Bristol Flyers - Around The Club 12/10/18

Flyers II suffered a crushing 94-53 defeat on the road against Team Solent Kestrels on Saturday. After a competitive first quarter, Flyers got into foul trouble in the second and turned the ball over multiple times allowing Kestrels to build up a significant lead. They were unable to get back into the game in the second half and Kestrels continued to extend the lead until the final buzzer.  David Mann netted 20 points and new addition Louis Luparello had 11 in his debut.

Flyers II hope to fare better at home next weekend as they take on Essex Blades in the two side’s first match-up. The game tips off at WISE at 17:30 capping off a full day of basketball action.  Blades finished sixth in Division Three last year with a 9-9 record.  They started the new season with a 67-75 home loss to Cardiff City.

Flyers won a 69-42 victory in their home game against Sevenoaks Suns II, with new signing Cristina Bigica leding the way with 17 points. Guard Flo Ward and forward Hannah Wallace posted 12 points each, whilst Sevenoaks were led by GB Junior player Katie Bennett with 21 points and unwavering three point accuracy (62.5%). 

Head Coach Gareth Till said “The most important thing is to keep improving as a team. We’re still learning to play with each other, last weekend wasn’t particularly good for us, and we made some progress this week, which was better.”

Flyers will face Ipswich on the road on Saturday, who had a breakout season last year winning promotion into WNBL Division One and claiming the National Cup by upsetting multiple Division One opponents, including Flyers in a hard fought semi-final.  Flyers will be looking to avenge the loss, but Ipswich have been on strong form already in their debut season. 

After a weekend off, the Under-18s Premier team head into back-to-back games. They start with their home debut at WISE on Saturday against Birmingham Rockets before traveling away in the National Cup against Sussex Bears one Sunday. The Bears Under 18s compete in the South I regional league and lost their league opener against Northfleet Crusaders last weekend.  The Cup tie is their home debut of the season so Flyers will go in needing to overturn that advantage.

The Under-18s Conference team made the short trip North to face Gloucester Saxons at the weekend. The new Flyers side were defeated in their season opener 93-41.  Saxons meanwhile go 2-0 and claim joint top along with Huish Taunton Tigers who have the same record.

The side make their home debut this Saturday against Cardiff Met Archers (1.30pm).  Archers and Flyers are currently at the bottom of the league table with an 0-1 record.  The winner of this game will therefore climb up the standings significantly.  

The U16 boys suffered a 67-65 defeat to West Herts Warriors away from home on Saturday. The result puts their league record at 1-2 and sees them drop to sixth place. 

The boys host Harrow Falcons on Saturday at Bristol Metropolitan Academy (1.10pm). The sports hall at Met has been resurfaced over the off-season and the boys will look forward to playing the first Flyers basketball game on the new court. 

Falcons are eighth in the league standings with a 1-1 record so far. They have also lost to West Herts Warriors but claimed a home win against Oaklands Wolves on Sunday October 7th.

Flyers Under-16 Girls maintained an unbeaten record of 2-0 in the South West division this weekend.  They travelled East on Saturday to face JMA Reading Rockets and returned with a 67-33 win. The result puts the team at the top of the league table. Cardiff Met Archers, who knocked the Flyers out of the cup competition, and Wiltshire Demons also remain undefeated but have only played one game each so far. 

The girls are back in action on Saturday October 13th with an away game against Pontypridd Panthers. The Panthers have beaten Exeter Spartans but fallen to Archers so far this season.

Coach Seria-Walker said “An excellent team performance from the girls, with signs of improvement from the week before and a chance to work on things at both ends of the court. Great to get a win on the road and a second win under our belts. We have a tougher test this weekend against Pontypridd so more preparations are underway this week.”

Bristol Flyers U14 Boys dug in for a big comeback victory 67-61 against Richmond Knights on Saturday. The win keeps the boys undefeated at 3-0 in the Premier South division and puts them at the top of the table.  London United and Sussex Bears are close behind them – both teams are similarly undefeated but have only played twice so far. 

"It was a great comeback," said head coach Christian Hill.

"The boys worked really hard at rebounding the ball, including on the offensive end and attacking the paint. Our second half defence and rebounding allowed us to claim the momentum and overturn the deficit we had gotten into.”

Flyers U14s travel to face Sussex Storm for their next game on Saturday. Storm have a 0-2 record in the league so far having fallen to both London United and Sussex Bears on the opening weeks of the season.

Flyers U14 II have a weekend off after winning twice in their opening CVL tournament. They next play on October 20th against Vale Vipers away from home. 

Coach Gear commented on the upcoming game “The boys have made a fantastic start to the season. Results aside their determination on defence and positive attitudes have already made them a great team to coach. Looking forward the rest of the season! Good luck team and Coach Ben Williams in my absence.”

The U12 girls will compete in a CVL tournament in Gloucester on Saturday. There are no fixtures for the other junior girls’ teams this weekend.

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