Following a weekend where our Academy based Under 18 Women brought another National Cup back to Ipswich, we thought it was an appropriate time to check in on some of the old faces from our Academy and Club. Some of them have been doing some winning of their own!
One team that has made winning a habit is Ethan Price’s Eastern Washington, who have reeled off 10 straight wins and are 8-0 in Conference play. Ethan has had a major impact on the team during this stretch, starting every game and scoring a career high of 23 points (on 9-11 shooting) against Northern Colorado in the 9th game of this streak. Ethan is now shooting 53% overall and over 40% from 3 for the second consecutive season.
Another weekend winner was Sam Newman, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday with a win for Hemel Storm in the NBL National Cup. Sam had 17 points on 7 shots, all in the first half, as his team used a huge second quarter to beat Derby Trailblazers 102-81. Congratulations and happy birthday, Sam!
Esther Little of Gonzaga has had a sharp uptake of minutes in her sophomore season, averaging 14.5 per game so far this term for the Bulldogs who are 9-0 in Conference this season. Esther’s standout performance came on January 14th, as she scored a career best 12 points along with 9 rebounds against Portland.
It seems like so many ex-IBC players have started their Conference play well, and Montana State and Caleb Fuller are no exception, sitting at 6-2 and second in the Big Sky behind Ethan’s EWU. Caleb is doing a bit of everything for the Bobcats, averaging over 5 points and 3 rebounds in his near 22 minutes a game.
Susannah Rafiu is continuing to ramp up her time on court for Columbia, appearing now in 10 games as a Freshman. Susie is shooting a huge 64% on field goals so far this season. Elsewhere in the States, Maya Price has continued to excel for Eckerd, averaging 15.6 points and 7.7 rebounds, both slightly up on her standout season last year. Eckerd, who finished 15-5 in Conference play last season, are looking to go even better, starting out 10-1 so far this year. Ashleigh Pink at Barry U is also averaging some career highs, with 7.6 points and 43% 3point FG% for Barry, who sit at 10-9 overall and 5-6 in Conference. In Newberry, Sophomore Ella Pearson has picked up where she left off, grabbing rebounds, snatching steals and blocking shots in 22 minutes a game for the 6-12 Wolves. Finally in America, Jonny Hall grabbed a couple of starts for his Missouri Valley side to start the new year, including an 11 point, 10 rebound double double in a win over Missouri Baptist on Jan 2nd, but he’s missed the last few games.
Elsewhere, it’s 2023, a new year, a new start, but Harriet Welham is still putting up Harriet Welham numbers. Last time out, Harriet’s Bescancon team fell to a 54-58 loss despite 25/8/6 from the former Ipswich MVP. Josh Apple, unfortunately, will be spending his first weeks of the new year on the sidelines, having suffered a hamstring tear. Hopefully he will be back on court soon!
In England, Cameron Taylor-Willis has been having her own spell on the sidelines, having not played since December 17th due to injury. Cameron will soon be playing under a new Head Coach, as Essex Rebels Head Coach Tom Sadler announced this week that he was leaving the club. Tom Sadler, of course, is another Ipswich alumni, having represented our Men’s side as Captain, as well as coaching at Ipswich Basketball Academy, for 5 years before joining the Essex side. We wish Tom the best of luck in his new chapter over in America.
Staying in Essex, the former IBC contingent of Rory and Ben Winter, Jake Eynon, Lee Linton-Hodges and Dylan Johns sit at 6-7 on the season in NBL Division One, while Veron Eze’s Worthing Thunder sit atop the table on points (12-2) but could be overtaken by Newman’s Hemel Storm who have 2 games in hand. Finally, Moyo Adekeye’s Nottingham Hoods join Essex in the middle of the pack, themselves with a 7-7 record.
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