Heartbreak and Success - Mixed emotions for Sheffield Hatters and Sheffield Sharks
Sheffield’s women and men’s basketball teams were both in action over the weekend
There were mixed emotions in the air this weekend for Sheffield pro basketball as the Sheffield Hatters were defeated on Saturday evening, while the Sharks were victorious on Sunday afternoon.
The Hatters faced Manchester Basketball women on Saturday night in their first match-up of the season. At the end of the first quarter the Hatters were only trailing by one point, a redeemable game seemed to unfortunately go south. As much as the Hatters tried to claw thor way back, Manchester's defence was just too strong, by the end of the first half the Hatters were down 17-points (30-47).
Despite a rough game, rookie Laycee Drake and Tia Morgan showed how much of a dynamic duo they can be. The third quarter was tougher as the Hatters went down by 28-points (40-68) before Manchester pulled even further away in the final quarter as they won 59-88, a rough 39-point defeat for the Hatters. Laycee Drake took the MVP award for the match with 13 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in her first pro season.
However, Sunday proved to be a better day as the Sharks faced the Leicester Riders in a long time old rivalry, as for the first time in 13 years the Sharks started the season 2-0 in wins as they defeated Leicester 85-75. The game started in the Sharks favour in the first two quarters as they maintained their lead (43-41), but by the end of the third quarter the Riders had caught up and tied the game 62 a piece.
Despite going into the final quarter with a tie, the Sharks built it back up in the final 10 minutes as they took the win with a 10-point gap. Captain Fahro Alihodzic took the MVP award that night with an amazing 25 points, 13 rebounds, 3 turnovers and 2 steals. The game also saw the debuts of Donovan Clay and Dan Gherezgher after they had been out for a significant amount of time, after sustaining minor injuries in pre-season.
The Sharks have two upcoming games for next week, the first on Friday 16th October away in Scotland against the Caledonia Gladiators, tip-off at 7:30pm. They are then back home at the Canon Medical Arena on Sunday 18th October against the Newcastle Eagles with a 4pm tip-off.
The Sheffield Hatters will be at home on Saturday 17th October as they face the Oaklands Wolves with tip-off at 7pm.