A Win for Sheffield’s Marathon Men or Cup Final Here We Come!

Sureshot Cup Semi Final

Sheffield Junior Sharks V Leicester Warriors

1.30 pm, Sunday, February 7th 2010 in Leicester

1 2 3 4 Final

Sharks:18 122128 79

Warriors:20 151017 62

This Sharks victory was well and truly earned and it does great credit to everyone involved. It was a game that saw the Sharks improving their performance throughout the game to a position of assured dominance and worthy winners. There was a gritty determined third quarter and a crushing fourth where their undoubted experience, talent and skills displayed themselves across the team. Sharks’ coaching kept the control of the development of play and helped players navigate through the Warriors’ tactics when these were not always obvious to see from the court. Holding things together in big games is the mark of a good team. As in all big encounters, however, there are several phases where the advantage is not always with one team. Here the game split neatly into two contrasting halves.

There is a terrifying scene in the 1976 film, ‘Marathon Man’. Dustin Hoffman, as the hero ‘Babe’, is tortured by a Dr Christian Szell, a Nazi dentist and war criminal performing dentistry on him with a hobby drill and no anaesthetic in an attempt to extract information. Watching the cruel scene is gruelling. For some the first half of this game came somewhere near the same experience. Warriors did their best to let everybody know that this was their territory even to the extent introductions that saw their players coming onto court through a doorway and to dimmed dramatic lighting and music before occupying the centre circle. Coach Ransom had the extreme good sense to ask his men to line up and face the Leicester players, looking them straight in the eye as the Warriors made they entrances. Leicester continued as begun and gave a confident start to their game, whilst Sharks in contrast showed some tentativeness. This was most witnessed in the Sheffielders’ defense and Warriors were not repelled as they ought to or could have been. Dealing with the warriors’ press was not an issue. The Sharks did well to keep Warriors always within touch. The result was a half time score of: Sheffield Junior Sharks 30, Leicester warriors 35.

Whilst the third quarter began with what looked to be a continuation of the first half’s run of play, Sharks put some effective team basketball together and played with the confidence that is their due. Though out-rebounded, seven Sharks assists to basket made a telling impact on the play as did their steals. All the Sheffield starters contributed to the score sheet and it was Mykel Moodie that took the score to a Sheffield lead in the sixth minute that would never be lost. This was in the middle of an eleven point tear. A seemingly token two point reply was then answered with an emphatic brace of baskets from Mykel and John Stewart. Sheffield Junior Sharks 51, Leicester warriors 45.

The final quarter was truly spirited and exciting basketball with Sharks piling on twenty eight points with eight assists, tight-and-tough defense, and hammer-blow baskets driving a win home. A delight. There was character and composure massively on display. Warriors failed to convert from two free throws, but undaunted they took a lay-up. John answered with a strong And-1. He then sank a silken three from a serenely intelligent flashing pass out of the key and trouble from Ben Cepulis. Though Leicester continued to bite at baskets, Sharks showed their toughness whether in general defence or in rebounding. Behre Tesfayohannes gets special mention here. Mykel took two points, Behre another three-pointer-Thor-like-hammer-blow, a point from Mykel, two points from John and then from Mykel another long reaching shot that for the placing of a foot would have been another three. The Sheffield supporters responded as if it had been. By now twelve points ahead Ben lanced a three, quickly followed by Joseph hammering a three. With five long range shots hitting home, and from different players, it had the desired effect on both teams. In the last three minutes although Leicester took a field goal and two free-throws, points from John, Ben and Jim Rose added to the already certainty of the outcome, which was soon to be a seventeen point victory.

It is a tribute to the club that it sees yet another place in a Sureshot final being well earned. It is a great pity that the U16s could not make the day as well. Leicester Warriors provided a welcome lesson in playing unfamiliar opposition. This will have been instructive for all concerned. This U18 team has a good number of players that have big-game experience that will give confidence to others. There is a great contest in prospect, and the team deserve supportive travellers joining them willing them on.

There is reason to question why Leicester Warriors sit in the Conference as opposed to the Premier. It is clear that on their performance in this game that they would sit high in the Premier League Table. That said the outcome of a Sharks win was just and fitting in the way that the Sheffield players responded to their coaches to play the longer game and to take advantage at the appropriate time. This and the confidence in their ability to see things through made the significant difference. Apart from what has already been detailed the only other sadness of the game was the lack of freedom available to the Coach to play all the players as he would otherwise have wished.

Thanks go to coaches Ransom and Nagle, to the Joe and Alexis Moodie who did a great reconstructive job on the stats, and to all travelling supporters.

Personal Statistics: John Stewart: 23 points (game-high), 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; Mykel Moodie: 15 points (a great total by the anchor defense), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals; Joseph Baugh: 14 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists (and from a big man!), 1 steal, 3 blocks; Ben Cepulis: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals (a well tempered game); Jim Rose: 11 points (great running and intelligent positioning), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal; Behre Tesfayohannes 3 points, 2 rebounds (not evidence enough of his contribution); Vonn Tapiz; Louis Francis-Edge, Oliver Bourne.

Next Game: The Final! Sunday, February 21st 2010 at 1.45 pm, Amaechi Basketball Centre, Manchester.

From The EB website: “2009 Sureshot Cup Under 18 runners-up Sheffield Junior Sharks play Bristol Academy Flyers at 1:45pm in the second game of the day. The Junior Sharks have consistently been one of the strongest youth male clubs in the country over the past few seasons and they face a newcomer to this championship in Bristol. However, with the Flyers' senior men recently winning the 2010 National Cup, Bristol Academy is quickly proving itself as a future contender”.

(There will be FIBA Live Stats on the game for those that cannot make it to Manchester. Check the EB site later for details.)

A Twitter will be attempted on the day.