Sharks Show Why They Are Best

Sheffield Sharks were the visitors to Eston Sports Academy and came to Middlesbrough as the best U15 team in the country, playing in terrific form and scoring points for fun. It would be Lions though who would draw first blood as Shane Beadle collected the ball from a Patrick O’Connor assist and continued to the basket for a close range shot. This would be one of the very few times though that Lions would break the Sharks full court press and after Beadle’s initial basket Sharks produced a devastating 13-0 run with most baskets coming from lay ups after steals.

Lions kept their chins up and were unlucky on some occasions with Sheffield being just too experienced, too big and basically too good on most others. In the fourth minute O’Connor went to the line to convert both attempts after being fouled by Conor Faulkner. The response was instant as Sharks via the impressive Quincy Kaka and Renny Nascimento added points, rebounds and steals to their ever growing tallies. Brown and O’Connor were turning the ball over on far too many occasions as the smothering defence left the Lions with difficult passing options. By the end of the first quarter the scores were 12-31. A good late rally from Beadle, O’Connor and Chirnside regaining some respectability and providing a platform to build on.

Unfortunately for Lions when Sharks switched to half court man this tactic worked just as well as Nascimento grabbed a huge rebound and made the put back followed by a strong And 1 play, of which he converted the bonus. By the seventh minute Lions were still to score and the visitors were already leading 12-43, the talented Faulkner taking them into the forties with a lay up and 3 pointer. Alan Slasor and Daniel Chirnside would add 2pts each in this quarter to provide the worst scoring display of Lions short history and the score at half time reading 16-53.

The second half was much of the same story as Lions popped up with one or two baskets, but the barrage of shots from Sharks just too much for the young Middlesbrough side. A 3 pointer from Dan Brown in the seventh minute brought very little consolation but credit to the Lions they never caved in and continued to battle on.

In the fourth quarter Lions did themselves proud as they stopped the Sharks scoring for over three minutes and were set to hold the visitors to under 100pts until Faulkner stepped up and hit a 3 pointer followed by two successful free throws from Zach Fenech to take a 28-101 win.

The MVP could have gone to a number of Sharks with a squad full of capable players but two players stood out in Conor Faulkner and Renny Nascimento with Nascimento just tipping the balance with 17pts, 11 rebounds and 5 steals. The most impressive attribute from Nascimento was his passion, always in the right place and maintaining a powerful presence throughout the game. Faulkner was the games top scorer with 25pts.

For Lions O’Connor hit 11pts & 3 assists, while Beadle chipped in with 8pts, 10 rebounds & 3 blocks. Turnovers were a costly factor however as Lions gave the ball away 36 times to Sharks 4! With Brown finding the going tough on 11 turnovers and O'Connor on 7, there were very few safe pairs of hands for Lions to go to. This was to prove an all round off game for Middlesbrough although not one the coaching staff are encouraging the players to forget. Lions coach; James Thomson added "We have played the best team in the country and have faired better than others, but we are obviously disappointed, especially from our offensive perspective. We now know the standards we need to achieve and are hoping for a positive response against Durham in two weeks."

Sharks Head Coach was full of praise for the Middlesbrough set up and in particular made note of point guard, Patrick O'Connor, "He is very good, especially playing two age categories above himself." added the Sheffield chief. "We were made to feel very welcome and the players enjoyed the professional set up and introduction. We look forward to welcoming Middlesbrough in February."