Trophy fever has swept the British Basketball League as the Manchester Giants will start their maiden run in the Betty Codona Trophy as they travelled to Wales to take on the Cardiff Metropolitan Archers. 

The last time both of these teams battled it out saw Manchester take the spoils, a feat they would be looking to replicate against a team who, heading into this game, are winless in the British Basketball League Championship. 

A slow start for Manchester out of the gate as they went down early. They soon shook off the rust as Hannah Shaw hit from close to kick Manchester off, Shaw would score Manchester’s opening 5 points from close range and the charity stripe, the latter would see Marg Jones and her team take the lead before Sydney Hunter opened her account. Followed by Myah Pace, Brooklyn Macalear-Fanus and Eva Karasaite as well as Hannah Shaw who was on fire from point blank range,  the Giants were truly well rested and ready for cup action. Cardiff hit back with 3 points of their own but the combination of scoring from Hannah Shaw and Myah Pace was too much from early on as Manchester stormed out to a 13 point lead. 

The scoring onslaught didn't stop there as Idil Turk and Hannah Shaw stretched the Giants lead to 17. Cardiff cut a 17 point deficit to 10 through the hot hand of Cardiff guard Saurette. Cardiff began to fight back in the second quarter as Yunker and Hoschouer helped to bring the lead to single digits and even as close as 4. Sydney Hunter managed to stop the bleeding with a much needed 3 ball to put the Giants back on the front foot and followed it up with cleaning up on the offensive glass for second chance points. Myah Pace restored Manchester’s double digit lead, a 3 ball from the right elbow before Leah McDerment slashed to the inside of the Cardiff defense for a lay up and a 10 point Giants advantage. 

Second half: 

Manchester came out the break with the intention to put some distance between themselves and Cardiff as Brooklyn Macalear-Fanus showed off her range with a deep 3 before Hannah Shaw and Sydney Hunter put the Giants up by 16. Sydney Hunter and Myah Pace kept the barrage going, sending the lead from 16 to 22, dropping shot after shot from close range and making the potential for a Cardiff comeback a tall task. Cardiff’s Saurette hit back with a 3 before Sydney Hunter replied with a 3 point play of her own, albeit in the more traditional sense, nullifying any Cardiff attempt at a comeback. Karasaite produced a 3 from the top of the key and made the lead even more formidable. Cardiff continued to try with a plethora of trips to the line but the combination of Eva Karasaite and Idil Turk, from both 2 point range and 3 point land, made Cardiff’s attempt null and void once more as the Archers saw themselves down by 20 with 10 minutes left. 

Cardiff put together a 5-2 scoring run to open the quarter and would later follow it up with an 11-0 scoring run too, subsequently making a large dent in the Giants lead, Efforts from: Myah Pace, Sydney Hunter and Kizzy Spence would stretch the lead out to 14 with 2 minutes left. A pair of free throws from Idil Turk would be all that was left for the final quarter as the Manchester Giants beat the Cardiff Metropolitan Archers 82-68 and would advance into the next round of the Betty Codona Trophy. 

Stats: 

Myah Pace: 16 points, 10 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals, 2 Blocks. 

Sydney Hunter: 22 Points, 18 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 81%FG.

Hannah Shaw: 17 Points, 4 Rebounds, 58%FG, 75%FT. 

With this afternoon's result it will mean that the Manchester Giants will face either the Newcastle Eagles or the Nottingham Wildcats in the next round. 

The full game from this afternoon's first round of the cup will be available to view below: