There is no shame in admitting that whenever the Brighton Phoenix Flames face the Brighton Cougars an extra helping of healthy rivalry is served in the game. And boy, does it feel good beating our fellow Brightonians! It certainly added further sparks to Bonfire Night.

The 1st and 2nd quarter were tight, with both teams being rather conservative in attack and tough on defense. The Cougars put up a good defensive fight by executing a perfect zone defense, covering the paint effortlessly and forcing many errors in attack on the Flames’ part. The Flames responded by intensifying their man-to-man defense, which on occasion backfired as they gave away unnecessary personal fouls. The Flames lead by only 1 point at half-time (29-30) when it became apparent that none of these two teams was going to make it easy for the opponent.

However, the Flames stepped up their game in the 3rd quarter by applying full-court man-to-man pressure, which paid off as they repeatedly stopped short the Cougars’ attempts at attacking with a few good early steals. Coupled with better ball movement in attack, these steals secured a respectable 14 point lead for the Flames at the end of the 3rd quarter (33-47). The Cougars’ inability to score consistently in the 3rd quarter (they only got 3 points!) and the Flames’ steadiness in the 3rd and 4th quarter, meant two consecutive wins (in as many games) this season for the Flames (46-60).       

In addition to improving their 47% free throw percentage, the Flames need to work on controlling their initial nerves and hastiness. But, other than that, they played a good, strong game.

MVP of the Game: Maria Garcia takes the title home again – with her 38 points, including 4 three-pointers! Whoop, whoop!

Special Mention of the Game: Liz Breen – with 8 points and her usual feistiness! Go get them, tiger!

The TAKEPART Club of the Year award recognises a quality accredited club which has demonstrated significant success across a range of ages and abilities both in and out of competition. They are committed to creating sustainable links within the community, with local schools and other sports clubs to offer a truly valuable sporting experience for all those involved with the club. 

The Brighton Phoenix Basketball Club has been awarded the TAKEPART Club of the Year 2013 award. This is what the Brighton & Hove City Council Sports and Activity judges had to say about out club: During TAKEPART 2013 the club provided activities for schools, beginners, women, older people, and disability groups, engaging more than 850 people in the process. With club players playing a local regional and national level, the club goes the extra mile to support both members and the local community working with schools universities and other organisations across the city.

WELL DONE TO EVERYONE INVOLVED!

There is indeed no better way to start a season than with a win. And that is exactly what the Flames managed to do last night in their first game of the 2014 regular season against Crawley Lightning.

The Flames set the fast pace of the game early on – proving that those summer sessions do indeed pay off! The Flames secured a healthy lead in the first half of the first quarter by making use of their speed: Many fast breaks and quick defensive steals allowed the Flames to get ahead on the scoreboard. Crawley, true to their fame, maintained a solid defense and a cool head in attack – managing to reduce the deficit in the first quarter, which ended with the Flames only 4 points ahead (17-13).

The second quarter continued in much the same way, with the Flames keeping up their pace but giving away too many balls so that their dominance did not translate into a big lead at halftime (31-24).

Coach Curran’s talk with the team during halftime made a massive difference to the team: The Flames started applying full court pressure, stealing balls early on, not giving Crawley enough space to plan their attack effectively. The Flames also outrebounded Crawley and kept those dreaded turnovers under control by better moving the ball in attack and converting more of their field shots. Despite missing a few easy layups, the Flames made a huge effort on the court, securing a 20-point lead (46-26) at the end of the third quarter.

The Flames continued to work hard in the final quarter despite the physical effort of all players and won the game by 18 points (56-38).

This is only the Flames’ 3rd year in the league, and in spite of changes affecting their home court, squad, club, coach, etc. and the many challenges resulting from these changes, the Flames performed well together. With commitment and focus from the players, with good training sessions and spending time together on and off the court, the Flames look very promising.

May this season bring many more victories for the Flames!

MVP of the Game: Maria Garcia – the super-fast and reliable new player who performed well in defense with her many steals and numerous rebounds and even better in attack with her incredible 25 points in this, her first match, with the Flames.

Special Mention(s) of the Game: Emma Noall, Lidia Machado, and Charlotte Bailey – all new to the Flames; all very fast, conscientious defenders, great teams players; all of them scoring in this, their first match with the Flames.

Brighton Phoenix Flames are hosting a Women's Basketball Summer Tournament in Brighton. 

When: Sunday, July 28, 2013 from 11am to 3pm. 

Where: Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) (www.baca-uk.org)
www.baca-uk.org

Ladies teams are invited from Sussex, Surrey and Kent.

Team spaces are limited so please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in attending. 
 
We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you in sunny Brighton this summer!

[e] brightonphoenixflames@live.co.uk 

[m] 07951 845 076

With the 2012-2013 Season now over and the Flames losing some of their key players due to relocation, we are once more opening our doors to new players in the area! We are looking to recruit players for the 2013-2014 Season commencing September 2013.

If you are female and love to play ball, come along to one of our open training sessions!

When?

Every Tuesday night at 8.00pm

Where?

Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA), Lewes Road, Brighton, BN1 9PW
For more information on the court: www.baca-uk.org.uk

Interested?

Contact Trish

[e] brightonphoenixflames@live.co.uk

[m] 07951 845 076

The end of the season has raced by with our last league game on Monday night. Sadly we could not end on the high note we would have liked as we lost to more organised opponents. We have beaten them before, and will again once we have an established game plan in place. As it was, the long journey to Bognor and some of the large squad being new to each other made it a big ask. We battled through a tough but fairly even first half and felt positive despite having let some easy baskets through our defensive lines. One opposing player caused us particular problems and had a high scoring game resulting in half of their total score. On our side we just didn’t score enough and got more rushed on offence as time went on. Our fantastic team spirit showed throughout from the bench to the court and when we were determined to get and look after the ball it showed. Strong rebounding and offensive play allowed us to get the ball in their court more of the time, however the Amazons weren’t going to let us gain ground easily and the referees didn’t help our confidence to drive in. There were some brilliant moments when our passes flowed, we penetrated their zone and made strong plays for the basket, and Kara came out on top doing just that and scoring twelve points. It was great to see eight players on the score sheet and there are many things to be positive about for the year ahead. If the majority of the team stick together as planned and find a permanent coach there is a great deal of potential to capitalise on. We still have one more game to play which is the County Plate Final, May 11 or 12 (TBC) and whoever our opponents will be we will fight hard for the last winning result – go Flames!

What is it with us and the fourth quarter? The Flames visited the University of Chichester Tuesday night for the second game of the 2012-2013 season against Chichester. The game proved to be a lot of fun for everyone involved and for the supporters watching, with both teams setting a very fast pace from the beginning of the match. The Flames kept control of the game until the very last quarter when we lost our 10 point advantage and ended up losing the game by 3 points. Chichester had a couple of good offensive games and benefited from the Flames turning the ball over to them repeatedly for the first 5 minutes of the fourth quarter. The support Chichester received from the audience sealed the deal and they managed to get ahead on the scoreboard for the first time in the match. The Flames settled back into a strong defence and managed to contain Chichester but did not manage to score enough baskets before the end of the match to take the victory home.
We are very proud of how much we are improving week by week and hope to end the 2012-2013 league with a couple more wins. Next week the Flames face Bognor Amazons at Bognor Regis. Will we succeed in keeping our heads cool for the entire game and secure an away victory over the Amazons? Stay tuned!

To view all of the remaining fixtures please visit this page: 

Once more, victory evades the Flames and again, we reckon inconsistencies in performance are to blame for our loss. The Flames started Monday night’s game against Holbrook Allstars setting a very quick pace which benefited much from the contributions made from new player, Alba and also recent addition, Patrizia. The Flames controlled the first quarter with a tight defence, timely steals, and fast breaks. Holbrook Allstars kept a very solid defence which prevented us from obtaining a bigger lead in the first quarter and kept us in line the rest of the game. After the 15-12 of the first quarter, the Allstars started gaining control of the pace of the game, forcing errors, strengthening their zone defence even more, and converting more of their attacks by playing their well-drilled games, and making devastating use of their tallest players in the paint; bringing the score at half-time to a tie at 29 points.

The third quarter commenced much in the same manner as the second quarter and continued that way until the end of the game. The Flames did not adapt to the change quick enough and the final score was 49-63.

The Allstars’ maturity was the key to their win: They know their key strengths and weaknesses and played with both of these in mind, doing what they have been taught to do for years. This is only our second year in the league and we have only had a stable line-up the last couple of months. We are learning how each one of us plays individually and getting to grips with our collective workings. We have much to learn but, as Coach Curran (who directed our efforts for the first time on Monday night due to Coach Baverstock’s reluctant absence from the bench) kept repeating to us every time-out, we have a lot of potential. We will not get discouraged, we will continue working hard this season and we will secure more future successes.   

Flames’ Woman of the Match: Trish.

The Flames had a tough match against the Cougars back in October so were keen to put the record straight and get their revenge. Some re-scheduling enabled us to fit in one more match before the end of the year, presenting another full-team bench and enjoying more enthusiastic support from club members and friends on home turf. We did not disappoint anyone and posted our highest team score of the season to win by 27 points, with a final score of 65 - 38. With 8 players contributing to the scoreboard, including our newest member Patrizia scoring 4 in her first game, it really was a fantastic team effort. Katie top scored with 25 points whilst Liz and Rachida played a very valuable attacking game with 12 and 10 points respectively. We were 10 points up at half time but there was a long way to go against a fast side putting pressure on all the way. We stumbled in an even third quarter then regained our composure and stormed away in style thanks to solid teamwork including good passing and tough defence. A well-earned post-game/pre-Christmas drink was enjoyed by all where we thanked our scorers and coach Anne for their great efforts this season so far. Bring on 2013!

The Flames lost their game last night against the University of Brighton at Eastbourne. As the final score for each quarter indicates (1st: 16 - 12 / 2nd: 10 - 12 / 3rd: 29 - 7 / 4th: 13 - 12) our opponent beat us again due to poor performance on one quarter alone. If last game it was the first quarter, last night’s game it was the third quarter we paid for in the end. Whilst we managed to correct the first quarter nervous errors of the game against the University of Chichester, these same errors crippled us and our performance was pretty poor after half-time.

We started the game with a cool head in attack and a solid and determined defence and managed to make it to half-time losing by only two points, with the score being 26 - 24. After half-time however, the University of Brighton intensified their defence, applying full-court pressure, which completely took us by surprise by increasing the physicality of the game. A very clever move on their part as they could see by our almost empty bench we did not have many subs. They basically tired us out. Our 8 players to their 12 could not quite compete in such an intense environment. And we panicked, ending the third quarter trailing behind by 22 points! Still, we managed to somehow settle into the rhythm of the game and performed relatively well in the last quarter, which we lost by one point only. Could we have maintained the 1 or 2 bucket differential in the third quarter had we had more players sitting on the bench and therefore had a shot at winning this game? We’ll never know. But, judging by the team’s efforts and our getting back into the game after the hard blow of the third quarter, one cannot help but think we could have perhaps won had we had our usual 12.

Monday, December 17, 2012 we are facing the Cougars at home. Will the second or fourth quarter get in the way now or will we manage to keep our heads in the whole game? Stay tuned!