Wins for GABBA men’s and juniors in Cadiz League

GABBA Senior Men won a scrappy match in Conil, the Juniors (under 18) registered a big win at home against Xerez, and the first-year Cadettes (under 15) just lost to Chiclana in the TSH.

Senior Men: Mergablo Conil 56 - GABBA 62 (Seb Cassaglia 17, Mohamed El Yettefti 10, Javi Felice 10) [18-17; 13-17: 18-13; 7-15].

A tough away win, even without free-scoring Jack Tunbridge. GABBA took a scrappy win against a wily veteran team who pounded the offensive glass to make the most of GABBA’s lack of height. But GABBA took control of the match in the 2nd quarter and resisted comeback attempts from the home side in the 3rd quarter and into the 4th. Seb Cassaglia was GABBA’s leading player, not only being the top scorer, but receiving half the team’s tally of fouls against. He was ably backed by El Yettefti and Felice. A sound, workmanlike, solid first away win for GABBA, of the type they will need to fight out to be successful in the competition.

Junior Men (under 18): GABBA 88 (Kayden Garcia 17, Javi Andrews 14, Hai Nguyen Tran 11, Ben Lejeune 11, Evan Lima 10) - Xerez CD 45 [15-12; 27-12; 26-8; 20-13].

Abdul Afrah’s boys overcame a poor start to record a massive win in their first match of the competition. The inclusion of Cadet (u16) Shae Felice after 5 minutes, with the team trailing 2-10 and lacking direction, changed the dynamic of the match. This young lad’s skill, intelligence, ability to read the game and laudable commitment rubbed off on his team-mates in a remarkable way. In the 15 minutes played up to half-time, the team outscored Xerez by 40-14. Every player grew in confidence, with the tall and elegant Kayden Garcia outstanding at both ends, in spite of running into foul trouble early on. There were also brilliant cameos from Tran, Lima and Lejeune (another Cadet), and Andrews came good with a flurry of points in the closing minutes. This team will, no doubt, come up against stronger opposition but this good start will stand them in good stead.

First Year Cadettes (under 15): GABBA 33 - CB Chiclana 41 [7-13; 15-9; 4-11; 7-8].

Chiclana had the edge, technically, but our team’s hard graft enabled them to reach the half-time break level-pegging. The visitors upped their defensive intensity in the 3rd quarter, forcing multiple turnovers, and this eventually decided the final outcome. Ruqayyah Afrah was our top scorer with 8 points, while Erin Doherty grabbed over 20 rebounds.