To the Essex Sports Arena! …on Saturday afternoon as the Rebs women tipped off against London Lions in a home court play off quarter-final. Having secured a regular season fourth placed finish - the highest in the club’s history - the reward was to welcome Ldn Lions to Our House.

And what a welcome. The theme for the afternoon was black out. Rebs fans were encouraged to wear all black to create an intimidating backdrop for the arrival of Ldn Lions. It was a good opportunity to air my black shorts for the first time this season.

The Rebs organisation had done a great job in mobilising the fan base with such short notice ahead of the game. There were queues stretching out of the Arena and towards the Sports Centre just ahead of tip off. The women’s team has managed to build a strong family following around Sunny Colch.

Rebs were a little short-benched. Not dressed for the home team were Nat Chau and Leah McDerment. Both are experienced players who have plenty to offer with such a young team assembled.

Tip off came, and the Rebs game plan soon became clear: Shock and Awe. Rebs raced to an impressive 30-14 lead, come the first buzzer. The challenge would be to keep up this relentless pace throughout the rest of the game.

Ldn Lions came out for the second quarter playing a more physical game. They tried to counter the pace of the Rebs by roughing them up. It didn’t work. There’s a reason why the Rebs have a home court record this season of P9, W9: the speed in which they move the ball around is unplayable at times.

Rhema Ogele was superb, having her best game so far in a Rebs jersey. A huge three pointer from Captain CP gave the Rebs an impressive 61-27 lead at the break. The players were cheered off after what had been one of the most dominant halves of basketball that I’ve ever seen. Outstanding.

The aim after the break was to reach 100 points, and not to allow the Lions back into the game. The pace of the scoring slowed down slightly in the third, with Rebs leading 84-44 at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter was all about keeping calm, but continuing to take your chances. A play-off semi was within reach. SHOUT OUT Coach Cookson who used his bench wisely. The home crowd reacted strongly when the final finishing five players were the youngest in the club. They didn’t let the team down, either.

And so a very, very impressive 93-72 home court win for the Rebs. The women have been a joy to watch this season with their speed, skill and blend of experience and rookie players. A home record of P10, W10 is well deserved.

Up the Rebs!

To the Essex Sports Arena! …on Saturday afternoon for what could be the final home game of the season. The Manchester Mystics rocked up at Our House. A come court win would guarantee a top four finish in the regular season, and a guaranteed home court quarter-final.

Overcoming Manchester would be no easy task. Their bench is full of BRUISERS. It soon became clear that the away team had come to beat up the Rebs.

In response, Essex relied on their trademark quick on the break game, punishing Manchester with their speed. SHOUT OUT Quinesha Lockett, who kept her cool under the basket. The Rebs trailed 18-20 at the first buzzer.

The home team managed to edge ahead in the second in what was shaping up to be a very tight game. At one stage the gap was 44-33, but Manchester were far from done.

Rebs made no mistake in the third, controlling the game and putting some extra pressure on the scoreboard, showing 66-54 at the end of the third.

This was still a very tense game, with so much at stake. The final buzzer saw Rebs celebrating a hard-earned 85-72 home court win. There was something of a LIMBS moment - both on the bench and in the stands.

Rebs' have a proud home record of P9, W9 at home this season, finishing fourth in the league. London Lions are next up at Our House in the play-offs. The home form favours the Rebels.

The penultimate home game of the regular season for the Rebs women at the Essex Sports Arena. Leicester Riders rocked up in what looked like it might be a tight contest.

Sunday afternoons are a bit of a come down from the usual Saturday night Rebs game day atmosphere. It was small, but passionate crowd. There was a new MC on the mic, who did a fine job throughout the game. Plus also a different DJ, dropping some absolute bangers in a De La Soul heavy set.

Back on the court and it was a tight first quarter. Some stray passes from both teams stretched out the game. A big three pointer from Nat Chau right on the buzzer gave the Rebs a 22-17 lead.

Paige Meyer dominated the second quarter for the Rebs. Ditto the third and fourth. Woh! She was immense out there this afternoon. She’s probably the best player the Rebs have seen during the short franchise history. I hope we retain her for next season.

An all round team effort led to the Rebs stretching away with a 42-35 lead at half time. It was great to see the entire bench getting some court time.

There was one message for the Rebs at the start of the third: DON’T FALL APART. We’ve seen this so many times this season - a decent first half, and then it all goes a little wobbly in the third. Thankfully the Rebs didn’t disappoint.

They pressed on in the final quarter. Leicester looked deflated and well beaten. The magical 100 points were well within site for the Rebs. But with the game never in any real doubt, Coach Cookson chose instead to give court time to his whole bench.

A final scoreline of 96-56 for the home team felt right. Up the Rebs!

Part Two of the Community Day double header at the Essex Sports Arena saw London Cavaliers rock up to tip off against the Rebs. This season has been something of a struggle for the men. The team has shown promise in some games, but then struggled in others. This was the final home game of the season, with the Rebs never really threatening the play-offs.

This didn’t mean that the Our House atmosphere could take a night off. Big Dog Ballin' was in fine form ahead of tip off, dropping some absolute bangers including Arrested Development, old school Public Enemy and even some Dre.

There was a new Queen B mascot in town as well. The clue was in the slightly different body moves as each old time anthem was blasted out around the Arena.

The first quarter was low scoring. The initial atmosphere then went a little flat. Rebs trailed 21-17 at the first buzzer.

A tight second quarter followed, with Rebs still staying afloat in the game. They took a 36-34 lead into the break.

This was our signal to play musical chairs. I’m all for enthusiasm, but the little ankle biter sitting right behind us was screaming into my ear at every opportunity. No ta, mate.

Neither team looked like they wanted to take control in the third, with the scoreboard showing 54-53. Cavaliers then decided to put their foot down, and punish the Rebs for having a short bench. The final score of 59-75 felt harsh.

And so another season is over for the men at the Sport Arena. It’s been good to watch, but the team has a tendency to tire as the game progresses. Injuries have not been kind. It will be interesting to see what the roster is when we return in six months time.

Up the Rebs!

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.

The penultimate home court game for the Rebs this season. A strong performance was needed if a push for the play-offs remained realistic. The Essex Sports Arena was lively - especially the army of young ankle biters sitting next to me.

Rebs were short benched, in what looked like a series of badly timed injuries. Mile Brown in particular was a major loss for the home team. Rockets meanwhile were… physical.

This was a bruiser of an away team. But they also had the pace to match the muscle. They moved the ball around the court at speed, with some killer passes from one end of the Arena to the other.

The Rebs MC tried his best to keep the momentum flowing off the court. This led to a ticking off from the referee, after some slightly less than polite applause ahead of a Rockets shot from the free throw line.

Tony Idiata-Mendez had the final say at the end of the first, with a fantastic dunk ahead of the buzzer. SWING that hoop fella. Rebs trailed 25-17.

Rockets pulled away, right from the start of the second quarter. They were lethal on the free throw line. Every shot was sunk. They stretched their lead to 52-38 at HT.

This soon became a tough night on home court for the Rebs. The lead stretched to 76-54 at the end of the third. Buckets rained in for Birmingham. Everything seemed to sink.

The body language dipped a little for the Rebs in the final quarter. There was no way back chasing 20 or so points, and the clock counting down. A difficult night at Our House.

The Rebs men took to the Essex Sports Arena on Saturday evening, following on from an impressive performance from the women on International Women’s Day. No pressure, fellas.

The opponents were Hemel Storm, who in Darien Nelson-Henry had an absolute BEAST of a player. He towered above the tallest of Rebs players, and had the muscle to match. This looked like it could be a difficult evening for the Rebs.

Nelson-Henry won the tip off, obvs, and then continued to dominate in both offence and defence. Rebs simply couldn’t out-muscle him. The only option seemed to be to take your chances when he was off the court.

But wait! What’s this?

Nelson-Henry did have a weakness. Shortly into the first, his man bun (stop it) became undone and he had a few hairstyle malfunctions to deal with. No one likes their flowing locks being ruffled.

I turned around to find Queen B - the Rebs lovely mascot - sitting behind me. I offered up one of my sweets for her. It caused a few issues, watching a smiling rubber faced Roman warrior trying to suck on a sweet through the mask. TOP GIRL.

The game was tight, with the scoreboard showing 27-27 at the first quarter. The second followed a similar pattern, with still no separation between the two teams at 55-55.

Some running repairs were needed to one of the baskets at the break. Elsewhere and the Whitney game kept all the kids happy. Once again we had endless snippets of I Will Always Love You being played, with kids lining up to bang the big Rebs drum in sync with Whitney.

Hours of fun…

The third quarter was tight - so much so that I forgot to log the score. Nelson-Henry tired slightly and was living a dangerous game on four fouls. Rebs took advantage, finally pulling away with a wonderful 79-74 home court win.

International Women’s Day Women’s Day down at the Essex Sports Arena. The Rebs are SUPERB at these type of events. An afternoon of activities were planned, leading up to the women tipping off against Newcastle Eagles at 4pm.

Some impressive marketing has been put behind the day. The Rebs were rewarded with one of the biggest he crowds for the season, mainly families with young daughters. The girls on court are genuine role models for these kids.

I rocked up slightly late, deciding to give the Women’s Sport Collective networking event a miss. No one wants to see a socially awkward middle aged bloke gatecrashing a panel celebrating what can be achieved locally through sport and empowerment.

I don’t want to put a downer on the event; 99.99% of the crowd were totally engaged, giving it some big Rebs energy as the team took to the court. I was appalled though at the site of three primary school kids sitting next to me who didn’t look up from their phones throughout the entire game. ffs.

There was SO much energy out there on the court. A thrilling game of basketball was taking place. Big Dog Ballin was bringing the vibes with the music. Games were taking place in-between play with the wonderful Rebs MC.

But nope. For three kids, two hours was better spent staring at a small screen, pressing buttons and shooting up pixels. It was most depressing tbh. Hey hoe.

But anyway. Back on the court. Rebs races to a 23-15 lead at the end of the first. There was some top quality play taking place out there. Newcastle are no mugs. They took control of the second, leading 43-29 at the break.

The half time entertainment saw some superb dance routines from three different age groups on court. The best performances came from the youngest. They were all primary school age, their trackies swallowed them up, such was their small size. Any doubts I had about ankle biters being stuck on bloody phones disappeared. I believe the children are our future, etc. But still the three pixel fixated kids didn’t look up.

The pace of the game slowed down slightly in the third. Both teams were finding it tough to take a lead. SHOUT OUT to Rebs Captain Claire Paxton, who stepped up with a couple of big three pointers to pull Rebs away.

Everything flowed for the Rebs in the fourth: the passes the shots, the rebounds. Even the decisions from the refs seemed to favour the home team - a rarity at the Arena.

The final scoreline of Rebs 92, Newcastle 79 seemed about fair. The team celebrated in the now customary way of running up and down the stands, high fiving the fans - well, all but three mobile kids who surely must have used up all of their data by now?

This was something of a positive family affair. Many of the Rebs' overseas players had their families over for the event. It was something of a lovely Rebs moments seeing the whole team and their families celebrating together.

Up the Rebs!

The march to the play-offs was underway for the Reb’s men at the Essex Sports Arena on Saturday evening. The home team started the round of fixtures in tenth place, with the top eight making it through to the play-offs. MK meanwhile were sitting strong in third place.

This was a tough game for the Rebs, who were always chasing the scoreboard. MK were physically strong, and weren’t afraid to bully the home team around their own court. Who’s House, etc? Erm… The Rebs did manage to ease in front, taking a 28-25 lead into the first buzzer.

Some big three pointers from MK in the second saw them ease slightly ahead 46-42. But Rebs were remained in it, with the visitors failing to pull away. This was still the case at the end of the third, the scores tied at 62-62, in what was a low scoring game.

MK out their foot down in the fourth, easing away with an 84-74 road victory. This seemed about fair as MK showed their quality. A play-off place is still within reach for the Rebs, but they will need to take advantage of the remaining home court games.

The Rebs won the battle for height ahead of tip off. Archers looked a little lightweight. The refs meanwhile looked rather snazzy in their new yellow tops. I never understood why they previously wore the blandest of bland grey kit.

The first quarter was even, with the Rebs taking a slight 25-21 lead into the first break. A similar pattern followed in the second, with a HT score of 50-40 in favour of the home team. The magical scoreboard total of 100 looked a possibility.

The fun at the HT break centred around Whitney. I’ve always LOVED Whitney - even the headache inducing I Will Always Love You. Which is just as well, seeing as though Whitney’s tear jerker was on a five second loop throughout the duration of the fifteen minute break.

It was all part of the latest Rebs HT entertainment. The idea was to crash the Rebs big bass drum, right on cue when the drum beat kicks in for Whitney’s big moment. It sounds simple, but it was a tricky task for the many volunteers lining up to give it a go.

Rebs dominated the third quarter and pulled away. This is where the game was won, with the home lead stretching to 77-56. It was great to see Coach Cookson use his full bench, giving court time to some of the players who often take a bench warmer role. They were still too strong for the Archers, with a final score of 102-80.