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10 October 2025  4 min read

W/EABL Players of the Week (08 Oct 2025)

You can have your say on this week’s selections and give a shout-out to the players you think deserve one on the Academy League channels.

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How it works

Each week, a standout player plus four other worthy selections will be put forward to make the Player and Team Of The Week in both the EABL and WEABL, paying attention to the following criteria:

• Efficiency
• Stats
• Team and opposition strength
• Periods of influence in the game
• Being on a winning team (exceptional performances from players on losing teams will be considered for TOTW)

Players of the Week

The season begins with two worthy winners who both dropped 30+ efficiency outings to kick off the new campaign.

Manchester's Demi Babalola was the driving force behind Manchester's comeback against Charnwood, erasing a 16-point half time deficit to win 81-77.

Babalola said: "It was a great start to the season for the team and we showed great effort and resilience throughout the game. We will aim to continue this culture throughout the rest of the season."

Head coach Tom Paraskeva added: "Demi contributed to the team's success in multiple ways. We are all proud of the team's response and resiliency to being down at the half to fight back and get the win."

In the WEABL, Sharliyah Sutherland went off against HHS Reading Rockets to push her side to a 67-40 win.

Nobody come come close to her 32 points, which included 10/16 from two-point range, and her efforts made up nearly half of Barking's eventual total.

"I'm honoured to be named Player of the Week," said Sutherland.

"This shows that the hard work we are putting in as an academy is paying off. Thanks to my team and coaches for everything, I am very blessed and excited to see what the future holds."

BA head coach Lauren Milligan added: "We’re incredibly proud of Sharliyah for being named the WEABL Player of the Week.

"As a first-year at Barking Abbey, she’s only just getting started, but this recognition is a testament to her hard work, commitment, and the impact she’s already making on the court.

"It’s exciting to see her potential being realised so early in the season."

EABL Team of the Week

Demi Babalola - Manchester Magic (24pts, 7reb, 4ast, 6stl, 31eff)

William Tallon - Derby Trailblazers (16pts, 17reb, 28eff)

Oliver Esingle - Myerscough College (15pts, 5reb, 5ast, 6stl, 27eff)

Larry Duru - BMET City of Birmingham Rockets (37pts, 13reb, 4ast, 3blk, 41eff)

Luca Boothe - Charnwood College Riders (25pts, 9reb, 28eff)

POTW Babalola is joined by a quartet on North Conference team mates, starting with Derby's Will Tallon, who recorded a huge 16-point, 17-rebound double-double in just 20:39 of action.

Oliver Esingle did a bit of everything for Myerscough to get the nod, whilst BMET's Larry Duru produced numbers that were impossible to ignore despite the Rockets taking an L against Myerscough.

Luca Boothe is another on a losing team making the grade, hitting 5/8 from beyond the arc for an impressive 25 points, going a perfect 4/4 from the foul line, plus finishing a rebound short of a double-double.

Honourable mentions

Junior Sanchez - Myerscough College (25pts, 8reb, 7ast, 5stl, 24eff)
David Banjoko - City of London Academy - Southwark (14pts, 4reb, 3ast, 7stl, 20eff)
Casey Burr - Derby Trailblazers (18pts, 11reb, 4stl, 23eff)

WEABL Team of the Week

Sharliyah Sutherland - Barking Abbey (32pts, 5reb, 4stl, 30eff)

Katie Hancock - The Sheffield College (24pts, 12reb, 3ast, 2stl, 2blk, 32eff)

Isabelle Dalmedo - The Sheffield College (20pts, 12reb, 5ast, 2stl, 31eff)

Eva-Grace Yebila - CoLA Southwark Pride (16pts, 12reb, 2ast, 18eff)

Faith Deakin - Milton Keynes 5 Dimensions  (23pts, 9reb, 5ast, 7stl, 29eff)

Sutherland slots into the five automatically as POTW, and is joined by a pair of Sheffield College standouts.

Katie Hancock and Isabelle Dalmedo both went to town against MK5D, with Delmedo putting together her stat line in just 19:45 of action.

Eva-Grace Yebile was one of three CoLA players who could have been included, but her game-high +/- of +25 helped in part to swing the tie.

The five is rounded out by MK5D's Faith Deakin, who shone despite her team's defeat in South Yorkshire.

Honourable mentions

Ayla Habbal - City of London Academy - Southwark (17pts, 8reb, 3ast, 3stl, 18eff) 
Phoebe Kanu - City of London Academy - Southwark (13pts, 12reb, 3stl, 18eff) 
Araya Nicholson - Itchen College (21pts, 4reb, 3ast, 2stl, 14eff)

Main image credit - Eddy Larty/Barking Abbey