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Partnership tournament continues in Luxembourg for U18 youth international basketball nationsThe second youth international basketball event for women in Luxembourg this summer opened its doors for the following U18 Division B nations: England, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Slovenia. All six teams are at the start of their final preparation for the European Championship in August. Due to the late arrival of Germany the first match of the day was between Slovenia and Ireland. Slovenia come from behind to edge Ireland
Claire Rockall, the Irish point-guard, was at the centre of the Irish offence and scored 12 of her team’s 34 points before going into the interval (34-25).
They unsettled the Irish side with variations of zone defence and neutralised Rockall to run out winners (64-52). Rockall from Ireland finished top scorer of the game with 18 points while Baric led Slovenia with 13 points. England start with a win The second match was the encounter between England (above) and Germany. In a very defensive first quarter the German Franziska Steiner and England’s Mary Durojaye were the key figures on the offensive and defensive boards. England were first to score but Germany led by the end of the first quarter (11-9). In the second period England came out more aggressively and a Ruth Davison trey sparked England into a (10-0) run. The English side went into the locker room in front (26-19). After the interval Germany changed tactics with Pia Mankertz hitting shots from all over the court. Germany came within 2 points of England (27-29). Deirdre Hayes, the English head coach, then applied an interesting defensive strategy that kept Germany scoreless for three minutes. However the German head coach, Reiner Chromik was not too pleased with his team’s reaction and made his feelings known during a time-out. Meanwhile England went into the fourth quarter leading (44-42) and maintained control and had a maximum lead of 13 points. Germany staged a comeback in the last four minutes and only trailed by 2 points with 90 seconds to play thanks to Sarah-Marie Frankenberger. The victory of the game was decided with six seconds remaining and Germany chasing the game. Then the German Mankertz was called for an unsportsmanlike foul at mid-court on Renee Johnson-Allen. Johnson-Allen hit the free-throws for her side to take the game (58-54). Mankertz top scored in this match with 23 points while Johnson-Allen and Tamzin Barroilhet had 10 apiece for England. The Netherlands stepped on the accelerator to down LuxembourgIn the final match of the evening The Netherlands took on the hosts Luxembourg. The Netherlands, recently having returned from a four-nation tournament in Italy, looked more organised then the other teams in the tournament. They managed to stifle the running game of Luxembourg and led (29-23) at the interval. During the second half The Netherlands alternated between shooting from distance and fast breaks. A Dutch well balanced attack with four players in double digits in the end overcame the Luxembourg side which relied heavily on Lynn Schreiner. The final score in favour of the Dutch side was (72-42). Top scorers for The Netherlands were Chatilla van Grinsuen with 14 points, Marianne Hoek and Fieke Ligthart with 12 points apiece and Romee v. d. Vlies with 11 points. Youth international Basketball Partnership Tournament Luxembourg U18 women Preview Return from Youth international Basketball Partnership Tournament Luxembourg to "What's New" page Return to youth international basketball index Date created: 16 July 2008
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The first half of the first match belonged to Ireland as they out-rebounded and out-hustled their Slovenian counterparts. 
