Bristol Flyers - Around The Club 05/04/19

Flyers II are set for a playoff quarter finals of their own in Division Three. They head North face Team Derby Spartans on Sunday (4pm). The Derby team are led by the top scorer in Division Three North in American guard Mical-Ryan Boyd and containing him will be a key part of Coach Owen’s game plan. Boyd is backed up by fellow top 20 scorers Ronald Oberia and Lucasz Siczek so the Flyers defence will need to be at its best in the match-up.

Flyers Women head into the WNBL Division One play-offs as the regular title winners and are rewarded with home court advantage. They will host eighth seeded Barking Abbey at WISE this Saturday at 4pm. The team are in a great position to complete the double and will need the support of the Flyers Family to make the most of their hard-earned home court advantage in the play-off run.

Flyers Under-18s finished their season last weekend with a first round exit from the play-offs. A hard-fought game against the visiting Thames Valley Cavaliers saw Flyers disappointed with a 64-63 loss. The game was close throughout the first half with the teams trading scores and the Cavaliers gaining a marginal advantage heading into the break, 44-46. Flyers struggled to score in the third period and managed only 12 points allowing the Cavaliers to extend their lead. A huge defensive effort in the fourth quarter gave Flyers a chance to win the game with a final shot but they were unable to cap off their comeback before the buzzer sounded.

Flyers end the year as the winners of the Central Premier division and many of the team will have another chance for a deeper run in the Under-18 play-offs next year.

Flyers U16 Boys had the lone win from Saturday’s trio of closely contested home play-off fixtures. They defeated Team Birmingham Elite 76-75 in another game with a thrilling finish. A huge third quarter for Flyers saw them build a 60-49 lead heading into the fourth quarter. A relentless press from the visitors was successful in producing some key turnovers but Flyers were able to get to the line to keep the game out of reach. A final Birmingham play saw Faure-Lewis take a contested corner three-pointer with a chance to force overtime but the shot missed wide and the resulting put back lay-up was only enough to cut the lead back to one point. 

Coach Jones’s team will host Milton Keynes Trojans in their second round play-off game on Saturday (1pm tip-off at WISE). The Flyers team have shown steady improvement over the course of their season and will be keen to demonstrate that as they face Trojans for a third time in this campaign. Trojans are riding high with a resounding 82-32 win against City of Leeds in the first round of the play-offs.  

Flyers Under-16 Girls also suffered an early exit from play-off basketball last weekend. They lost 75-55 on the road against Premier North runners up Sheffield Hatters on Sunday. There are still huge positives to take away from the team’s first season of National Basketball League competition with a second place finish in the South West Conference with a 13-1 record. 

The U14 Boys were also upset in the first round of the play-offs losing out to the visiting Milton Keynes Trojans 52-54. The game was close through the first half but Trojans pulled away in the third quarter, heading into the final period with a 33-46 lead. Flyers tightened up their defence and an 19-8 fourth quarter made for a thrilling finish but the come back was not quite enough to come out on top.

The Under-14 Boys second team had a very successful South West Regional Central Venue League (CVL) tournament last weekend. They beat the hosts Vale Vipers 53-29 and fellow visitors Plymouth Raiders 50-32.

Team manager Emma Searle commented “Great effort by all of the boys, we played well as a team and had a positive attitude throughout. Charlie won MVP in our first game for great defence and had eight steals. Alfie had MVP in the second game for great leadership and teamwork.”

The U10 Girls were back in the Glozball CVL this week. The team won three out of five games in the event. Their wins came against Abingdon Eagles (25-8), Worcester Wolves II (18-10) and Gloucester Saxons Red (28-6). They lost to Worcester Wolves I (10-19) and Gloucester Saxons Blue (22-24).

Community sessions for junior boys and girls are also available across Bristol - check out the community section of the website for more information.