A tale of two cities, a game of two halves

Sheffield Saints vs Manchester Magic

All Saints, October 15th 2011, 2.00pm tip

Saints 20 12 7 6 45
Magic 24 16 22 14 76

With the aim of at least a top two spot for the U16s this season, this match would set a marker. Could they go after the coveted first place this year? If so they’d have to beat this team at some stage.

With Josh, Tyler, Marcus, Connor and Kenneth starting the match starting the match it got off to a high tempo start. With Magic’s number 14 getting a trey a quick reply from Tyler settled the Saints. Although it was a high tempo this led to errors from both sides and it wasn’t until 2 minutes in in that another score was registered again by Magic’s number 14. Marcus got a free throw but again Magic responded and it looked like they may pull away. Then the Saints dug deep and a trey from Tyler and free throws from Marcus and ConnorD tied the game at 9-9 and Magic called a time out in panic! From here on every time Magic scored Saints responded, first from Tyler and then Kenneth who was holding the opposition at bay. Eddy came in for Tyler and at 19-20 down the crowd were hoping a half time lead could be established. Marcus’s free throw levelled the score before Magic’s number 8 grabbed a couple of baskets for the opposition to take a 4 point lead into Q2.

The game was definitely on a knife edge and the Saints looked comfortable and un-phased as Q2 started. Daniel was now on court and Josh started off the score with a one from 2 free throw. Magic started to pull away but yet again the Saints kept up with them. Josh, Kenneth , Connor and Tyler all helping to narrow the deficit at 28-31. Magic rallied again and Daniel pulled it back. However, Magic then managed to gain a 10 point lead as George gabbed a basket at the end to leave it an 8 point game. There were signs that Magic may be able to pull away but if the Saints could keep it up they may be able to claw back into the game and who knows.

The second half unfortunately was like watching a different game. The reasons why this was may be hard to pin down but simply Manchester outscored Sheffield 3 to 1. Maybe there were too many turnovers, too many missed shots or maybe the opposition too good? We saw a time out called by Saints at the beginning of Q3 as Magic started to pull away. David and ConorDS were given court time and Daniel was battling hard. With only Marcus, ConnorD and Kenneth registering a score a 22-7 quarter saw the game beyond the Saints reach at the end of the quarter.

ConorDS finally got on the scoresheet in Q4 bagging a couple of free throws but there’s not much to report about in Q4. In some respects the Saints showed a bit more resolve and a 14-6 quarter was easier to swallow. In some respects the game was played out as yet again Magic took the honours.

What can be learnt? Well yet again the Sheffield team showed they can match Manchester but it has to be over 40 minutes. The stats may have some pointers? 70 to 53 field goal attempts in favour of Magic shows that Saints maybe didn’t turn possession onto scoring opportunities as we saw a lot of pressure resulting in the ball being lost and a quick break by Manchester giving them a score. Also 45 to 24 rebounds shows the height advantage that Magic have as a team?

It’s not all doom and gloom as there were also a lot of positives and every dog has it’s day!

Team and scorers

Tyler Gayle(11), Kenneth Nwose (11), Marcus Welsh (9), Connor Dixon (5), Josh Edwards (3) , Conor D'Souza-Kelly (2), George Naylor (2), Daniel Jenkinson (2), David Frost, Eddy Brownell, Montell Gordon DNP, Liam Shann DNP