The lineup for the last eight of the Betty Codona British Basketball League Trophy Final was confirmed today as the Durham Palatinates, Manchester Giants and Nottingham Wildcats secured the wins they needed to move on to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
The top five teams from last year’s Championship campaign – B. Braun Sheffield Hatter, Caledonia Gladiators, Essex Rebels, Leicester Riders and London Lions – all received a bye into the quarter-finals, with the remaining six teams in the League playing First Round ties today to complete the lineup for the last eight.
Cardiff Met Archers 68-82 Manchester Giants
Marg Jones’ Giants tipped off 2024 in great form as they roared to a 27-14 lead against their hosts, Cardiff Met Archers, after 10 minutes in the Welsh capital. Stef Collins’ Archers clawed three points of that deficit back in the second period, but the hosts couldn’t live with Myah Pace and Sudney Hunter who combined to deliver 38 points and 28 rebounds for the Giants on the day.
A slow start to the second half for Cardiff, losing the third quarter 13-23, proved very costly for the Archers going into the final period, who struggled to generate scoring outside of the trio of Abi Yunker, Haylee Saurette and Jenna Hoschouer – with the three scoring 52 of Cardiff’s 68 points between them – and the Giants duly capitalised to book their place in the next round with a home tie to look forward to in the next round against the Nottingham Wildcats.
Durham Palatinates 74-58 Oaklands Wolves
In another contest that was dominated by two big contributors for the winning team, Durham Palatinates fans will no doubt be lauding the performances from Harriet Ottewill-Soulsby and Janika Griffith Wallace for a long time to come as they duo notched 57 of their team’s 74 points in an impressive win over Lee Ryan’s Oaklands Wolves.
Very much a tale of two halves, the Wolves took their chances in the first 20 minutes of the contest earning an eight-point lead before Durham adjusted to turn the game around emphatically in the closing stages of the game. Both teams shot well below their usual average from beyond the three-point line, but it was the Palatinates who were able to take advantage of that best by cleaning up on the boards and converting that solid defensive effort into points on the other end.
Seeing out a 16-point win, the Palatinates now have an away trip against the Hatters to look forward to in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Serios Group Newcastle Eagles 74-79 Nottingham Wildcats (OT)
The final First Round tie of the day saw Newcastle and Nottingham leave absolutely everything out on the floor as they battled for the chance to face Manchester in the next round, and treated fans to an exhilirating overtime period to decide the outcome.
Both sides were able to rely on a variety of contributions from their rosters to get their points on the board, with the Eagles (five) and Wildcats (four) having multiple players score in double-digits, with Lauren Saiki even grabbing a triple-double for the home side of 11 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists in this pulsating encounter.
The teams put on a rebounding clinic as the two sides combined for almost 120 rebounds between them – far above the League average of around 40 per team – and after four quarters of gripping action both sides took it to overtime. Wildcats captain Mari Stewart stepped up in those extra five minutes to secure the points Nottingham needed to get the win, finishing with 23 points and 17 rebounds for Karen Burton’s side alongside Jess Wayne’s incredible performance of 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
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The quarter-final match-ups in the Betty Codona Trophy will be contested next weekend (January 13 and 14) where all eight teams will compete to take one step closer towards the Final at Utilita Arena Birmingham on January 28. Tickets for the Final are available to purchase via the Ticket Factory.