Academy recap: Copleston claim the WEABL South - week 15

With half term now done for most, the Academy Leagues comes back into action.

Some teams are already done with their schedules, including the WEABL North, whilst others have just a few games remaining.

Copleston High School join Charnwood College Riders as confirmed WEABL conference winners after results yesterday, signaling their intent for the impending playoffs, but the EABL battles rumble on.

Here's how the playoff picture was shaping up before this week's six games, with another four EABL games and two WEABL South games now chalked off as well.

Read on for how all the action played out on another exciting Wednesday afternoon.

EABL 

In the North, Myerscough College (8-2) continue to push Charnwood all the way, moving level on points at the top following a 79-72 victory over Manchester Magic (5-7).

'Sco enjoyed a double digit lead at the half but squandered that as Magic roared back in the third, though last year's finalists would regroup to reestablish their advantage midway through the fourth.

Tyrese Lacey dropped a team-high 25 points for the hosts to go with 11 rebounds and 10 assists, capping his triple-double, with Matthew Goodwin (27pts) and Joe Buchanan (26pts, 9reb) both impressing for Manchester. 

Derby Trailblazers (7-3) took a big step towards securing the #3 seed with a commanding 105-75 victory over The Sheffield College (6-4).

DTB claimed all four quarters on the way to a dominant result, shooting 59% from the field and dishing an impressive 32 assists.

Elliot Lawrence (30pts, 6ast) and Harry Mitchell (21pts, 7reb, 8ast) both shone for the hosts as Kelvin John (16pts, 13reb) collected a double-double in reply.

Sheffield are confirmed as making the playoffs despite the loss due to Manchester's defeat in Myerscough. Both these teams are now largely battling each other for the #3 and #4 spots with two games to go, though a title push is still mathematically possible.

The title race in the South remains as tight as ever, with The Canterbury Academy (9-2) adding another win to their total after knocking off Copleston High School (2-9) 79-66.

Canterbury used a 25-10 third quarter to break the game open, with Ludlow Hewson (17pts, 7ast) doing his bit for the cause alongside Tim Oboh (13pts, 8reb) and Shem Onadeko (9pts, 8ast, 6reb, 3stl).

JMA Reading Rockets' (6-6) win streak is finally over after they were grounded 90-75 by an Isaac Fiagbe-inspired City of London Academy - Southwark (8-2).

Fiagbe shot an impressive 72% for his 18 points, adding 13 boards for a fine double-double alongside Bilal Khan's 17 point, eight assist, eight rebound effort from the CoLA bench.

Isaac Round still managed 27 points in the loss as his side were outrebounded 51-28, ensuring CoLA's path to a South Conference title remains on course.

Much now rests on next week's clash in Barking between the defending champs and Canterbury, with the result of that game going a long way to deciding the order at the top.

WEABL

Copleston High School are South Conference champions after a shock defeat for rivals City of London Academy - Southwark yesterday.

CoLA (6-2) slipped to an unexpected 58-53 loss on the road to JMA Reading Rockets (2-7), allowing Copleston (9-0) to see off Itchen College (4-4) 75-42 and take top spot with a game to spare.

Charlotte Devereux was the hero for JMA, dropping a game-high 19 points that included six in the fourth quarter as the Rockets picked up just their second win of the season.

Liv Forster and Yazmin Edwards (18pts each) were the front runners for Copleston, who now enter their final game of the season away to CoLA next month with nothing but momentum and bragging rights to play for.

The victory gives Reading plenty of momentum of their own heading into the play in round for the post season as the two teams finishing #3 and #4 in the North, Nottingham and Sheffield respectively, will host the #5 and #6 teams in the South, JMA Reading Rockets and Barking Abbey.

The two play in winners will join the top four teams in the South and the top two in the North as the #7 and #8 seeds.

Those games are set to take place on 6th March, with the opening round of the playoffs for both the EABL and WEABL commencing on Wednesday 13 March.

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