Round 5 results: Men U14 and Women 1 stay unbeaten, Men 1 lose at home

A weekend with two unbeaten teams and a few tough afternoons. Men U14 won 102-38 and are five from five, Women 1 won at Orange Lions Academy and stay flawless in the WBL. Men 1 lost 75-79 at home to Utrecht Basketball, while Men U16, U19-1, U19-2 and Women U21 had to concede to the opposition. Here are all of round 5’s results, with a look ahead to a cup weekend.

Men U14 win 102-38 in Tilburg and stay unbeaten

Saturday morning, an away game in Tilburg. Basketball, swimming lessons and grocery shopping made for a packed car park and a coach arriving late, but luckily the players were already doing a joint warm-up: a nice start to the day. The rules in the hall were strict (little noise and definitely no bouncing balls on the middle court), so the pre-game talk was done quickly in the locker room.

The week was all about communication: help each other by talking in defense and bring organization to the offense. Talking loudly on court doesn’t come naturally to every young player, but over the course of the game it went quite well and there was clear progress.

In the first quarter the shots weren’t falling yet, but the opponent struggled to score too (7-24). The second quarter was even. After the break United pushed on with more energy and enthusiasm: the extra pass was found more often and the shots started to fall. The third quarter was won 28-8, with a contribution from all ten players and a bench that was loud throughout and helped the players on the floor. In the fourth quarter United kept going to the final score of 38-102.

Nine of the ten players scored. Jelani Bizimana top-scored with 32 points (two three-pointers), followed by Jack Roelse (23) and Jonas te Winkel (14); behind them came James Kovtoen (9), Pepijn Wien (8), Boas Botschuijver (6) and Thijs Naalden (5). So: good communication, hard work, and nice for the coaches to see that the shared footage of the opponent had been watched.

It’s the fifth win in five games: with a 174-point margin over five games, Men U14 top the 1st division.

Report: assistant coach Vincent de Boer.

Men U16 lose heavily at home to MBCA A’veen

A tough afternoon for Men U16: at home in Bemmel it finished 36-92 against MBCA A’veen. The first quarter (2-27) set the tone and United trailed 12-51 at halftime. The last quarter did go to United, though: 18-13.

Colin Harteveld top-scored with 10 points, followed by Mika Bakker (9) and Elias Gielis (6). That leaves the record after five games at 2-3, following two earlier defeats by exactly four points. A rematch follows straight away: in the first round of the Basketball Cup on Sunday, United travel to MBCA A’veen again at 12:30, this time in Amstelveen.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men U19-2 lose at Hot Pepper Heat

Men U19-2 lost away at Hot Pepper Heat on Saturday evening: 94-51. The home side, who hadn’t won a game until then, took the initiative straight away (25-13 after the first quarter) and stretched it to 47-19 at halftime. The fourth quarter was even, though (20-19 to the home side).

Colin Harteveld, who had already scored 10 points for Men U16 earlier that afternoon, added another 10 for U19-2, with two three-pointers. Akin Koc scored 9 points and Erik van Heijster 6. After four games played the record stands at 0-4; the game against BV Groningen has been postponed to April. The team doesn’t play again until 31 October, away at Lokomotief 2.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men U19-1 stay with Donar Groningen for a quarter

Men U19-1 started Saturday’s home game against Donar Groningen at De Kooi with an even first quarter (24-24), but lost the second 13-27 and, in the end, the game 65-90.

Tobias Molenaar top-scored with 19 points (two three-pointers), followed by Sitka Hagemans (12, also two three-pointers) and Stef Bouwman (11). United played with eight players. It was the fourth defeat in five games. Saturday brings an away game at BS Leiden 2 (15:00) in the first round of the Basketball Cup.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Women U21 lose to Jolly Jumpers 2 in Tubbergen

Women U21 travelled to Tubbergen on Sunday and lost 70-49 to Jolly Jumpers 2. The home side took the lead with 18-11 and led 40-22 at halftime. The third quarter went to United (12-7), but in the fourth Jolly Jumpers pulled away again (23-15).

Ka Rosmalen scored 17 points (two three-pointers), Indy Lindeman and Fiene Modderman added 10 each and Kata Polgár 6. After four games the record stands at 0-4. Saturday brings the home game against Trajanum (11:00) in the first round of the Basketball Cup — the team that beat United 43-65 at De Kooi earlier.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Men 1 lose at home to Utrecht Basketball

On Saturday evening Utrecht Basketball (Uball) came to visit, a time slot that had seemed to suit Men 1 before. But this evening was the exception. The men from Utrecht were ready for a real fight, and United, especially in the first half, weren’t at home. Coach Kaas had warned his men beforehand about Utrecht’s shooters, and they delivered: especially in the first half the threes came flying through the basket from every direction. The first quarter went to the visitors 19-25, and by halftime the deficit had grown to 39-50.

In the locker room coach Kaas’s instructions were enough to rein in the shooting barrage, but the deficit remained: going into the fourth quarter United were still 7 points down (59-66). The closing minutes were nail-biting for both teams. Could United still bridge the gap? With a minute to go the deficit was down to a single point and everything was still possible, but it wasn’t to be. Utrecht held on and took a deserved win (75-79). United were chasing the game throughout: an expensive price for a weak start, but hopefully a good lesson.

The numbers back up the picture of the shooters: Utrecht made 11 threes against United’s 6. Four players reached double figures: Olaf Janssen scored 16 points, Keime Helfrich 14, Diego Rueda Alvarez 13 and Robin Simonis 12 (with two three-pointers). Marijn Morsch (8, also two threes), Gijs van de Kamp (7), Niels van Hout (3) and Samuel Karel (2) completed the scoring.

At 3-2, Men 1 are fourth in the Promotiedivisie after five games; the top four are tightly bunched on 6 points. On Sunday an away game at BV Noordkop in Den Helder awaits in the first round of the Basketball Cup (16:00). According to Wieger Kamies that’s a formidable opponent, but also a great challenge to make amends.

Report: team manager Wieger Kamies.

Women 1 win at Orange Lions Academy and stay unbeaten

Women 1 won 75-67 at Orange Lions Academy in Amsterdam on Sunday. It’s a fourth league win in four games in the Women’s Basketball League: together with GBI van Dijk Grasshoppers, who also won all four of their games, United are one of just two teams without a defeat.

It was not an easy afternoon. United started well (18-14), but the home side won the second quarter 20-16, so it was 34-34 at halftime. United made the difference in the third quarter: they won it 26-11 and the lead grew to 19 points (60-41). Orange Lions Academy fought back in the fourth (22-15), but United kept control and won by eight. The home side never led by more than six.

Kaylee Borden was the standout with 22 points (three three-pointers), six rebounds, six assists and two steals, followed by Natalie Pasco with 16 points. Yfke Hoek scored 9 points and added eight rebounds, five assists and three steals. Rinske Scholten scored just three points, but grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists and four steals. Moniek Meeringa came off the bench for 8 points (two three-pointers).

The defense was the foundation: United forced 26 turnovers and made 13 steals, good for 26 points off turnovers against 8 for the home side. Orange Lions Academy did win the battle of the boards (49-41) and got to the free-throw line more often (18 of 23, against 8 of 13 for United). Saturday brings the home game against Jolly Jumpers at De Kooi (19:30).

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Fixtures next week

Saturday 17 October

• 11:00 — Women U21 vs. Trajanum (Basketball Cup, round 1)
• 15:00 — BS Leiden 2 vs. Men U19-1 (Basketball Cup, round 1)
• 19:30 — Women 1 vs. Jolly Jumpers (Women’s Basketball League)

Sunday 18 October

• 12:30 — MBCA A’veen vs. Men U16 (Basketball Cup, round 1)
• 16:00 — BV Noordkop vs. Men 1 (Basketball Cup, round 1)

Men U14 and Men U19-2 have no game this weekend; they don’t play again until 31 October.