Blaze B youngsters set game alight in first half
THE new Blaze-Sarnians teams impressed in different ways at Tuesday night’s Les Varendes double-header.
While Pula Blaze A secured a convincing 51-29 victory against Rezzers Black, captain Zola Saunders felt that was overshadowed by their junior B team’s bold battle against some former champions.
Blaze B managed to lead Rezzers Green until the third quarter in their Deloitte Winter League Premier Division contest, putting up a real fight before slipping to a 52-38 loss.
For such a young side and one only in their second month of ‘Prem’ play, Saunders described the performance as ‘absolutely phenomenal’.
‘We were winning up until half-time, and they had a full team,’ she said after filling coaching and safeguarding roles for the match.
‘In all honesty, we went out there thinking we just needed to do damage control, but my girls really stepped up.’
Their performance was built on the defensive trio of Mya Colley, Keely Gallienne and Molly Bougourd, who worked well to turn over balls.
Blaze capitalised with a high conversion rate, helped by the impressive ranged shooting of GA and player-of-the-match (POM) Eva Bourgaize.
Blaze won the first two quarters 11-7 and 22-19, before Rezzers restored the natural order.
Aided by a POM performance from vastly-experienced GD Gemma Batiste, the multiple champions managed to get five ahead in quarter three before seeing out the game strongly.
In the earlier match, Blaze had fired away with excellent precision in the first half, with Abbie Greening and Vicky Yabsley both shooting at over 90% accuracy.
That laid the foundations for an overwhelming 29-10 lead at half-time.
But a plucky Rezzers second string punished them for a lapse in quarter three, winning that particular period 13-8.
Blaze pulled away again in the final stanza, after which newcomer Tillie Graham claimed POM for her great game as a mid-courter.
‘It was a good team performance,’ Saunders said.
‘The third quarter was bit shaky, but we never let it slip enough for them to make it a close game. We made sure it was a big distance between us and them.’
As Rezzers push to develop younger players, their promising Lola Wakefield secured POM honours.
The GA had joined forces with fellow teenager Liv Cotterill in the shooting circle.
Meanwhile at St Sampson’s High, Lightning Strike registered a 46-31 victory in a club game against their own B team, Flash.
