Bristol Academy Under 18’s had a tough double-header weekend in the South West Premier League and the Sureshot National Cup, both against Plymouth teams.

Saturday saw a psyched up Flyers team face the Plymouth Raiders. Flyers started a 13-7 run early in the first quarter. Hustle defence combined with fast break basketball led the Flyers on a high scoring game. A huge 32 points scored in the third quarter took the game out of reach for the Raiders who worked hard but couldn’t compete with the Flyers high-octane offense. Individual scores at the end of the game demonstrated how well spread the Flyers offense played, with 5 players in double figures. The final score was a 112 -66 to the Flyers.

Coach Guy Coles comments: “I was pleased that everyone scored and that the team distributed the ball well. Hopefully this will set us up for our National Cup encounter against Tamar Marjon Cannons.”

The second round match in the Sureshot National Cup occurred the day after the Flyers game against Raiders. Both coach and players were hopeful the result against the Raiders would help prepare the Flyers team for a tough match against a well-organised Cannons side.

The first quarter saw the Flyers stamp their intentions on the game. Cannons were held to one basket for 10 minutes. Cannons came back with six points from free throws. The score at the end of the quarter was 17-8.

Throughout the game the Flyers tenacious defence and good offence tactics created numerous scoring opportunities. By the end of the third quarter the game was beyond the Cannons team and the Flyers finished the game as victors, 82- 52.

Coach Coles was pleased with the weekend: “ It was tough playing a well coached, organised side like Tamar but I felt the Flyers worked really hard defensively and this won us the game. It was an early tip off; for the players to be able to travel for two hours so early in the day and still be so motivated is a real testament of the players will to win.”