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City of Sheffield Hatters Under 16 Team came agonisingly close to gaining a place in the final of the National Basketball League Final Fours competition at the EIS last Sunday. At the half way point they had a hard fought narrow lead of 6 points on their Northern Conference arch rivals the Manchester Mystics. Coming into the Semi final Manchester led the Hatters on head to heads this season by 2 to 1 so the Sheffield girls knew they would need to play their best throughout the whole 40 minutes. However a dip in the defensive intensity and below par shooting from the free throw line saw the lead change hands in the 3rd quarter giving Manchester the upper hand leading 64 to 54 going into the last 10 minutes. Sheffield fought back valiantly but could only narrow the gap to 5, the final score Manchester Mystics 79 Sheffield Hatters 74. Team and Scorers Eleanor Goodwin 27 Georgia Gayle 20 Molly Axelby 13 Jo Lowry 8 Grace Twomey 4 Grace Brownell 2 Millie Dooley , Zoe Silcock and Naomi Jenkinson.

Later the same day the Hatters fared much better in the third place play off against the Nottingham Wildcats.They dominated all 4 quarters against a depleted Wildcats team who had lost 2 of their most influential plays to injury in their semifinal game against Southern Conference winners Haringey Angels. Final score Hatters 79 Wildcats 35 with all players getting on the score sheet. Eleanor Goodwin, Jo Lowry and Grace Brownell 14,Georgia Gayle 13,Grace Twomey and Zoe Silcock 6, Courtney Bennett 5, Millie Dooley 4 and Molly Axelby 3. Haringey Angels went on to triumph in the final beating Manchester convincingly 98-62.

Eleanor Goodwin stated she was ‘disappointed not to make final but third in the country is something to be proud of.’

Team Manager Mel Axelby stated, ‘One mad minute at the end of the 3rd quarter saw Manchester score 10 unanswered points that we just didn’t recover from. The girls gave their all but we just got out-muscled.’ Going forward she added ‘we will hopefully learn from our mistakes and come back from this a stronger unit next season.”

Fantastic effort by the girls and they should definitely be proud of themselves after a superb season.