Rebels win against Mystics in a spell bound Halloween special at the Essex Sport Arena

This past weekend the Essex side played host to the Manchester mystics in an exciting match up in the WBBL championship.

The hosts came in to this game searching for their first win, and was the first time all season that their opponents weren’t top of the table London Lions or The Sevenoaks Suns. While the visitors entered in to the game with a record of three wins and only one loss.

The hosts came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter setting the tone early on both ends of the floor with consecutive baskets and defensive stops, not allowing the visitors a chance to get in to their offensive flow. The first quarter ended with the home side up 25-12.

This continued through much of the second quarter, but Manchester began to  rally from behind led GB guard Georgia Jones and expireneced veteran Rheanne Bailey who connected on some easy baskets that energised the visiting side.

However early foul trouble forced Bailey to sit late in to the second period and the Rebels were able to capitalise with one of their key players off the floor. The half ended with the home side up 48-32.

The third quarter the Rebels extended their lead to 25 points with key baskets from captain Andrea Kohlhaas, and first year Rebel and former Manchester Mystic Jade Mbam.

The fourth Quarter the home side managed to hold the away team to only 12 points while pouring in 27 points and closing out the game with a pair of free throws by Megan Haines 100 – 60

“ Thought our energy and effort as a team was great today, the best I’ve seen and I hope we can continue to bring that week in week out. We had great leadership from our more experienced players who really set the tone for how we want to play and how we support each other off the court. We have a special group this year who are a lot of fun to be around and a lot of fun to watch! There’s still a lot for us to work on and improve on, and the work starts Monday” – head coach Tom Sadler.

The Rebels are on the road next week as they head to Durham. While the Men’s team play at home to Bradford in the Essex Sport Arena at 3pm

Top performers:

Essex

Andrea Kohlhaas 20 Pts

DeAngelique Waithe 18 Pts 7 Rebounds

Ashleigh Munns 13 Pts

Megan Haines 12 Pts 7 Assists

Manchester

Erika Williams 17 Pts

Rheanne Bailey 15 Pts 7 Rebounds

Dominique Allen 11 Pts