The Co-operative Dividend
Sheffield Junior Sharks U18 V City of Birmingham 1 U18
12.00 Noon, Saturday December 19th 2009
Nechells Community Sports Centre
1 2 3 4Final
Sharks: 1525 2317 83
CoB: 2116 1720 71
This game was won by defensive tenacity, as much by a determination to go for baskets. Equally team mates helping to convert attacks to the hoop made this game a co-operative venture. And so it was that after Joseph Baugh won the tip that John Stewart assisted Ben Cepulis who shot and sank a three. An energetic Sharks opening was a very appropriate response to what had been a freezing journey down into the heart of the midlands. Birmingham taking the ball from their possession to the other end of the court had Joe blocking, Mykel rebounding and assist John to his first points of the game. Things looked well, but with a full bench that Coach Dawes would use the Birmingham players were to come thick and fast up and down the court. Birmingham took a two. Better, Birmingham in further attack saw Jordan Dawes fiercely pinned to the backboard by John only to drop to floor once the pin was removed. In response Jim Rose went to basket following an assist from Ben. After a further two by Brum having been left open, Jim made a highly efficient and effective pass-and-cut routine with Ben to take the score to nine. Good, strong defense by Mykel then saw Jim given a foul against him despite the smack of the ball resounding down the hall. Birmingham profited by two. In response John supported Mykel going to basket, only for Mykel to be fouled. Mykel took one point for the trouble despite the fact that it was attributed to a ghost Shark, number 10. Things started to wobble as Birmingham crowded the paint, so that various attempts failed to register as baskets. Birmingham took advantage of the loss of composure and sank a two followed by a three giving then a lead of one. Coach Ransom was right to insist that players cut to the basket and that the play needed to be kept simple. John was fouled and he took a point to level the score at eleven. Almost immediately a lead was with Birmingham, only for Mykel to take a long offensive rebound of the rim and go straight to basket for two with speed in an automatic response. Birmingham advanced again and it was Ben that then took a beautiful, long two off a Jim assist. Score even at fifteen. Dave Price joined the battle for a while adding extra height that was needed, whilst Jim with two fouls by now was temporarily withdrew from play. Sharks were not to score again in the next two minutes. Birmingham added six and went to rest with a cushion of six, but not before John had complained about a foul against him in the act of a three-point shot that was a nose-on-the-face affair, but it was ignored. Sheffield Junior Sharks, 15, City of Birmingham 21.
To open the second quarter Birmingham ‘busied’ and took two more points. Jim Rose sank a three to show that the mountains were not tumbling. Joseph became more potent in the game and took a block before Ben sailed in for two. A further Joseph block was quickly followed by a two from him and a two from John so that the score was just a point’s difference. The fact that both baskets were achieved with both players assisting one another yet again demonstrated that the better basketball is when it is played as a team game. John sought basket again, but still the team-work came to good effect when Joseph performed a put-back. Ben took two off a Jim assist. John went quickly to the line for two and got them. Birmingham pepped-up and took five points and a lead of two. John went on his own to basket and levelled the score and Joseph funding the feel for distance sank two swishing threes in succession, assisted by John and Ben. Birmingham sensing the half-time break approaching put five more points on the board, but a Vonn Tapiz neat two sent the Sharks to a break with a three point lead. An appropriate point to place the comment is that had open players been spotted and so passed to, the score would have had a different bias.
The second half opened with five minutes of baskets from John. Two assists from Mykel and one from Joe saw John adding nine points to the score. With Birmingham filling the paint John was regularly having either to go over the top of players, or genuinely force his way between players. Not rolling over, but with less confidence now showing, Birmingham twice responded with baskets. Ben and Mykel with twos drove the scoring on so that Sharks squatted on a lead of ten. In three baskets a further two assists featured. Ben added a free-throw point, and then a highly intelligent pass from Jim gave Ben a further basket. Louis Francis-Edge joined the game with a welcome. In the final minute of the quarter, Ben was assisted by Jim for a two, and John popped a three to give him twelve for the quarter, making the third stanza Sharks’ putting twenty three points on the Board against Birmingham’s seventeen: Sheffield Junior Sharks 63, City of Birmingham 54.
The final quarter saw Birmingham advance their cause by three points before Joseph popped a three of an assist from John. Birmingham responded with a two, only for Joseph to slot another three this time assisted by Ben. John made a two and Jim followed, assisted by Ben and the lead stood at fourteen. With supporters remembering the twenty points deficit that the Sharks made up in the last game against Newcastle to take a win, supporters were cautious about expectations. Just at that point Birmingham scored. John redressed the balance and put the lead back where it was. Credit to Birmingham, they did not defer and after being fouled they added two. Fouls alternated before Ben asserted once again for a two and Jospeh slapped the final Sharks’ basket with a three assisted from John. Though Birmingham replied in kind, it was a gesture only and Sharks’ superior defense in the face of various assaults made the win, to their credit: Sheffield Junior Sharks 83, City of Birmingham 71.
With weather warnings in place, there was not too much delay before the Sharks headed for the motorways so that they could be home before the predicted snow. As Yorkshire was reached, flakes flecked in car headlights.
This last sentence was written early on Sunday afternoon of December 20th, just as Manchester was cancelling the game in the face of the weather. And it snowed, and it snowed, and it still snows.
That’s it before Christmas for the U18s., so it’s best wishes to the team, the coaches, and Rob our excellent webmaster, Joe and Alexis guardians of the Stats, Nicky and Henry custodians of the kit, and to all the loyal supporters.
A basketball toast: May the guards forever have nimble fingers and winged, feathered heels; the perimeter men the eye of an eagle, with the selection and shot of an archer; the big men an increasing reach and the strength of a colossus; the coaches quiet calm and a multitude of plays. May the hoops grow ever shorter with rims gaping wide. A Happy Christmas.
Personal Statistics: John Stewart: 25 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals 3 blocked shots, Ben Cepulis: 21 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals; Joseph Baugh: 19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals, 6 blocked shots; Jim Rose: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steals; Mykel Moodie: 5 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot; Vonn Tapiz: 2 points, 1 rebound; Dave Price: 1 rebound; Louis Francis-Edge: 1 rebound.
