Sheffield Sharks v Rotherham Hawks

February 14th 2009 – 3:15

All Saints

Sheffield Sharks26 22 29 2299

Rotherham Hawks 18 13 8 2160

With it all on the line the Sharks and the Hawks were both playing for a spot in the play offs. Playing on their home court, the Sharks seemed to take the court from the tip off with a greater confidence than in their first match with Rotherham. Having the full compliment of the six U15s supported by a quality set of five U14s there was a strong bench of 11 players.

From the tip off won by Henryk Krajniewski the Sharks traded baskets with the Hawks for a slow start finding themselves level after 5 minutes of play. However, the Sharks did not seem to loose confidence and once the early nerves settled the Shark’s game began to dominate on both offence and defence. By the end of the first quarter, through a few “text book” post moves by Henryk and some phenomenal baskets including two three pointers by the Sharks shooting guard Dennis Kaka , as well as remarkable baskets by guard Lamar Darien-Campbell and strong forward Dale Stennett with assists from the Sharks point guard Wesley Skaines, the Sharks took a comfortable 26 to 18 lead.

The second quarter continued the Shark’s dominance with Tommy Price coming on the court taking some crucial rebounds to keep the Hawks from mounting any come back. Additionally, a few of the U14s took the court with Eddie Brownell taking point provided some key assists and Conner Dixon playing forward pulled down a number of rebounds and a couple of baskets to continue the pressure on the Hawks. By the end of the half the Sharks had a commanding lead at 48 to 31.

The third quarter began leaving the Hawks without an answer as the Sharks continued to press on defence producing a number of steels and rebounds holding the Hawks to only 8 points. Keeping up this pressure the Sharks brought Josh Edwards and Marcus Welsh on the court where they showed no let up in the defence. With some punishing offence from Denise, Dale, Lamar, Josh, and Henryk the Sharks totalled 29 points for the best quarter performance.

While the Hawks tried an admirable last quarter rally, the damage continued with two for two threes from Wesley and a sterling defensive performance from David Frost to prove there was no end to the Shark’s strength. By the end of the fourth quarter all 11 Sharks had made their mark on the court putting up 99 points to only 60 for the opposition.

Stats: Dennis Kaka (38pts,9rbd,5assist,3steals,1block), Dale Stennett (16pts,4rbd, 1steal), Lemar Darien-Campbell (13pts,12rbd,2assist,3steals), Wesley Skaines (12pts,4rbd,10assist,2steals), Henryk Krajniewski (10pts, 6rbd,1block ), Tommy Price (3rbd,4assist), Conner Dixon (6pts,4rbd,1steal), Marcus Welsh (2rbd,1steal), Josh Edwards (4pts,1rbd,1assist), Eddie Brownell (2assist,1steal), David Frost(1rbd,1assist).