Girls shine on opening weekend

There was plenty of girl power as the Junior NBL season opened for St Albans Wolves, on Sunday.

The under-14s (pictured) followed up last week’s pair of pre-season victories with a dominant performance to beat Kent Crusaders 87-25 while the under-16s hammered Barking RDF 112-24.

The under-14s were the first Wolves’ side to play a league game for more than 18 months and they never looked back after a 21-3 first period. Maliya Iawal led the scoring with 18, with Darcey Macrae adding 14 while Darcey Judge, Lila Birtwisle and Kaiya Bateman 13 apiece.

After a slow start, the under-16s went into the first break leading 21-9 before extending that lead to 56-15 going into the half-time break. The second half was one way traffic as Tor Freeman’s side went into the final break 81-18 ahead before winning the final period 31-6.

Caitlin Ryan led a balanced scoring effort with a 20 point assist, ten assist double-double, while Jemima Uzoka had 17, Amye Swinney 16, Joanna Akpan 13 and Stella Ekblad-Piscitelli 12 as all 11 Wolves getting on the scoresheet.

The under-16 boys found like against Baltic Stars much tougher as they went down 117-64. The hosts never recovered from a 32-8 first quarter deficit as the Lithuanians chalked up a comfortable victory.

Simon Patasin and Ethan Downing each scored 19 points, with Patasin adding six rebounds and four assists and Downing dishing out six assists. Milic Pavic chipped in with 13 points and three rebounds while Alex Riley added six rebounds to his four points.