KESTRELS EXIT PLAYOFFS AGAINST 1 SEEDED BREAKERS TO END THEIR SEASON

Image Courtesy of Dan Crowther

The Kestrels lose out in the opening round of the Division Two Play-Offs with a 62-50 loss against the Milton Keynes Breakers.

The battle of the 1^st seed in the north and the 4^th seed in the south, MK Breakers came into the game as favourites, however, the Kestrels ended the season with a strong run of results and had a sense of momentum, despite the loss against the London Cavaliers most recently.

Aimee Nwabisi opened the scoring to begin the game and was the only bucket inside the first two minutes. A familiar name in Sarah Round scored MK’s first points and would by no means be her only bucket of the game. Neither team found themselves comfortably in the lead, buckets went down on both ends, hence just the two point differential at the end of the first quarter, at 10-8 to MK.

To begin the second quarter, the home side showed why they had finished the regular season with an 18-2 record and 1^st seed in Pool A, by extending their lead to 17-8. Lauren Dabbs looked to carry her fine form into the post-season and settled into a rhythm, nailing a shot from downtown and a two-pointer to kickstart MK’s run to open the second period. Nwabisi prevented any further bleeding and continued as the Kestrels’ leading scorer but despite Aimee’s best efforts, the MK strong run only gained traction with Dabbs hitting consecutive shots on the offensive side of the floor. Katie Nicholson and Anna Idiata Mendez bridged the gap to just six, but MK refused to back down from their driving seat. Round re-entered the fray and scoring column before the half and gave the 1^st seed a 34-23 lead.

Round stepped back out onto the floor in Buckinghamshire with the same mentality that she ended the first half with, following up her teammate Tetiana Shevchyk’s three with her own. However, MK showed some weakness on the defensive end, with their discipline allowing the Kestrels to insert themselves back into the game, Ruth Bentley, Faith McDowall Dodd and Nwabisi stringing together buckets to bring it back to a nine-point game. Despite the great coaching of Kiely Reed and will of the young Kestrels squad, MK kept pushing further into the lead to counter every Solent run. Lauren Milne sharing the weight alongside Round. The Kestrels bigs in Lara Morrison and Earleesha Jackson added to the Kestrels total before the beginning of the fourth quarter. 

MK exited the break in play up by 12 points, at 48-36, with the Kestrels needing to outscore the highest seeded team in the north by a large margin in the final quarter to go through to the play-off semi-finals.  An early bucket from Dabbs, once again, looked to make it just that bit more unlikely, but that didn’t stop Coach Kiely’s side from fighting to the very end. Anna Idiata Medez seemed to trigger some life late on in the clock, making a free throw and then a field goal to bridge back to a 15-point margin with three minutes left. McDowall Dodd, Sophia Agboola and Andrea Kurkowski then capitalised on the offensive end, and it was brought to 10 with a singular minute left.

However, MK’s 62 points scored was insurmountable, thus knocking out the Solent Kestrels from the NBL Division Two Play-Offs. A much-deserved win for MK Breakers, who have been extremely successful throughout the season, and we wish them luck in the rest of the competition.

Top Performers:

Aimee Nwabisi – 12 points

Faith McDowall Dodd – 8 points

Katie Nicholson – 6 points

On the flip side, this Kestrels side have shown a vast array of talent and energy from the very first whistle back in October. From beating Pool B title winners in Barking Abbey in front of the supportive Kestrels family, going unbeaten through the month of February to finishing fourth in the league, every player that stepped out onto the court for the team this season played their heart out and we thank you the Kestrels Family for bringing the noise to the SSC this season!