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9 October 2025  3 min read

Elite Academy Leagues recap (08 Oct 2025)

Manchester Magic staged a mighty comeback against Charnwood to claim their first win of the season, while both CoLA teams are up and running after a pair of victories.

Week One results

EABL

North

BMET City of Birmingham Rockets (0-1) 71-89 Derby Trailblazers (10) - LIVE STATS

Manchester Magic (1-0) 81-77 Charnwood College Riders (0-1) - LIVE STATS

SGS College (0-1) 67-87 Myerscough College (1-0) - LIVE STATS

South

Barking Abbey (1-0) 75-60 HHS Reading Rockets (0-1) - LIVE STATS

City of London Academy - Southwark (1-0) 76-68 Itchen College (0-1) - LIVE STATS

WEABL

North

Charnwood College Riders (1-0) 86-29 BMET City of Birmingham Rockets (0-1)

The Sheffield College (1-0) 84-60 Milton Keynes 5 Dimensions - The Hazeley Academy (0-1) - LIVE STATS

South

Barking Abbey (1-0) 67-40 HHS Reading Rockets (0-1) - LIVE STATS

City of London Academy - Southwark (1-0) 75-53 Itchen College (0-1) - LIVE STATS

CoLA's Eva-Grace Yebila helped CoLA to a WEABL victory (shotbya._)

Standout performances

The big story of the day was Manchester's roaring comeback against Charnwood, topping the Riders 81-77 despite training by 16 at the half.

A 31-13 third frame plus a huge afternoon from Demi Babalola helped turn things around for the North West programme, sealing a win in the process.

Larry Duru's massive 37-point outing wouldn't be enough to stop BMET from slipping to an 89-71 defeat against Derby, and Barking's title defence is up and running after they knocked off HHS Reading Rockets 75-60.

In the WEABL, Barking and CoLA both picked up wins in the pair of South Conference games. BA overcame HHS Reading Rockets 67-40, and CoLA beat Itchen 75-53.

MK5D started the new season in defeat, going down 84-60 in South Yorkshire against Sheffield College, and BMET's WEABL debut also ended in defeat against Charnwood, with an 86-29 final score.

What does it mean for the standings? 

It is early days, but no doubt EABL champs Barking will be pleased to start their season with a win. Likewise, last year's finalists Myerscough are also on the board, as are CoLA, who made it to the 2024/25 Final Fours.

WEABL winners Copleston are yet to start their season, leaving CoLA to move to the top of the South standings, whilst Sheffield and Charnwood are the early front-runners up North.

View the EABL Standings

View the WEABL Standings

Player-of-the-week candidates 

With nine games across the two leagues, there are plenty of front runners for honours in both the EABL and WEABL this week.

William Tallon (16pts, 17reb, 28eff) put together a big double-double in just 20:39 for Derby, though Larry Duru's 37-point, 13-rebound effort in reply was good for a 41 efficiency rating and only held back by BMET finishing on the losing end of the final score.

Demi Babalola (24pts, 7reb, 6stl, 31eff) was the driving force behind Manchester's comeback against Charnwood, and multiple-POTW winner from a year ago, Myerscough's Junior Sanchez (25pts, 8reb, 7ast, 5stl, 24eff), was also on form.

Ayla Habbal (17pts, 8reb, 3ast, 3stl, 18eff), Eva-Grace Yebila (16pts, 12reb, 18eff) and Phoebe Kanu (13pts, 12reb) all combined for CoLA's WEABL side to down Itchen, and Barking's Sharliyah Sutherland (32pts, 5reb, 4stl, 30eff) is another strong contender.

The North Conference also chucks a couple of contenders into the mix, with Sheffield's Katie Hancock (24pts, 12reb, 32eff) and Isabelle Dalmedo (20pts, 12reb, 5ast, 31eff) both balling out against MK5D.

Watch out for the winner on our social channels, with the announcement going live on Friday at 12pm for the EABL, and 2pm for the WEABL.

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Main image credit - Kareem Lee/Underrated