession of 3s from beyond NBA range. Two went in and a couple more went on to be classified as UFO's! Michelle Smythe sneaked another 3 in via the backboard to send the crowd wild at 69-64 with just over a minute left.. It was like trying to get rid of a bad rash!

As I hinted, the spectators were going crazy, but far from the madding crowd, Mystics maintained their poise. Jamie and Jade swished a brace of 3s and a lovely back door move for 2 from Leah promptly sealed our victory during a 9-0 burst. This hard-earned but deserved triumph heralds (!) an appearance in the Trophy Final versus Loughborough at Nottingham on 5 February. Mystics U16s will also be in action there on that day, in their Age-group Final thanks to their tremendous win over a very strong Southend Swifts. Congratulations to them.

The vast majority of basketball players in this country aren't fortunate (or good) enough) to help their team through to a Cup Semi-final during the whole of their careers. Six Mystics U18s were faced with the prospect of playing 2 in the same day last Sunday! First up, at a time that many people don't even know exists - 10.20 in the morning - it was the mighty Haringey Angels (with no-one called Gabriel or Of The North) at home in the Semi-final of the U18s Sureshot Cup.

Haringey's own team is as strong as super-glue, but just to make sure that they are almost invincible at this age-group, nowadays they can legitimately supplement their already highly talented squad by bringing in players from anywhere in the country who belong to the Barking Abbey Academy. To me, that's a bit like telling Tarzan he needs to go on a weight training course to build up his strength! The upshot of this meant that the 'mere' 8 internationals that they have produced themselves locally could join forces with 2 more England recruits in the form of national League Division 1 starlets, Michelle Turner and Lana Doran (who I nearly turned into an Irish Eurovision winner by calling her Dana!)

Unable to call upon any 7 footers from Loreto Academy, or anywhere else in Moss Side, we went with our usual 11 which, like all good plasma televisions, had the technical make-up and all-round quality to step up to the mark. (Or should that now be euro?) I wanted to catch the opposition cold so I opened all the doors and windows and put on the air-con as well as deciding to start with 5 of our quicker players in Lucy Rogan, Natalie Feurtado, Leah McDerment (all Olympic class sprinters!), Cat Meakin and Ashley Tensel with instructions to press from the outset. Despite being as seriously out-heighted as Lester Piggot would be when looking up to Shaquille O'Neale, this had the desired effect of unsettling the opposition. Buckets from Leah and Nat gave us a 4-2 advantage in the initial stages.(I.S.!)

Following an early time out from Haringey's coach, I opted to try to keep them guessing by bringing on 2 of our usual starters, Mollie Campbell and Cath Stansfield, accompanied by the vertically challenged but very speedy Megan Collins, in an attempt to counter their rebounding threat. Two scores from Mollie, 1 from Leah and 1 from Cath were only answered by a 3 from Michelle Turner.12-7 up after 8 minutes constituted a dream start and served to prove that they were undoubtedly a match for such a revered team. However, a 0-9 run either side of the 10 minute mark put us on the back foot at 12-16 and would have been sufficient to cause many teams to crumble. Haringey are normally unstoppable when they get themselves in front but, inspired by the dynamic Captain Courageous, Lucy and her girls, even the blondes, had other ideas.

It was our turn to shine again. In an enthralling contest which had as many as 12 lead changes, our never-say-die attitude stayed alive and brought us back level at 20-20 after 17 minutes of battling, rather than beautiful, basketball. A second 3 from Michelle Turner did ensure that Haringey shaded the first half 22-24 in spite of a put back from the lively Katie Rowlands (who had been eating blue sweets!) Defences had certainly been on top and had allowed neither offense to run as smoothly as it was used to doing, but Mystics had certainly demonstrated that they had the wherewithal (whatever that means!) to push Haringey all the way.

A hugely encouraging start to the third quarter in the form of a brilliant spell of up-tempo basketball saw us burst into a 6 point lead with a 10-2 run over 4 minutes. (Such excellent cameos are easily overlooked when the latter stages of a game are so hard-fought and dogged.) Not even Mystic Meg or Russell Grant know what might have happened had we then consolidated our lead by continuing to shoot well from the free throw line, as we had done up to this juncture. Maybe it was the pressure of actually realising that we could now come away with a victory that few had predicted, maybe it was dodgy eyesight or maybe it was just poor shooting, whatever it was, it resulted in us missing 6 of our next 8 foul shots. (If only 1 of them had gone in!) Such profligacy lifted Haringey's sagging spirits and helped them claw their way back to 34-35 going into the all-important fourth period.

With all to play for, both teams became even more cautious and hesitant on offense in the face of such tough and determined defences. This made the game less attractive for the purist but it continued to be a great spectacle with no quarter given by either side. A basket from Mollie and 2 free throws from Leah were all we had to show for 6 minutes of hard labour but outstanding team defence also limited our opponents to just 2 scores. A 3 from Ashley tied it at 41-41, only for both sides to have the opportunity to win the game from the free throw line. They each declined to do so, making 1 out of 2 to take us into a 5 minute period of overtime, a situation totally foreign to either team.

Haringey's strategy of being able to replace 5 England internationals with 5 more and with no discerning dip in quality naturally meant that their unit would be far less tired, both mentally and physically than our protagonists, who, in such a tight game had been afforded far less rest than even an insomniac gets. It genuinely appeared that this would be the deciding factor as we fell behind 42-45 with time running out. A free throw from Mollie and a last gasp two from Katie had the same effect as Gonzo rescuing Miss Piggy - it saved our bacon and gave us a second period of overtime. For our girls, this must have been akin to having just run a marathon and then being asked to swim the channel in calipers!

Understandably, it turned out to be 1 obstacle too far. For the one and only time during this mammoth encounter, Mystics were unable to cope with the enormous pressure. We could only manage 1 point in 5 minutes via a Cat Meakin free throw to finish on the wrong end of a 46-52 thriller. The biggest compliment that I can pay our girls is that their determination, effort and superb defence made many onlookers wonder what all the fuss about this Haringey team is based on. What some fail to appreciate is that you can sometimes only play as well as the other team let you play. We fought so hard that we actually won 2 and tied 1 of the 4 quarters in normal game time despite not being able to play as fluently as we invariably do. Because the opposition were not permitted to be dominant by way of scoring as they typically do on the break or through lay ups, they were forced to resort to throwing up more prayers than can be witnessed in 50 school carol services! Our defence and their poor shot selection saw them shoot a ridiculously paltry 19% and gave the impression to some that they are not the force that they actually are. This included an amazing 40 three-point attempts which, for many teams is a whole season's worth but shows that they, too, felt the pressure, particularly as only 3 (all from Michelle Turner) were successful.

Rather than seeking out individual mistakes, perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the whole affair lies in the fact that on 2 occasions Haringey scored from 2 buzzer beaters in the third and fourth quarters, both following terrific team defence from the home side for 23.9 seconds. Such is the fine line.... One tenth of a second later and we would have been celebrating rather than commiserating. Nevertheless, there is much to build upon - and much to learn and work on - after such a whole-hearted display and we should all come out of this viewing it as a very positive experience.

Thanks to all for their fantastic support and assistance.