Mixed day for GB at European Championships
28 August 2009by Stephanie Gagne
The listing was posted by WheelPower - British Wheelchair Sport - News
Great Britain started their second game strongly against an emerging Italian side with Helen Turner scoring with the first offence of the game. Employing a solid defensive strategy they managed to restrict Italy to only six points in the first quarter, however, they again failed to make the most of their offensive opportunities going into the quarter break with only a narrow lead at 7-6.
Head Coach Garry Peel changed the line up with immediate effect, Caroline Matthews scoring four quick points to calm any nerves at the beginning of the second quarter. With Great Britain pressing over the full court they managed to score 17 unanswered points to hold a comfortable lead at half time 32-8.
Great Britain relaxed the press and focussed on playing a tight defensively in the third quarter, but only added to their score sporadically as impatience began to set in.This lead to Italy's most profitable period of the game with them putting another 10 points on the scoreboard, although Laurie Williams scored a fine long range effort on the buzzer to make the score at the end of the quarter 47-18.
The defence remained solid throughout the fourth quarter and Great Britain punished Italy on the break on numerous occasions. The final score was 59-20.
The game was an excellent chance for Coach Peel to try out a number of different combinations and give some of his bench vital minutes in the lead up to a tough final pool game against Netherlands.
Leading scorers for Great Britain:
Helen Freeman 12 points
Clare Strange 11 points
Helen Turner 8 points
Great Britain suffered their first defeat of the FSB Women's Wheelchair Basketball European Championships 2009 at the hands of the Netherlands.
The game didn't get off to the best of starts from Great Britain with a technical foul being called on Freeman, the free throws being easily dispatched by the Dutch. The Dutch continued to make a strong start leading 6-0 before GB registered their first points of the game. Fittingly it was Freeman making up for the early foul by adding two baskets, the second from an incisive fast break move with Williams. The Netherlands again used the full court press which served them well in their previous two games, however, GB were too quick for it, easily breaking it. Both teams were equally as wasteful in offence, but some pinpoint shooting from the Dutch no 4 Inge Huitzing kept them just ahead at the end of the first quarter, 14-10.
The second quarter was a scrappy affair with both teams turning over the ball numerous times. Great Britain struggled to break through a solid Dutch defence and convert their chances. The Dutch on the other hand made no mistake in attack, stretching the gap between the teams to 16 points at one stage. The British girls rallied well towards the end of the quarter, finally finding some consistency under the basket, reeling off five unanswered baskets to leave the score at half time at 28-24.
Unfortunately, Great Britain were unable to use the momentum from the end of the first half, with the Dutch team slowly accumulating points, whereas Great Britain continued to miss their offensive chances. The Netherlands had increased the lead at the end of the third quarter to 44-36.
With some spirited defending and being spurred on by the near capacity crowd, Great Britain managed to stage a late comeback to reduce the deficit to two points with just under a minute of the game left. In the end it was not to be, with the Netherlands holding their nerve to record a victory 58-52. This now means that the Netherlands will go into the semi finals whilst Great Britain will play Spain in tomorrows quarter final match.
Great Britain will be left ruing their shooting from the free throw line, only shooting 27%, whilst the Dutch hit 80% from the line.
Top scorers
Clare Strange 20 points
Helen Freeman 15 points
Helen Turner 6 points