U13 North East League, 19 November 2011

Sheffield Saints 100 - 40 Rotherham Hawks

The U13 Saints came in to the game against their neighbours from Rotherham with a degree of confidence after two early wins in their league campaign. Today’s comprehensive victory sees them drawing clear at the top of the North East League.

Following the late withdrawal of top scorer Nathaniel, Saints went big with a starting line-up of Rickyle, Guido, Jacob C, Jacob W and Sam. It was a scrappy start to the first quarter with Sheffield unexpectedly settling for jump shots rather than attacking the basket. As a result the Saints did not trouble the scorer until the third minute. However, as the defence cranked up, fast break opportunities began to present themselves with Guido, who poured in 14 points in the quarter, leading the charge. Jacob W was cleaning the defensive glass and feeding Sam for the lead pass that Jacob C duly converted. As the quarter wore on, the Saints made some beautiful scores in the flow of the offence with Sam orchestrating opportunities for all his teammates – summed up by a particularly audacious behind the back assist to Rickyle for the easy lay-up.

End of Q1: 30 – 11

Coach looked to his young guns in the second quarter, going with Greg, Matthew, Owen, Troy, and Zac. It was a strong defensive unit that held the Hawks to 12 points, mainly earned from the line. The quarter was notable for Owen’s towering rebounds, Greg’s unstoppable drives to basket, Troy and Matthews’ swarming defence and Zac’s quick 4 points on his U13 debut. However, Coach Van Oostrum will no doubt be working with the whole team on cutting out travelling at practice this week.

End of Q2: 39 – 23

Whatever Coach said at half-time had the desired effect as the Saints, with Jay coming in to the line-up, blitzed the Hawks, forcing a time out within the first 60 seconds. The relentless Saint’s defence gave up just 2 points in the quarter, while at the other end Sam and Jacob C put on an offensive master class, connecting on the full court pass and the give and go, to help rack up 34 points. Guido showed his devastating step fake and Jay was always a threat, leaking out for the hurry up offense.

End of Q3: 73 – 25

Quarter 4 treated us to the Rickyle show with a 16 point explosion. Matthew and Owen backed up their defensive intensity with tough buckets. As the ‘ton’ loomed with a minute to go, Jacob C split a pair of free-throws to send the bench in to wild celebrations.

Final score: 100 - 40

In a disciplined display not a single 3 point shot was attempted by the Sheffield boys all game.

Team: Jacob C (26), Guido (23), Rickyle (22), Sam (16), Zac (4), Greg (2) Jacob W (2), Matthew (2), Owen (2), Troy (1), Jay.