A steady victory

Sheffield Junior Sharks vs Doncaster Danum Eagles

12th December 2009-12-14 Tip off 1.15 pm

Springs Leisure Centre

Sharks 2923 2011 83

Eagles 917 9 14 49

With 4 players not available for selection and the coach on a European ”jaunt” it was always going to be an interesting match for the 10 players and stand in coach. As the game got underway Kenneth uncharacteristically lost the tip but Josh was soon powering towards the Eagles basket. Doncaster’s only answer was to give Josh the opportunity to get 1 from 2 from the resulting foul. Marcus was soon joining Josh in forays to the basket and again getting a nicely taken basket and then drawing a foul. Although he didn’t add to the score he soon put this to rights immediately with another basket. Eddy soon showed the team how to get the free throws and at 8-0 the Sharks were in control. Although the Eagles were showing better tactical awareness since the last meeting they could only manage the odd basket in-between the relentless pressure from the Sharks. This saw Kenneth and Tyler getting on the scoresheet as David then introduced himself with a great trey. Marcus ran out top scorer by getting some great steals and racing to the basket. At 29-9 at the end of the first quarter all was well.

The second quarter belonged to Josh whose great powerful runs saw him take the lead up to 37-11. Coach Tom started some team rotation and it was good to see Montell get a basket and although George was defending well and proving support for the others his rewards just wouldn’t come. Although most of the team were playing a bit of supporting role to Josh this quarter the depth again showed when Conor got a greatly deserved basket. However we have to give the Eagles their due as they didn’t give up and a 7-0 run from them started to make the Sharks stop and think but Josh’s 9-0 run put things back on track as Kenneth completed the scoring at the buzzer it was 52-26 at half time and yes they were twice as good.

The third quarter was very similar to the first with Josh, Marcus and Eddy leading the way. However we shouldn’t underestimate the team work because as the coach commented after the game : “They play really well as a team and are always look out for the best person to get the points”. Tyler was one of these to get on the scoresheet and for those interested in numerology here’s a nice quirk: In the third quarter a great 3 was scored, this was by number 6 in the 6th minute to put the Sharks on 66. Also of note this quarter was Michael who always popped up in the right places, but couldn’t turn this into any personal reward. Again the defence was looking good and at 72-35 again the Sharks were outscoring 2:1.

All that can be said about the fourth quarter is that it was the second successive match that the Sharks lost the last quarter. There are a few theories on this especially around that they don’t need to go all out when a game is won? However it seems sensible for this not to become habit forming? But, again Doncaster didn’t give up and can take away some positives of a much improved performance and we wish them well.

Team and scorers

Josh Edwards (28), Marcus Welsh (20), Eddy Brownell (13), Tyler Gayle (7), Kenneth Nwose (5), David Frost (5), Conor D’Souza Kelly (2), Montell Gordon (2), George Naylor , Michael Carnall