Home comforts see Sheffield Hatters and Sheffield Sharks both pick up wins
Sheffield Hatters and Sheffield Sharks were both back at the Canon Medical Arena over the weekend
Both the Hatters and Sharks returned home after two weeks on the road, both with a win under their belts and extending their streaks at the weekend.
On Saturday night the Sheffield Hatters took on the capital team, the London Lions, in their first match up of the season. The first quarter brought a steady game to play as the it ended in a tie 18-18. The second quarter was when the Hatters began to push forward as they created a 15-point gap, as Laycee Drake found a big 3-point shot and a technical foul on the Lions coach led to the Hatters putting up an extra shot at the end of the first half, as it finished 44-29.
The second half of the match was where the Hatters turned up the heat as Laycee Drake and Tierra Hodges dominated the third quarter. Both players put up some amazing 3-point shots to push the Hatters further and further ahead, as the quarter ended 69-42, giving the Hatters a 27-point lead going into the final quarter.
If the Hatters victory wasn’t already sealed, then the final quarter made sure it was as they put up 21 points in the fourth while the Lions only could put up 13 against a strong Sheffield defence. The final quarter of the game saw Ella Wright and MJ Sarkdo-dee Adoo rack up some game time and also saw the SLB debut of Millie Lowe. The game finished with an outstanding score of 90-54, with Laycee Drake taking the MVP award with 33 points.
Sunday afternoon saw the Sharks play close rivals the Cheshire Phoenix, in what was anticipated to be a close game - which it certainly was. The first three quarters of the game was a lot of back and forth between the two teams as the Sharks trailed by 13 points at the end of the first quarter (15-28), then lead by two points at the half (39-37) before then trailing by seven points at the end of the third quarter (54-61).
The fourth quarter saw the Sharks swim back into the safety zone as some amazing plays by the team lead to a tie game at the end of regulation (75-75).
The game then rolled into overtime and for the first two out of five minutes not a single point was scored.
The energy in building was constantly increasing with the edge-of-your-seat action and when Cheshire thought they had won it Lu’cye Patterson put up two points to send the game into another five minute overtime quarter.
Jordan Ratinho opened the second overtime with a 3-point shot and with some insane energy from the crowd the Sharks found some fire to take the lead and end the game in the final moments of the double overtime, to put out the phoenix with a final score of 86-84.
The Hatters do not have a game next week but the Sharks travel to Liverpool on the 15th for their first meet up of the season.