Bears continue excellent progress

First up for Warwickshire were the Angels of the North, in a game that saw the lead change throughout the contest.

After coming back so strongly, the Bears women’s defence came to the fore in overtime and they moved up a gear to slowly pull away and win by five points, 38-33.

Sharleen Honey led the Bears scoring with 14, with the other points coming from Jenny Hill (8), Liz Grinnell (6), Kay Forshaw (4), Naomi Van Hill (2) and Aimee Hillson (4).

Next up for the Bears was what proved to be a physical battle against a strong London All Stars team.

A slow start to the game saw All Stars go into an early lead, with the Bears being forced to play catch-up.

All Stars maintained their lead until the final quarter, when the Bears again upped their defensive game and forced All Stars to make mistakes.

The Bears capitalised and went on to win the contest by a single point, 26-25.

Honey and Grinnell top-scored for the Bears with eight. Hill (4), Forshaw (2), Van Hill (2) and Hillson (2) also chipped in.

Bears coach Tom Masterton was delighted with his team’s efforts.

He said: “I was really impressed and proud of the team this weekend, who never gave up in both games, coming from behind and winning at the end.

“It’s all the more impressive seeing as this is the first time we have entered a women's team and some of the ladies have only been playing wheelchair basketball for a short amount of time.

“A big congratulations should go to Marie Hawkswood, who has had only two training sessions with the team and never played a competitive game at all and has come and done fantastic this weekend.”

The Bears are still looking for a sponsor for the team and also always looking to recruit new members, especially female and junior players.

For further details, email info@bearswbc.com or telephone 07946 518354.