Sheffield Junior Sharks v Leeds Tigers

Saturday 19th December 1.15

The Springs, Sheffield

Sheffield Sharks 1912 13 953

Leeds Tigers 1713151156

This was always going to be an interesting game between two exceptionally competitive teams, Leeds Tigers and Sheffield Sharks, to see who would take top seating in the league table. After their first meeting with the Tigers and a 19 point loss, the Sharks had something to prove. If the Tigers ever thought it would be an easy game then the Sharks certainly knocked their confidence and left the Tigers team wondering who would win, as at the half-time mark Sheffield were ahead by 1 point, 31 to 30. The Tigers in the 2nd half seemed to have regained their composure but they could not put more than 3 points between themselves and Sheffield.

In the first quarter, Sheffield exhibited the confidence of a team that had been playing together for years rather than months. With the Tigers putting the first of the points on the scoreboard, Wesley Skaines immediately put 2 on for the Sharks from a fast break. Dennis Kaka, in this quarter put 11 points onto Sheffield’s score whilst Henryk Krajniewski won many of the rebounds and scored two points. With a further 2 points by Dale Stennett and Wesley Skaines, the quarter ended with Sheffield ahead by 2 points (19 : 17).

In the second quarter, the Sharks continued with the pressure, and Dale Stennett put a further 4 points onto the scoreboard. Kaka continued his free shot success in this quarter whilst Tigers Stuart Forrester amassed 7 points in the 3rd, 4th and 5th minute of this quarter. By the end of this quarter the Sharks were winning by a 1 point lead due to some excellent offensive moves and great defence by Lemar Darien-Campbell.

With a one point lead the Sharks knew they had to continue to play hard, keeping their defence tight but 3 fouls by the Sharks gave the Tigers an extra 3 points from a possible 6 from free-throw shots, with a score of 45 to the Tigers and 42 to the Sharks, before Dennis Kaka scored 2 points in the final minute of the quarter, allowing the Tigers only a one point lead at the end of that quarter. Marco Backovic made his presence felt in this quarter, adding more height to the team, defending and passing the ball well.

With everything to play for in the final quarter, everyone was on the edge of their seats. Within seconds a long pass to Tommy Price saw the Sharks once again in the lead by one point, but a foul by the Sharks saw Tigers’ Ollie Hannan taking two successful free-shots, giving the Tigers the one point advantage. By the 8th minute the Sharks and the Tigers were neck and neck with 52 points each after a basket by Henryk Krajniewski. However, Stuart Forrester once again took the Tigers into the lead and Dennis Kaka scored 1 point from two free throws in the 10th minute; the game could still go either way. Finally, with Lemar Darien-Campbell, Wesley Staines and Tommy Price all on the bench after being fouled out of the game, the Tigers added another two points, ending the game with a three point lead. A truly incredible game of high tension from start to finish. The Sharks having narrowed their loss to the Tigers from 19 points to 3 points makes one wonder what they could do should they face each other again. Well done boys! A big thank you to Marco, George and Michael from the U13s.

Statistics: Dennis Kaka (23), Henryk Krajniewski (10), Dale Stennett (8), Tommy Price (6), Wesley Skaines (6) Lemar Darien-Campbell, Marco Backovic, Michael Carnall, George Darling.