Game of the centuries!

Sheffield Junior Sharks vs Newcastle Eagles

6th February 2010

1.15 tip off

Springs Leisure Centre

Sharks 172726 2191

Eagles 6 814 1442

The U14s self appointed statistician was caught mumbling about the number 100 previous to the match. Unbeknown to the players the abacus had been put to good use and the probability that three of the players would go over 100 points, this season so far, was fairly strong.

Although Newcastle won the tip it. was the sharks that came out with possession and for the first couple of minutes it was a bit of a scrappy affair. Josh was the player nearest to the magic figure of 100 with 98 points to his name so far (14 ppg average) and when he got a further 2 points to give him a century we were expecting fireworks. Unfortunately only those that had been pestered by the statistician were aware of this fact and it passed without much of a fuss! Newcastle were giving early fouls away but the Sharks couldn’t convert. Marcus edged nearer to his 100 (13 ppg average) with a basket and Josh got a one from 2. However half way through the first half it was only 6-0 to the sharks and that great performance was looking very unlikely. Daniel and ConnorD entered the fray to try and push home the home court advantage but this seemed to spur the opposition on. Newcastle converted four free throws and at the end of eight minutes with the score 9-6 the crowd were getting a bit edgy. Then Daniel made his presence further known with a couple of baskets and ConorDS got his scoring off the mark. The other player after his “ton up” ConnorD (18 ppg average) finished the 8-0 rally which put a more respectable sheen on the game at 17-6 at the quarter end.

Newcastle opened the scoring in the second quarter before Josh, Eddy and ConnorD opened up the lead but Newcastle responded with their own six points unopposed. Then the game started and the Sharks kicked into gear with Josh and ConnorD getting to the basket getting rebounds and generally terrorising the opposition. Interspersed with this was Marcus popping up with his normal forays down the court getting baskets and unintentional giving the others offensive rebounds to pick up and score. Tyler managed to get a supporting role with a route one basket and with a 27-8 quarter the class was starting to show. For the record ConnorD’s last basket of the quarter was the one that took him over a personal total of over 100 for the season.

In the second half the sharks were in 5th gear and the game wasn’t in doubt and it was just a matter of sitting back and taking it all in. Marcus exploded at the start of quarter before Josh took over who then passed the baton on to ConnorD. In-between this friendliest of rivalry Kenneth managed to sort his hands out for his first basket as well as Tyler adding to his total. The last minute of the quarter saw them drop down a gear and six points from Newcastle flattered the quarter score 26-14. Back to the “ton up club” story and unbeknown to Marcus he had a free throw in the first minute to register his one hundred, it didn’t go in but his basket in the second minute did the job.

The final quarter I'm afraid is a bit repetitive, the one, two, three of ConnorD, Josh and Marcus played out the quarter as a trio who have written the script and know where their places are. All have different styles and when the baskets go in, they rule the court. However part of the Shark’s script is that their strength and depth has shown that there have been quite a few games where all the squad have scored. Realising that his turn was due up popped George and he claimed his score, well done.

So, in the end one of the good performances from the guys. Apologies for highlighting the trio again but with them all passing the 100 mark this game it was one reason for doing this. Also the supporters are still trying to get their act together to look at other statistics within the game that shows other players strengths and contributions. Next week we’ll make sure that the others get their dues as it is a team game and without the team they wouldn’t get those opportunities.

Team and scorers

Connor Dixon (28, 119 season total), Josh Edwards (25, 123 season total), Marcus Welsh (18, 109 season total), Daniel Jenkinson (6), Tyler Gayle (4), Kenneth Nwose (4), Eddy Brownell (2), Conor D’Souza Kelly (2), George Naylor (2)

All ppg averages prior to this match.