It was lovely to welcome Sixth Form pupils from Eton College to Downe House on Friday 30 September for a lovely evening of basketball and squash with our Senior players. Thank you to Mrs Riddle (Teacher of PE) for her match report.
We split into four mixed teams to compete in a socially competitive round robin tournament and there were some great moments of team work and individual flair, including Lucia’s layups, Mwansa’s rebounds and Kallie and Desola’s ball-handling prowess.
Several of the boys were keen to show their skills, most of which resulted in successful layups and offloads, and it was good to experience their pace and explosive power in the matches. Our girls were considerably less showy but gave a masterclass in the basics, notably Nampetch and Lauren with great offensive positioning and screens, and the supportive assists from Keira and Sophia.
On defence too, the girls managed to force a turnover on several occasions from the flashier ball carriers; Ada, Padmaja, Tabby, and Georgia were particularly useful on defensive hustle in this regard. Set shots, on the whole, were not high percentage scorers but it was great to see them all getting stuck in and having a go with several 3-pointers being attempted.
Other highlights included the ever-present smiles from Sophie and Katya when shooting (their joy for sport is infectious) and who can forget the fabulous Adesola and Lauren T for managing the score bench and giving out the results at the end.
Well done to all for a fun and interactive evening of basketball. Team Yellow were the winners with a narrow 1-point lead over the Blue team, followed by Non-bibs and Pink team in fourth.