Academy recap: First win of the season for the BMet Rockets - week six

Both elite academy leagues are steaming towards December's mid-season break, but there was still time for some valuable results.

With another five EABL games now in the books after yesterday's action, plus a pair of WEABL contests, there were key wins for Oaklands and Itchen, moving them to midtable in the WEABL South, whilst Birmingham Met move off the foot of the table in the EABL North with their timely W against Charnwood.

Here’s how all the action played out on another exciting Wednesday afternoon.

EABL 

In the North Conference BMet City of Birmingham Rockets (1-3) recorded their first win of the season against second in the league, Charnwood College Riders (3-1), beating them 77-75. 

The Rockets Academy captain Ethan Haywood labelled the win a 'really big' achievement and was instrumental in the victory, scoring 14 and dishing out five assists. 

Standout player for the Rockets, however, was Larry Duru, who recorded a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. 

Charnwood were no slouches and could have taken the game to overtime, save a missed field goal in the last 30 seconds.

Riders forward Edward Onyia had a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. Top scorer on the day was Caiden Ross, with 16.

The North West derby between Manchester Magic (3-2) and Myerscough College (4-1) was tight, with 'Sco winning away by a single point, 77-78.

They had a triple-threat of standout performers. Daniel Nwauzu had a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds, Lewis Smith, 19 points, five rebounds and five assists and Tyrese Lacey, 21 points, six rebounds and nine assists. 

Magic's starting five were brilliant too, with four in double-digits for points, including Joe Buchanan who top scored with 22.

Captain Matt Goodwin made sure his teammates were fed, racking up an impressive 13 assists. 

In the standings after five games, 'Sco are top of the league, with the Magic in third.

Looking South, The Canterbury Academy (4-1) kept up their winning ways with a 74-63 dub over City of London Academy (2-1).

Canterbury's Tim Oboh chalked up a double-double of 22 points and 14 rebounds in the win, with teammate, Shem Onadeko, adding 14 points of his own. 

Keeping CoLA competitive was Bilal Khan, Khyle Capanzana and Onaopemipo Adeniyi, who had 16, 10 and 10 points, respectively. 

JMA Reading Rockets (2-2) are now a .500 team after they beat Itchen College (1-3), 88-73.

Itchen faced a two-pronged attack by the Round brothers, with Isaac scoring a big 30 points and his bro, Ethan, chipping in 13. 

Dawid Cimochowski had a very decent 17 points, five rebounds game for Itchen. 

Finally, Barking Abbey (2-2) blew away Oaklands College (1-2) with a 53-point margin, 51-104.

In 20 minutes of action, Barking's Mekhi Hendry put away 22 points and Lewis Obiorah had a nice 12 points, 12 rebounds double-double. Their captain Amarlie Wilkinson was busy on the defensive end, picking up 10 rebounds of his overall 13. 

Calum Johnstone did what her could for the St Albans outfit, top scoring with 11 points. 

Standings in the South see Canterbury up in first with 12 points, Barking in second, JMA in third and CoLA and Itchen chasing in fourth and fifth, respectively.

WEABL

Two games took place, both in the South Conference.

First up was a straightforward 78-41 win for Itchen College (1-2) against JMA Reading Rockets (1-2). 

Itchen forward Fernanda Loberto had a great game, recording a double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds and was supported by her guard teammate Faith McDowall, who had a 13 efficiency rating for her performance of 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. 

It wasn't all one-way traffic, however, with JMA's captain Charlotte Devereux leading her team with 11 points. 

Oaklands College (2-1) vs Barking Abbey (0-4) was a much tightly fought affair, with the spoils going to Oaklands, 64-60.

Guard/forward Caitlin Ryan did the business for them, scoring 18 points and collecting six rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Her captain Rosie Porter chipped in 17.

Barking's Elizaveta Spirdonova and Alice Woodward scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough to eek out a victory for the Londoners, who sit at the bottom of WEABL South league. 

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