Roar Find Their Roar at Home

Determined to put last week behind them, Roar started with purpose. Captain Rachel Unsworth made an immediate impact on her return. Her energy and leadership lifted the whole team, and she finished with 13 points. Alongside her, Ninar Elkak was the composed leader Roar needed, calmly organising the team and getting everyone playing together. Few assists were the glue of the Roar attack, and she added 9 points of her own. Camille was the one Manchester could never switch off. She scored from everywhere, in every quarter, and finished as top scorer with 18. Emily did the quiet, important work in defence and then punished Manchester with shots that went in, ending with 6. Leah got hot from deep, and her fluid movement and three-pointers (7 points in all) kept stretching a defence that was already struggling to keep up. Roar took the first quarter 21-15 and edged the second 16-14 to lead 37-29 at the break. The third quarter decided the game. Roar tightened up at the back and allowed just 9 points while scoring 21 themselves. Athy was a wall in defense, and Alice stood guard in the paint with impressive improvement by the day, positioning so sharp that Manchester stopped getting shots away close to the basket. At the other end, Hannah found her rhythm after half-time and became a steady, composed threat, finishing with 10 points. Phil was unflappable and enormous on the rebounds, giving Roar the ball back again and again. Rebecca matched that effort and chipped in 4 points playing her center position sharply. Mez was patient and assured whenever the ball was in her hands, and Beth, the youngest in the squad, played with a confidence beyond her years and got on the scoresheet with 2 points. Athy added 4 points to her defensive work. Manchester pushed back in the fourth, but Roar controlled it, closing the quarter 15-13 and the game 73-51. The scoreline tells part of the story. The rest is that every player on the roster had a hand in it, and on the night everything clicked: patient passing, hard rebounding, defence that wore Manchester down and shooting that punished mistakes. For head coach Wissam Elkak, it was exactly the response the team needed after last week’s setback. There is plenty of basketball still to come, but Cheshire Roar have put their first home win on the board and given themselves a strong platform to build on. The first home win is on the board. The next game is Roar’s to take. Final score: Cheshire Roar 73 - 51 FBA Manchester Quarters: 21-15, 16-14, 21-9, 15-13