To the Essex Sports Arena! …late on Saturday afternoon. The occasion was a double header as part of Community Day for the Essex Rebels. The Rebs HQ carry off these themed games wonderfully well. All the face painting, outdoor eating and meet ‘n’ greets aren’t really for me. But good effort, all the same.
BLOODY good effort with the marketing for the game. The Sports Arena was pretty much full, with an overspill of fans sitting on the opened up opposite side of the Arena. With the campus students away over the Easter hols, this game had been marketed very much with local families in mind.
London Lions women are no longer the Euro basketball force that they once were. Two seasons ago and the team from the Copper Box were unstoppable. Financial issues and a scaled down recruitment policy has left them as one of the basement teams in the league.
This didn’t stop the Rebels from going about their business on court. The home team move the ball around the court at such pace this season. They can give any visiting team a run for their money on any given day. The Rebs took a 29-16 lead into the first buzzer.
The pace of the attack continued in the second. SHOUT OUT to Paige Meyer who had another one of her outstanding games, dominating all parts of the court with tremendous speed and skill. She is without a doubt the Player of the Season for the Rebs.
Half time came with the Rebs leading 46-30. The main entertainment during the break was a game of musical chairs that involved also sinking a basket before finding a spare seat.
London Lions attempted a physical comeback in the third. This became a very vicious quarter. Lions realised that the only way to compete was to foul the opposition and rough them up. But Rebs aren’t short of their own bruisers this season.
Whose House? OUR House, etc.
Chuck a Duck took place on court ahead of the fourth, with the Rebs leading 58-45. This was incredibly popular with over a hundred or so kids keen to chuck their ducks into the parachute target on centre court.
The fourth quarter was make or break for both teams. Rebs needed to pulled away early on, putting as much scoreboard distance between themselves and the Lions to make for a more relaxed final five minutes or so.
Meyer was dominant once again, sinking some key baskets. A final score of 84-66 for the Rebs was well deserved.
