Sharks25 5473 95
Jets 9 1947 66
The 1st game of another weekend double-header saw the Sharks travel to Stanney Oaks Leisure Centre to face the Jets. Tip off was delayed by 30mins due to the Jets U15 play-off game vs. Newcastle Eagles running over.
Sheffield’s pressure defence was very effective in the opening minutes. Aidan, Conor & Callum worked the Cheshire guards hard to give the visitors a commanding early lead. The junior’s were able to turn defence into offense with a willingness to run and to get the ball ahead to the open man, Conor Faulkner’s half-court behind the back pass being of particular note. In addition, the adjustments the boys had worked on in practice to combat Cheshire’s zone defence were being executed almost to perfection with some excellent ball and player movement leading to lots of good looks for the Sharks.
Sheffield started the 2nd period with a 16 point lead and continued to build upon it with patient and smart team basketball. George & Josh were finding the gaps in the Jets interior defence and some accurate shooting from Callum & Conor was punishing them on the outside. Zach, Quincy & Sheu came off the bench to add substantial contributions of their own. Defensively, the Sharks were giving up too many offensive rebounds to the Jets who scored most of their 10 points from 2nd chance opportunities. Despite this, Sheffield went into the locker room happily with a 54-19 lead.
Anyone who has read previous match reports of this team or seen them play will not be at all surprised by what happened next; The Sharks decided to stop moving on offence, turn the ball over at an alarming rate and watch Cheshire players sprint past them to earn easy fast-break lay-ups. Sheffield’s laziness and lack of concentration led to them losing the quarter 19-28.
The visitors managed a slight improvement in the final stanza but were continuing to play defence at 50% intensity. The Jets started to apply some full court pressure of their own and despite positive reactions from Trent the Sharks seemed blind to the (at least) 2 open men the had standing under the Cheshire basket and tried to dribble coast to coast instead of making the simple pass.
Once again we must finish a game feeling frustrated. Once again we must say; great for half a game, average for the rest.
George Brownell: 26pts, 6 steals, 5 rebs, 3 assists, 1 blk
Conor Faulkner: 18pts, 5 steals, 3 rebs, 2 assists
Josh Adams: 18pts: 10 rebs, 7 assists, 4 steals
Callum McKenzie: 15pts, 4 rebs, 4 assists, 1 steal
Quincy Kaka: 8pts, 7 rebs, 1 steal
Nathan Suttle: 4 pts, 1 reb, 1 steal
Aidan Appleyard: 2pts, 5 steals, 3 rebs, 2 assists
Zach Fenech: 2pts, 3 rebs, 2 steals, 1 assist
Sheu Matewe: 2 rebs, 1 steal, 1 assist
Trent Woodward: 1 reb, 1 assist
