There was a battle of the birds in Isle of Man Basketball Association’s Senior League at the NSC on Thursday evening.

The game in question saw Edgewater Turkeys take on Ravens in the opening game of the session.

By the numbers, Turkeys’ experience should have made this an easy win but with them missing some key players at the outset, an opportunity presented itself to Ravens and they were quick to capitalise.

A swish three-pointer from Vannin Coulter, which he followed with a solid drive alongside Michael Provatakis, saw Ravens take an early lead.

Keeping the pace high put pressure on Turkeys at first, but as the quarter progressed the latter found solid responses in the shooting of Krum Gogov and Wig Bregazzi as Turkeys gained a slender lead 18-14 at the end of the first.

Another three-pointer from Coulter opened the second period and, coupled this time with fast breaks from Cormac Ewan and Matthew Jones, Ravens were soon back in the lead.

The pace again paid dividends in the early stages of the second, with pressure disrupting Turkeys’ offence and leading to plenty of chances on the break for the young Ravens squad.

It was the arrival of Chris Wolfendale that marked a turning point for Turkeys, swishing a nice shot from outside the arc to steal back the lead and helping to open opportunities which Bregazzi capitalised on. At half-time Turkeys were ahead again, 32-25.

The third period saw Turkeys pull away, a mismatch inside allowing Ste Christian to pick up baskets while Wolfendale sank mid-range and outside shots.

Ravens’ offence became less coordinated as the deficit increased, with multiple possessions lost to forced passes which landed straight into the hands of the Turkeys defence.

A better performance in the late stages of the quarter saw baskets for Conylt Dillon and Eoin Murphy which allowed Ravens to hold the line, but the damage had been done and Turkeys ended the third well ahead, 56-36.

The fourth quarter was a more balanced affair, a defensive switch seeing Ewan shut down Christian on the inside while Provatakis and Jones picked up points on the drive and the outside shot.

Turkeys were in control of the pace though and were never in real danger, points for Wolfendale and Andy Corlett keeping them comfortably ahead.

With the final buzzer Turkeys had the win, 70-56, and Ravens were left to consider what might have been.

l The second game of the evening was filled with drama as Microgaming Cavaliers had a narrow escape against an unlucky Eagles.

The explosive pace of Eagles left Cavaliers in a spin early on, Lorenz Reno and Jack Coates picking up a flurry of points on the break and powering Eagles to an early 10-point lead.

Cavs struggled to break down the active Eagles defence and relied initially on foul free-throws to pick up some points. A late basket from Sergio Arboleya helped Cavaliers chip away at Eagles’ lead but they trailed 7-14 at the end of the first.

The second and third quarters saw the game turned on its head, with one of the key reasons being the turning of ankles for Eagles’ Jack Coates and Sean Aherne.

Initially Eagles continued to exploit their pace, maintaining their lead with points from Coates, Jack Elliot and some outside shooting by George Dalton-Brown.

Cavaliers again struggled against the pace and defence of Eagles until disaster struck for the high-flying young team. First Coates rolled his ankle on a lay-up then Aherne picked up an injury under the hoop.

The loss of two players disrupted Eagles’ play and it was Prince Tsigo and Ffin Millar who found the chinks in their defence, picking up points that helped to power the Cavaliers into their first lead, 46-42, at the end of the third quarter.

With a shorter bench for the final quarter, Eagles lost some of their energy and suffered as Dave Minay and Sergio Arboleya racked up baskets.

There were moments when it looked like Eagles could still turn the game round, Elliot, Reno and Dalton-Brown all finding chances that saw them build some momentum.

But they struggled to keep the pace going for long and Cavaliers sank the final baskets of the game to secure their win, 61-52, in a match that could well have gone the other way but for some bad rolls for Eagles.

Isle of Man Basketball Association wishes a speedy recovery to Aherne and Coates who will no doubt be keen to reverse this result when Eagles again face Cavaliers in the late season.

l In the final game of the evening PwC Hoops faced Wolves in a good-natured competition that was dominated by quick breaks and outside shots.

Daniella Kravela opened the scoring with a nice jump shot for Hoops in the opening minutes but quick returns from Wolves saw Michael Pardoe and Ben Campbell picking up points.

Throughout the first half Hoops found lanes through Wolves’ zone defence but struggled to convert, with notable exceptions coming from Danielle Murphy and Zoe Kirkham.

The second half saw more breaks from Wolves, pushing the ball down the court and finding lanes for Michael Connolly and Ollie Smith to convert.

Three-pointers by Corey Pinder and Ross Wilson didn’t push Wolves far ahead for long as Kravela swished two outside shots in quick succession.

At the end of the game though, it was Wolves’ quick pace and mid-ranging shooting that won the day, 46-25.

l This Thursday sees the return of the women’s ’come and try it’ basketball sessions with an open court on Thursday evening from 7-8.30pm for any women who want to return to or try out basketball for the first time.

Ahead of this is the regular junior basketball training session running from 6-7pm in the NSC Main Hall and open to all players in school years 7 and above.

Thursday will also see three games in the Senior League. Kicking off the action is a match-up between two seasoned teams as Wolves take on Turkeys at 7pm, then at 8.30pm both courts will be in action as PwC Hoops face Cavaliers and Forget Me Not Jets play Ravens.

Updates on all games and the basketball league can be found on Instagram @manxbasketball and through Facebook at Isle of Man Basketball Association.