Our U16s travelled up to east Manchester on Sunday 9th February to play the Manchester Kings, for our second face-off against them in the space of a week.
Despite the game ending 71-40 to the Kings, it was another hugely encouraging performance from the Grizzlies squad.
In what is their debut season at NBL level, the focus at Congleton is all about player development and progression, playing every week at a new high standard - and the weekend's games were a good illustration of the progress shown by the squad and their ability to rise to a new level.
The Manchester Kings came into the game with 10 wins and only 2 defeats - yet the final scorecard perhaps doesn't tell the story of how the game panned out.
The Grizzlies took everything they learnt from the first game between the two sides on the 1st February, and this time ensured they matched the King's physicality and tempo right from the first tip.
Q1 finished with a 6pt lead for the Kings, but with the Grizzlies well in the game. The second period saw the Kings able to extend their lead to 15pts, but the Grizzlies were rebounding well at both ends of the court and this time breaking the King's press effectively.
In Q3 the Grizzlies matched the Kings all the way, passing and finishing well, and the period ended with the lead still only at 16pts at 45-29.
The final quarter saw the game open up as the Grizzlies looked to make one last push, and although some more good play from Congleton kept the baskets coming with a further 11pts scored, the Kings were able to also counter well and saw out the game to it's FT score of 71-40.
Coming off the back of Saturday's good game vs Liverpool, it was another strong and encouraging performance against one of the top sides in the league that the team can be proud of.
MVP: Cruz Gomes
MVP was awarded to the Grizzlies #7, Cruz Gomes, whose trickery on the ball and accurate shooting from range saw him win the vote from his teammates.
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