Sharks vs Notts Nova

Sharks14305075

Nova7193649

The Sharks began the season with a journey to the Nottingham Wildcats Arena to face Notts Nova. An injury to starter Quincy Kaka would rule him out of the contest. Big Q was missed & it was obvious that this was the season opener as the juniors were out of rhythm and lacked that extra pace & zip of a team in full swing. The opening defensive effort was adequate as Renny and Conor did a decent job of disrupting the Nova guards and the half-court defense was limiting the home side’s opportunities. Sheffield’s offensive game was not fully cranked up and the Nova rims were not kind to the visitors who only managed 14 points for the quarter.

The travelling fans saw more of the same in the second period as the Sharks couldn’t seem to click offensively. However, a solid debut was seen by Jonni Shepherd who was a presence on the glass throughout and Renny Nascimento was asserting himself on offense as one of the few penetration threats on the floor.

The visitors lethargy allowed the home side to show their spirit and begin to claw their way back, closing the gap to only 5 points. This seemed to shake the Sharks back into action and the team improved enough to rebuild a lead whilst rotating personnel. The shooting of Aidan, Conor and Trent helped to keep Nova at bay & George Brownell managed to find his way to the basket while Josh Adams continued to pull down rebounds at both ends until Sheffield had secured a 16 point win.

Overall this was a severely sub-par performance from a team that has set its own standard significantly higher. Improvements must be seen for future tests to come.

George Brownell: 18 pts, 9 rebs, 8 steals, 3 ass, 1 blk

Renny Nascimento: 14 pts, 4 rebs, 3 steals

Conor Faulkner: 13 pts, 5 rebs, 5 steals, 3 ass

Josh Adams: 10 pts, 14 rebs, 2 steals

Aidan Appleyard: 7 pts, 2 rebs, 2 steals, 1 ass, 1 blk

Callum McKenzie: 6 pts, 2 steals, 1 reb

Jonni Shepherd: 4 pts, 7 rebs, 1 steal

Trent Woodward: 3 pts,

Sheu Matewe: 2 pts, 2 steals

Zach Fenech: 3 steals, 2 rebs, 1 ass

Nathan Suttle