City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadettes

Match Reports

Saturday 29th Nov 6.30pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v Wild Kats
Portobello

The game began with a good effort from both teams. However Wild Kats seemed to find it troubling to keep up with the pace that Kats were playing at. Kats defence once again was strong, limiting Wild Kats to only one basket in this quarter. 19 - 2, the first quarter ended.

The shots in the second quarter were more balanced and more concentration was going into them. Kats became more patient with their offence in this quarter, which was helpful in order to obtain more baskets. Defence was good, but seemed to be quite static at times slowing the pace down a little. The score after the first half was 35 - 4.

Wild Kats had their highest scoring quarter in the third, scoring 6 points against Kats man-to-man defence. Kats therefore picked up their performance once more and continued to push and run both ends of the floor.

Kats weren’t finishing well in the last quarter unfortunately however did manage to obtain many of their rebounds and get back in defence when Wild Kats had possession. This was a well-played game, from both teams, challenging I’d imagine for Wild Kats however the drive from both teams was great. The final score 67 - 15.

Kats have now to take their team performance and their new team spirit, which they have brought into the last few games into the Glasgow game next week.

Top scorers: Steph Sinclair with 12 points, Heather Young, also with 12 points, closely followed by Sarah Monaghan with 11 points and Rebecca Allison (C) with 10 points.

Saturday 25th Nov 1.20pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v Grampian Flyers
Garioch

The win against Polonia the previous week, revitalised many of the players and it was obvious that there was a new spirit to the team when they entered this game.

The first quarter was a bit slow offensively, with not a lot of structure at the beginning however this was soon changed. With Jessica Bonar starting guard, and her making many early passes, Kats obtained several fast break lay-ups during this quarter. By posting up, Kats inside player Sarah Monaghan was seen to be on a role of her own, scoring several continuous baskets.

Into the second quarter, defence became stronger and louder, and the performance from Kats was impressive. Their drive was apparent however many easy baskets were missed. The first half ended 47 - 17 to Kats.

Into the third, Kats picked up offensively, scoring 30 points. The team was getting rotated and every player seemed to be performing well on court, each making baskets and playing strong defence. Jess Bonar was seen to be continuing her impressive performance, making a third of the Kats points and having the most offensive rebounds during this quarter.

Even though Grampian were putting in the effort and challenging Kats until the very end, they seemed unable to catch up with the speed Kats were playing at. The structure of their offence became better in this quarter and defence was stopping Grampian. Vice captain Steph Graham was noticeably scoring many of the rebounds that she obtained therefore increasing the score in the last few minutes.

The game ended 25 - 98 to Kats, with yet another great team performance and high standard of playing. It was excellent to see that out of the 9 players who were playing in this game, 6 out of that 9 were in double figures for points!

Top scorers: Sarah Monaghan with 9 points, Jessica Bonar with 18 points, and Steph Graham with 15 points.

Saturday 18th Nov 10am
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v Polonia Phoenix
Portobello

Kats, after having lost their previous game to Polonia by 5 points, were more than eager to win this game. There was a new self-belief that appeared within the team and from the very beginning, including their warm up, every player in the team was showing support and enthusiasm. It was a great beginning to an excellent performance.

Kats used their defence to take power in the first quarter, limiting Polonia to only 7 points. Their offence was sharp and even up against the aggressive defence that Polonia were playing, Kats managed to score 15 points in the first quarter.

There was escalating noise in defence from Kats in the second quarter and also from Kats very supportive bench, they were showing a team effort. The players on court were running both ends of the floor and were evidently successful from doing so. Several steals were made and this was their highest scoring quarter with 19 points. The quarter ended 34 - 15, with Kats having worked to take the lead.

After having had a good half time practice, Kats re-entered the second half confidently. However, Polonia picked up their game offensively, occasionally beating Kats defence therefore winning this quarter. At one point in the quarter, there was only a 3 point difference between the teams however Kats increased their intensity and ended the third quarter 45 - 32.

Both teams were seen to be playing with a keen mind to win in the last quarter. Kats were sure that to keep this game their own though, they couldn’t let Polonia beat their offence. The final quarter ended with a well-deserved win of 59 - 47 to Kats.

This game was the most impressive team performance that many have seen from Kats, from the players on the court and their drive, to the players on the bench and their support. It was a team effort!

Top scorers: Steph Graham with 14 points, Kathryn Taylor, also with 14 points and Rebecca Allison (C) with 13 points.

Saturday 12th Nov 2pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v St Maurices
St Maurices

After an unwarranted loss to St Mirren the previous week, Kats trained hard the week leading up to this game against St Maurice’s and were proposing on pushing themselves and proving to themselves if no-one else, that they were a team which could play with heart, power, speed and skill.

The first quarter of this game began with a slow offence from Kats; however, defensively they showed good intent on making the win theirs, with their unrivalled defence only allowing one basket in the first quarter!

There seemed to be a lack of spirit from Kats in the second quarter. Their usual loud defence became more silent for a period of time. Their shots seemed to be bouncing back out of the hoop relentlessly, frustrating a few of the players as expected. This was unfortunate. Kats winning the first half, finished with an unpleasing offensive score of 4 - 21.

Spirit was brought back into Kats game in the third quarter. They ran both ends of the court eagerly. Kats limited St Maurice’s to only 1 point during this quarter and Kats managed scoring a high of 14 points.

The final quarter was much the same as third quarter - loud defence, good hustle, and more controlled plays. A number of steals were made throughout this quarter, this helping stimulate several fast breaks. Defence was still fervent, however a high of 4 points managed to be scored in this quarter from St Maurice’s. The game ended 9 - 47 to Kats.

Top scorers: Rebecca Allison (captain) (12), Sarah Monaghan (9) and Heather Young (6)

Saturday 4th Nov 1pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v St Mirren
Portobello

The first quarter of this game began with high intensity on both ends of the court from both teams. St Mirren played strong defence and Kats were seen to challenge this. Offensively St Mirren were successfully scoring easy lay-ups due to fast breaks and a few turnovers. However there was still hope for Kats at the end of the first quarter with St Mirren taking the lead 10 - 21.

St Mirren picked up their game on both ends of the court in the second quarter however Kats seemed to loose their drive. Rightfully, St Mirren took this opportunity to their advantage and scored persistently until the first half was over, leaving the score 17 - 47.

Kats re-entered the game in the second half showing signs of a driven attitude. Their offence became more structured yet their defence was being challenged by St Mirren’s captain who managed to score over 50% of the teams 26 points during this quarter.

The last quarter of the game showed a more forceful game from Kats with a number of steals and a more structured offence however this simply wasn’t enough. Kats defence was beat on many occasions and St Mirren managed to score another 22 points during this quarter whilst Kats only acquired 8.

Losing their drive so early into the game brought Kats performance down to a standard that Kats are not known to perform at. The game was always going to be a tough game however Kats brought themselves out of it far too early. Once again if Kats had played with more heart and more drive - the game could have been theirs.

Kats now know that they learn more out of defeat than victory. To win a game, their heart needs to be in it 100% of the way.

Top scorers: Kathryn Taylor (9), Heather Young (8), Stephanie Sinclair (8) and Sarah Monaghan (7)

Saturday 29th Oct 3.50pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v Falkirk Fury
Mariner

Kats began the first quarter against Falkirk Fury with a sluggish offence. Their defence, however, was challenging for Fury; the first quarter ended 6 - 11.

The second quarter was the best offensive and defensive quarter for Kats. Fury worked hard but couldn’t defeat the effective defence that Kats were challenging them with. Kats, scoring a total of 20 points from a number of fast breaks and lay-ups; yet, Fury only able to obtain 4 points.

In the second half of the game, Fury seemed to pick up more baskets than they had been getting, as Kats usual potent defence seemed to be dimmed and they ended in a quiet defensive game.

It wasn’t a notable performance from Kats however they won with the final score being 21 - 65.

Top scorers: Kathryn Taylor (17), Heather Young (12) Steph Sinclair (10)

Saturday 7th Oct 3pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v Glasgow City
Portobello

The first quarter of this game began with great intensity on both ends of the court from both teams. Glasgow played strong defence however Kats used their offensive plays to create opportunities for scoring baskets. Kats defence was tough however with Glasgow also creating opportunities to drive to the basket, Glasgow took the lead. The first quarter ended with a small gap: 19 - 23.

Into the 2nd quarter, Kats dropped both their offensive and their defensive intensity and Glasgow rightfully took advantage of this! The 2nd quarter finished 29 - 46. Glasgow were playing with much more heart than Kats.

However Kats brought themselves back into the game offensively in the 3rd quarter. Their defence, conversely, didn’t show for the 22 points Glasgow scored in this quarter.

The fourth quarter was a poor performance from Kats; they seemed to have lost hope before the game had even ended. It appeared they had given up. Scoring only 2 baskets in the last quarter, and with Glasgow scoring 19 points and Glasgow’s hearts still in the game, Kats came out defeated 52 - 88.

Alicia McFadden from Glasgow had a very good game, scoring a total of 32 points.

Kats now know that they learn more out of defeat than victory. To win a game… their heart needs to be in it 100% of the way.

Top scorers in the game were: (captain) Rebecca Allison with 24 points and Sarah Monaghan with 10 points.

Saturday 30th Sept 3pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadette v Grampian Flyers
Portobello

After a defeat against Polonia, Kats entered their 2nd game of the season against Grampian Flyers with a strong intent to win. From the very beginning Kats were seeing opportunities for open lay-ups and they continued to drive to the basket. Grampian’s defence couldn’t match up to the speed that Kats were continuing to play at. The first quarter ended 34 - 14.

After making several steals and continuing to run both ends of the court, Kats only gave up 5 points to their opposing team in the 2nd quarter. Offensively, they continued to drive and although Kats offence didn’t look at its very best, they did make 31 points in this quarter and left the first half with a score of 65 - 19.

Kats continued putting pressure onto the ball and scoring baskets due to their fast-breaks and also a number of steals; the 3rd quarter ended 88 - 27.

Into the fourth quarter Kats persisted to work both ends of the floor and their defence was extremely tough for Grampian to compete with. Picking up their offence from the previous quarter, Kats scored a total of 32 point in the final quarter whilst Grampian only managed to gain a total of 4 points. The game ended 120 - 31.

Top scorers in the game were: (captain) Rebecca Allison with 43 points, Stephanie Sinclair with 18 points, Sarah Monaghan with 16 points and Stephanie Graham with 14 points.

Saturday 23rd Sept 3pm
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats Cadettes v Polonia Phoenix
WHEC

Kats began their season with a challenging first game against Polonia Phoenix. Kats looked very rusty at the start of the game, failing to capitalise offensively, and at the end of the first quarter Phoenix lead 14 to 7.

In the 2nd quarter, Polonia were strong in defence, however Kats managed to pick up their game and started to run the floor, closing the game to only six points at the half.

Into the third, Kats picked up offensively, scoring 23 points, but Rebecca Allison picked up her fifth foul and adjustments had to be made. Katie Boyd stepped up offensively, supported by Stephanie Sinclair and Heather Young took over the point. The third quarter ended 50 : 47 to Polonia with Kats coming back strongly into the game.

Into the fourth and the intensity picked up. Katie Boyd started the fourth well hitting back to back shots and Steph Sinclair again was strong attacking the basket. Unfortunately Kats could not close the gap and lost out by five.

Top scorers in the game were: Stephanie Sinclair with 20 points, Rebecca Allison with 15 points and Katie Boyd with 12.

Final Score: Kool Kats Cadettes 63 Polonia Phoenix 68