North River Women's Basketball League

11/19/2025

NRWBL Games #4 & #5 - A 2 4 1

So, the die hards may have noticed there was no recap for Game #4 on Nov 5th and again for this past Wednesday’s Game #5. Will lucky you! It’s a 2 for 1 kinda night.

So first of all, Game #4 Eagles vs Riptide. This game was a weird one. The Eagles were very short staffed with only 6 players available. While the Riptide were near whole but notably missing team Captain Alicia Bird.

I would have bet my pay cheque that the Riptide would have had their way in this game given the numbers. Good thing I was late to the booky because with only 6 bodies for the Eagles, that meant Emily Kennedy and Sarah Molloy were on the floor a lot! That’s always bad news for the opposition.

Kennedy & Molloy got at it early dropping 5 points each in the first quarter where the Eagles took a 12 to 7 lead into the 2nd. Leslie Christie would also put up 5 points in the opening frame for the Riptide.

The 2nd quarter would ultimately tell the tale in this one. While the Eagles would have one of their best quarters every with 20 points, the Riptide would log one of their worst quarters every with only 2 points.

The remainder of this game would be irrelevant in the big picture with the Eagles cruising to a relatively easy W with a 47 to 27 win over the Riptide.

The top scorer for the Riptide was the always productive Jessica Bursey with 12 points. Jess was followed closely by Leslie Christie with 9 points and then a multitude of ladies with 2 points apiece.

The Top Scorers for the Eagles in this one was, You guessed it, Emily Kennedy with a whooping 21 points. Next to Em was Team Captain Sarah Molloy with 16 points and Danielle Warford with another strong showing of 7 points.

Tonight’s Hardest worker for the Riptide was Marie Stone. What an inspiration this lady is for everyone in the league to still be playing and scoring in her sixties. Way to Go Marie. Honourable mention to Jess “No Mercy” Bursey who had 4 blocked shots early in this one.

Tonight’s hardest worker for the Eagles was Danielle Warford who is the leagues early contender for Most Improved player! Atta girl Danielle.

On to Game #5 where the Eagles were back in action and facing off against a more complete Storm team then we have seen for them all year. This one was a dandy and deserves a little extra coverage. Making her season and league debut was Katie Earle who was a standout during assessments. Katie would play amazing in this one!

The Storm is an incredibly gifted defensive team and it showed early in this one where they held the Eagles to just 7 points in the first. Apart from a late 3 pointer by Naj Sparkes, they really held them to just 4 points while not taking one personal foul! The Eagles would escape the 1st with a narrow 7 to 6 led over the Storm.

The 2nd quarter would be more of the same. Great back and forth play with opportunistic scoring. Emily Kennedy would announce her arrival to the game dropping 8 points in the quarter while on the other side, Melanie D**e would lodge 4 points for the Storm.

The Eagles would win the 2nd quarter as well 14 points to 10 and hold a 21 to 16 lead going into the half.

At halftime we would break out the kids hoop so a couple of players daughters could strut their stuff! Way to go Charlotte and Lucy! Next Gen NRWBL.

Captain Deanne Hayward had her team ready to rock coming into the 3rd quarter. The Storm again locked down the defence and held the Eagles to just 9 points while the storm would win their first quarter of the season by putting up 10. This Effort was led on both ends of the floor by Point Guard Abigail Petten who put up her 4 points of the game in the 3rd.

Heading into the 4th quarter the score was now just 30 To 26 for the Eagles. Both teams came out firing, the Storm defence was so tight at this point the Eagles had to resort to their shooting game. In the 4th, Sarah Molloy would knock down 3 Three pointers for a new league record for most 3’s in a quarter with her buddy Emily Kennedy knocking down a 3 of her own. Outside of that, the Eagles only scored a couple of free throws in the quarter. On the Storm side, things were much different, and we saw the emergence of a potential super star player in the 4th. In the quarter, post player Sarah Regular absolutely went to work on the Eagles inside. She had her way with rebounding in both ends of the gym and put up 10 points of her own in the quarter. The most points by any player in a single quarter so far this season! Way to go Sarah. The Storm would win the 4th quarter as well but not the game as the Eagles squeaked out the win with a 45 to 42 victory and what was the best game of basketball the NRWBL has seen this season.

The Top scorer for the Eagles in this one was Sarah Molloy with 14 points including her 4th quarter heroics. Emily Kennedy followed up with 11 points and then Naj Sparkes and Erin Adams with 6 points each.

While the Top Scorer on the Storm was Sarah Regular with 12 points on the night. Melanie D**e poured in 6 points as well. Honourable mention must go to the entire team who scored by committee in this one. This was the first game in league history where a team with 10 or more players in action saw every person on the roster score a basket. That is winning basketball right there! Congrats Storm on your best game of the season so far.

Tonight’s hardest work for the Storm was Abigail Petten, what an athlete out there putting in the work on both ends of the floor!

Tonight’s hardest worker for the Eagles was Erin Adams who was blocking shots and taking names in this one as well. Great effort as always from Erin.

There you have it folks! 3 teams, 2 recaps, some stand out performances, and one busy mystery recap writer.

Tonight the Riptide will face off against the Storm for their last meeting of the season at 8pm at All Hallows.

Don’t miss it!

- Aspire Rec Mystery Recap Writer

11/15/2025

THIS!

What an amazing thing! For the first time ever in our area, we now have a Girls Only weekly basketball program. The River Ratz Jr WNBA program held an early bird session yesterday as we already have 12 girls from Harbour Grace to Roaches Line signed up (2 were sick yesterday).

Mrs. Flynn and Coach Jessica did an amazing job with the girls and we believe there is great potential among this group for the future! It was smiles for miles at All Hallows.

We will be running early bird sessions for the rest of November and then hitting the ground running in January for 12 weeks of programming following a Basketball Canada Curriculum.

The cost for the program is $170 making it one of the most inexpensive in the country which also makes us very proud to be able to offer. The girls will all get Jerseys, Shorts, and a new Wilson Basketball as well as part of the package.

If you know any any more little ladies (8-13) who want to try something new, this is an amazing opportunity!

Also, Next week is bring a friend day! All players are encouraged to bring along a friend to try things out at no cost as we try to grow something very special in CBN! YAY Basketball!

Ready. Set. Shoot. 🐀🏀❤️

- Aspire Rec

(Please give this post a share to spread the word)

Basketball Newfoundland
NLBA
North River Women's Basketball League

10/30/2025

NRWBL Stats and Records as per Oct 30th, 2025
______________

League Leaders (Current Season Totals):

Standings:
Riptide 2 – 0 – 0
Eagles 1 – 1 – 0
Storm 0 – 2 – 0

Total points scored:
1) Emily Kennedy, 33 Points
2) Sarah Molloy, 25 Points
3) Jessica Bursey, 23 Points

Individual 3 Pointers Made - Emily Kennedy, 7 made 3's

Team 3 Pointers Made - Eagles - 13 made 3's

Team Scoring Leaders (Minimum 2 Games Played)

Riptide – Jessica Bursey 11.5 ppg
Eagles – Emily Kennedy 16.5 ppg
Storm – Melanie D**e 7.0 ppg

League Top 10 Scorers:

Emily Kennedy 16.5 ppg (E)
Sarah Molloy 12.5 ppg (E)
Jessica Bursey 11.5 ppg (RT)
Alicia Bird 11.0 ppg (RT)
Leslie Christie 8.5 ppg (RT)
Melanie D**e 8.0 ppg (S)
Danielle Warford 8.0 ppg (E)
Abigail Petten 6.0 ppg (S)
Justine Green 4.5 ppg (RT)
Katie Power 4.5 ppg (RT)

Team Fouls - Storm, 16 Fouls. Eagles, 15 Fouls. Riptide, 10 Fouls
______________

League Regular Season Records:

Most Points in a game - Leslie Christie - 23 points - Game #10 (Season #1)

Most Points in a quarter - Leslie Christie - 13 Points - Game #11 (Season #1)

Most 3 Pointers in a game - Emily Kennedy & Leslie Christie - 4 (12pts) - both ladies have done this twice in Season #1. Emily Kennedy 4 threes in Game #2 of Season #2.

Longest Win Streak - Riptide, 3 games, Games 5-7 (Season #1)

Iron Women (Consecutive games played) - 13 games , Emily Kennedy & Jade Oliver. (All Time)

Most Team Points in a Quarter - Riptide, 28 PTS. 4th Quarter, Game #11 (Season #1)

Most Team Points in a Game - Eagles, 73 PTS, Game #4 (Season #1)

Most Three Pointers in a Season - 12 threes, Emily Kennedy (Season #1)

10/30/2025

NRBWL Season #2 – Game #3 – Storm vs Riptide – Blue Ballers and Hard Fallers

Tonight saw the Storm play their second game of the season, this time against the undefeated Riptide. Tonight also saw the unveiling of the Storm’s new NRWBL Jerseys in “Sky Blue”. Looking Sharpe Ladies.

To set the stage, the Riptide were almost whole and only missing 2 players while the Storm were massively shorthanded. They had 7 regulars and 1 call up player to the Riptide’s 10 bodies.

The 1st quarter started with the Storm gaining an early lead, knocking down the first 2 baskets of the game including a big 3 from team captain Deanne Hayward. I didn’t know she had that in her bag! This was supplemented with some very impressive defence from the team in blue. The Riptide would claw back though on some key scoring by Katie Power to finish the quarter leading by just 2 points. A very stingy 1st ended 7 to 5 for the Riptide. The major issue out of the first quarter was the loss of Storm point guard, Rebecca Fleming to a knee injury. Poor ol’ Rebecca has been nursing a bad knee know for quite some time from Softball and tweaked it again on a run and gun pass from Noelle Stanford. Unfortunately, Rebecca would be forced to sit out the remainder of the game cutting the already depleted Storm down to just 7 bodies.

From a scoring perspective, the 2nd quarter was a different story. The Riptide came out running. In particular, Riptide scoring sensation, Leslie Christie took over the quarter putting up 9 points in the frame. Storm Stud Melanie D**e got rolling in the second with 5 points of her own including a deep 3, but that would be all the Storm could muster. At the half, the Riptide would take a commanding 22 to 13 lead.

At the start of the 3rd, the Storm were clearly pulling air hard, this early in the season the conditioning is not great for any team and it showed with just 7 players. The Storm only managed one basket in the 3rd, a 3 pointer from Call up player, Pamela Galway. That would be it. The Riptide on the other hand put up another impressive 13 points in the quarter. It was clear at this point we were in “Goodnight Irene” territory.

In the 4th quarter the Riptide were very good sports about it. Offering up their time outs if the Storm needed them. The very proud Storm team graciously declined and continued to work hard despite the lack of woman power. The Storm oddly enough had their best quarter of the game in the 4th with 8 points however the Riptide still managed 11 points while resting their top scorers for the majority of the period.

The final score would end up 46 to 21 for the Riptide, but the Storm had an incredible game all things considered. Early in the season, this mystery recap writer identified 4 key scorers for the Storm being Abigail Petten, Katie Earle, Sarah Regular, & Amber Clarke. All of which were absent tonight. Let’s say they all average a very modest 5 points each. Well, this game would have looked very different!

Tonight’s top Scorer for the Storm was again Melanie D**e who notched a solid 7 points for her team. She was followed closely by Deanne Hayward with 5 and Pamela Galway with 3.

Tonight’s top scorer for the Riptide was Leslie Christie with a game high/season high 13 points. It feels like Leslie is just getting going. Nipping at her heels was the always productive Jessica Bursey scoring in all 4 quarters again for the second game in a row. Jess had an extra twinkle in her eye tonight while putting up 11 points. I wonder what that was all about??? Rounding out the top 3 scorers was team skip, Alicia Bird with 8 points.

Tonight’s Hardest worker for the Storm was Deanne Hayward, the Captain was all over this game and showed exceptional leadership as noted by one of our senior NLBOC officials reffing tonight’s game.

The hardest worker for the Riptide was easily Jessica Bursey. No Mercy Bursey easily had the best game of her NRWBL career tonight. Jessica’s inside presence was felt on both the defensive and offensive end tonight showing her more aggressive yet clean style of play getting to the basket. Jess easily had 5 blocked shots in this one, double digit rebounds, and just 1 personal foul while still leading her team in scoring. Very impressive #23!

Ultimately though, this is rec basketball and more about the fun, exercise, & socializing than the winning and losing. I saw great sportsmanship among the ladies tonight which is ultimately my big take away from the game.

See you next Wednesday night when the Riptide meet the Eagles for the 2nd time this season.

- Aspire Rec Mystery Recap Writer

10/24/2025

NRWBL Season #2 – Game #2 – Eagles vs Storm – Dearest Gracious Readers…. (If You Know, You Know)

Game #2 was an interesting one. The first game for our expansion team “The Storm”. We put this team of rookie ladies together to see what we have. If they can hold their own among the other teams this is how it will be, if not, then we throw it all in a blender and create 3 new teams! Either way we have a great season of basketball in store.

Being the first game, the new ladies all showed up chipper and full of energy. Just a lovely group of ladies. Led by League vet, Deanne Hayward this team looked great out of the gate. Through the first 5 minutes of the game the Storm actually traded chances and traded leads multiple times with the more experienced Eagles squad.

The Eagles scored a couple of late baskets, like the Eagles do, finishing the quarter with a 12 to 8 lead over the storm! Great start ladies! The 2nd quarter was a bit more difficult for the Storm, being fresh to the league, there were a few prime scoring opportunities missed which ultimately let the Eagles squeaking ahead again. This time 12 points to the Storm’s 6. We entered the half with the Eagles leading 24 to 14.

I’m not going to lie, being the mystery recap writer that I am, I thought this may head into blow out territory very soon. I was never the “the glass is half full” type of basketball fan anyway. Well, something changed in the 3rd. Was it Something Captain Deanne Hayward said to fire up her group during the break? I don’t know. I do know Deanne came wired for sound though. Half woman, half machine, Hayward led the team effectively in this one. Keeping morale high and encouraging on the rookie squad. Deanne was like a mixture of Robocop and Charles Barkley in this contest. I’m pretty sure the ladies were plugging her in to recharge her during breaks, but she really stood out as the leader we knew she would be. Great job Skipper!

Anyway, back to the game. The Storm looked great in the second 3rd, like really good! There defence got much better and they put a few more points on the board. The Storm is a tall, lanky team that will ultimately score 90% of their point inside the key once they figure it out. It’s a different kind of game for the NRWBL, and I’m hear for it! I have to say I’m a fan! The 3rd saw the emergence of a potential Storm star in one Melanie D**e. Melanie had 2 great put backs off offensive rebounds plus a free throw for 5 points in the 3rd for her first points of the season. Melanie was supported in a big way by Abigail Petten who also got out to run in this one. Abby put up 4 points in the quarter. That would be enough to cap the Storm’s first milestone of the season. They won the quarter, putting up 11 points to the Eagle’s 9. Way to go ladies.

In the 4th quarter though, the Eagles didn’t want any part of a miracle come back. They played some very Eagles basketball. The ball movement was incredibly tight. Captain Sarah Molloy got going with 6 points in the quarter. The highlight of the night though was in the last second of the game when last year’s League MVP, Emily Kennedy launched a half court shoot which she nailed for 3 as the buzzer went off. No one was as surprised as Emily.

The final score would end up 50 to 32 for the Eagles, but I saw A LOT of promise in the Strom tonight. Also missing what I think will be some key players in the likes of outside shooting prodigy, Amber Clarke. I’ve watched Amber shoot and let me tell you. She is as pure a shooter as we have ever seen in this league. If she can get an inside outside game going with the bigs on her team, Houston We May Have A Problem! Also, Katie Earle was absent tonight for the Storm who was one of my “Mystery Recap Writer’s 2026 Players To Watch”. Katie is an all around force to be reconned with. Will we see these 2 ladies in action next Wednesday? I sure hope so!

Tonight’s Top Scorer for the Storm was Melanie D**e who finished her first game with a solid 9 points, we don’t track offensive rebounds in the stat line but Melanie had a bunch. Keep an eye on this player! Second to Melanie in scoring was Abigail Petten and Samantha Dawe who both put up a respectable 6 points each in this one. Let me tell you one thing this team doesn’t lack is work ethic!

Tonight’s Top Scorer for the Eagles was, you likely guessed it, Emily Kennedy who had another whale of a night putting up 17 points for the winning squad. “What A Player”. End quote. Second to Em was the always dangerous Sarah Molloy with 12 points and then Naj Sparkes with 7 of her own. Naj was another player off the “Players to watch” list. What can I say, after I graduated from Mystery Recap Writer School, I had the option to become a pro scout, ultimately my passion is mystery recap writing so here we are.

Tonight’s hardest worker for the Storm was Abigail Petten. Just an absolute dawg on the ball every time on the floor, Abby really is one of the league’s hardest workers already.

Tonight’s hardest worker for the Eagles was ironically also a rookie. Demita Hynes really poured in a great effort in this one. Blocking shots, cutting off passes for turn overs and hustling with the best of them. Great all-around game tonight, Demita!

So, there you have it. A solid game from both squads and some seriously great building blocks from a partially staffed Storm team.

Wednesday sees the Storm faceoff against a very fast, very determined Riptide team who have their eyes on the prize. Should be a great measuring stick game for the Storm.

Until Next week basketball Fans!

- Aspire Rec Mystery Recap Writer

10/18/2025

Get the girls out. It's time to develop the next Generation of NRWBL players! ❤️ 👧 🏀

This is actually happening!

Our first ever Aspire Recreation “She’s Got Next” All Female Youth Basketball “Try It” Camp.

This camp will run Sunday Oct 26 from 10am to 3pm for girls age 8 to 14 at All Hallows Elementary in North River. This camp is designed for girls who are curious about the sport of basketball but haven’t really had the opportunity to explore it before.

We are thrilled to welcome, friend of Aspire Recreation, the incredible Amy Dalton as our guest instructor for this camp.

Widely regarded as one of the top female basketball players ever to emerge from Newfoundland & Labrador, Amy Dalton was and elite level play maker in her day with the hardware to back it up. Now turned coach, Amy is the ideal instructor for our first “She’s Got Next” Camp.

Amy started playing basketball with the boys St. Joseph’s Jaguars team in her hometown of Harbour Main in grade four. It was clear from the start that basketball was her passion. Her high school career saw her team rise from a 3A to a 4A school, capturing numerous tournament victories and ultimately the 4A championship in her final year. Amy played for Team NL from 1996 to 2001 and went on to play for Memorial University from 2000-2005. At Memorial, she earned multiple AUS all-star honors and helped secure three AUS championships. On the national stage, she also had the honor of representing Canada internationally. She still holds an impressive ranking as the second all-time leader for most assists in the CIS. After playing in Germany with the Leipzig Eagles, Amy transitioned to family life, now juggling the busy schedule of raising three kids. Recently, Amy was also selected as an assistant coach for the Team Newfoundland at the 2025 Canada Summer games. Amy’s enthusiasm for the game continues through her work as a coach with CE23 Basketball Academy, where she's passing on her wealth of knowledge and passion for the game of basketball to young athletes.

Supported by River Ratz Coaches and members of our North River Women’s Basketball League, Coach Amy is planning a fun and engaging camp for all involved.

The best news about this camp is that Aspire Recreation is providing this camp FREE OF CHARGE to all participants.

Growing the sport of basketball is a passion of Aspire Rec as well as Coach Amy! Together, everyone is donating their time to make this camp possible, and we couldn’t be more thankful to offer this opportunity.

To register, message Aspire Recreation on Facebook as space will be limited. Include your child’s age, full name, hometown, and T-shirt size. All registrants will be asked to send a $20 EMT to Aspire to hold the spot. This $20 fee will be refunded in cash at the camp during drop off.

Let’s Go!!!

- Aspire Rec

NLBA

10/18/2025

Game #1 – Eagles vs Riptide – Revenge: A Dessert Best Served Cold on Wednesdays.

The League is officially back in full swing with the completion of Game #1 this past Wednesday night.

Yankees vs. Red Sox, Lakers vs. Celtics, Liverpool vs Manchester United, Leafs vs. Habs. Every sport has their ALL TIME, forever rivals. The same is true for the NRWBL and the original two teams, the Eagles and the Riptide. The OG fans will remember iconic moments from season #1 between these teams. Leslie Christie pouring in 23 points for a regular season record in Game #10, Jessica Bursey with a BIG 5 block game, Erin Adams with a half court screen that was heard in Bay Roberts, the star leadership of veteran Alicia Bird, The Eagles putting up at record 73 points in game #4 of the regular season, Leslie Christie and Emily Kennedy sinking 4 x 3 pointers each in game #10, and Sara Molloy going off for 24 points in the Eagles Championship winning game this past May. An incredible first season has paved the way for an exciting Season #2 with a new 3rd team in the mix.

So, what better way to kick things off then with the Championship winning Eagles facing off against their arch enemies in the Riptide.

Right from the initial jump ball controlled by Jessica “No Mercy” Bursey, the fans could feel the intensity. Both teams still felt like they had something to prove and that played out on the floor.

The Riptide came out flying with a run and gun offence ironically made popular last year by the Eagles. During the first, the Eagles simply didn’t have an answer for the sp*ed of the Riptide’s ball movement and could not crack the Riptide defence which locked down the paint, forcing the Eagles to an outside shooting game. This defence was highlighted by 2 massive blocks by Jessie B, while the offence was charged by a 6-point quarter from Makayla Bradbury. At the end of the first quarter, the Riptide were up 20 to 5 over a shell-shocked Eagles squad.

True to Eagles form, there was no quit in their game despite the 1st quarter onslaught. The Eagles Emily Kennedy dropped a couple of 3’s and a 2 spot in the quarter countered by Riptide Skipper Alicia Bird with 8 points of her own. This incredible quarter ended with the Eagles putting up 12 points to the Riptide’s 13.

After the half, the Eagles emerged with renewed energy and poured on a strong defence of their own. Outside of a quick couple of fast break baskets by sp*edster Katie Power, no one on either side seemed to gain any traction in this tightly contested quarter. Both teams finished the quarter with only 8 points a side.

The Eagles were in full flight during the 4th quarter. Finally figuring out their post game, they saw Danielle Warford drop 6 points of her own in the quarter. The Eagles would finish the quarter with 15 points to the Riptide’s 14, but would prove to be too little too late.

Tonight’s Top Scorer for the Eagles was Emily Kennedy, who by her standard, never even played as well as she can, and still put up 16 points on the night. Followed close at Em’s heals was team captain, Sarah Molloy with 13 points of her own. Rounding out the top 3 scorers for black was the aforementioned Danielle Warford with 6 points late in the game.

Tonight’s Top Scorer for the Riptide was Skip Alicia Bird with 14 points. In the #2 spot was Jessica Bursey who notably was the only player in the game to score in all four quarters. Jess would finish the night with 12 points. Coming in third was first quarter star Makayla Bradbury (Jam) with 6 points in the winning effort.

Tonight’s hardest work for the Eagles was Naj Sparkes who despite not hitting the score sheet, really propelled the offence when she was on the floor. Naj is a player to watch this year for sure.

Tonight’s hardest worker for the Riptide was easily Danielle Fitzgerald. At risk of sounding like a broken record, there are very few games where anyone on either team outworks Danielle. She be given’ the opposition “The Fitz”.

Shout out to league rookies, Demita Hynes, Melanie George, Shanda Parsons, Dakota Sheppard, & Justine Green who played their first NRWBL games on Wednesday. You all looked great out there. Keep it up!

There you have it folks, one quarter defined the game and perhaps one game defined a season. We shall see though as we have 29 more to go before the playoffs.

Next Wednesday sees the Storm make their league debut laden with rookies but led by League veteran, Captain Deanne Hayward. This one should be incredibly exciting to witness!
Is it Wednesday yet?!?!?

- Aspire Rec Mystery Recap Writer

10/09/2025

WE. ARE. BACK. 🦅 🌊 ⛈️ 🏀

Tonight was Pre-Season assessment night for our league, meaning we had a loose scrimmage in order to figure out who would be on what team. This year’s scrimmage was reminiscent of last years. Lots of missed shots, lots of butter fingers, more air balls then I could count, but still, lots of smiles. The most noteworthy thing from tonight was watching women who haven’t seen each other in over 4 months come back together. Lots of “Hi, how ya doin’??”, “Missed ya, how was your summer?”. Even the odd high five and hug tossed around before the game.

There were however a group of more nervous looking ladies in the gym tonight. “The Rookies”. It’s an unnerving feeling to come out and get involved with a bunch of ladies you mostly don’t know, playing a sport you perhaps haven’t played in years. Hats off to this year’s rookie class. In total, 11 rookies made it out for assessment night and everyone seemed to fit in seamlessly.

The game ended tonight with a very even score which was nice to see. Leslie Christie, last years winner of the 5 Tool Player Award for the League’s most well-rounded player, finished the night with a career low, 2 points. If Leslie was a used car on Facebook Marketplace, the description would read “Rusty AF”. Last year’s Playoff MVP Sarah Molloy put up more bricks than the guy who built Carbonear hospital. League MVP Emily Kennedy while still putting up a game high 9 points, still managed to get REJECTED not once but twice by Jessica Bursey. ‘Get that Junk outta here Kennedy!”. Speaking of JB23, I’ve seen more finish in a toddler with a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle.

While I’m enjoying taking the p*e out of 4 of last year’s top players, it is to make the point to all the new ladies not to get hung up on if you never played as well as you had hoped. Everyone is just getting back into the swing of things. By the time May rolls around, everyone will be rolling. Hang in there! You all looked great out there.

There were a couple of players who really stood out tonight. Rookie Point Guard Noelle Stanford moved the ball as well as any player we’ve ever had. It will be fun to watch Noelle run an offence this season. Rookie Forward Katie Earle also looked great as she was very aggressive in the paint on offence. One more Rookie who really stood out was all around player Abigail Petten whose basketball IQ is clearly through the roof to couple with exceptional athleticism. I think she will be a player to watch this season for sure. Tonight’s Player of the game goes out to last seasons “Most Improved Player” award winner, Naj Sparkes, who led the winnig team in scoring with 7 points, moved the ball well in both the guard and forward position, and teamed up with Big Jessica B as a truly dynamic duo. Atta girl Naj!
So, it’s time to announce this year’s 2025/2026 NRWBL Rosters!

EAGLES 🦅
Sarah Molloy
Emily Kennedy
Jasmine Slade
Jade Oliver
Danielle Warford
Naj Sparkes
Erin Adams
Alisha Penney
Ally Cleary
Dakota Sheppard
Demita Hynes
Hannah Evely

RIPTIDE 🌊
Larissa Murrin
Mckayla Bradbury
Marie Stone
Jennifer Edmunds
Alicia Bird
Katie Power
Leslie Christie
Danielle Fitzgerald
Jessicsa Bursey
MJ Flynn
Robyn Noel
Justine Green

STORM ⛈️
Stephanie Hutchings
Lisa Reid
Melanie D**e
Amber Clarke
Samantha Dawe
Rebecca Fleming
Rhonda Howell
Noelle Stanford
Katie Earle
Sarah Regular
Deanne Hayward
Abigail Petten

Next Wednesday sees the Eagles face off against the Riptide in what the media are calling the grudge match rematch of century.

The full 30 game schedule will be posted soon so stay tuned for that.

If you want to watch some incredible women’s basketball, come out on Wednesday’s at 8pm in North River. Admission is just $2 and is in support of the All Hallows Elementary School Breakfast program.

LETS GO!!!

- NRWBL Mystery Recap Writer