Triple defeat for Sheffield basketball at the weekend
Defeats for Sheffield Sharks and Sheffield Hatters at the weekend
It was a tough week for Sheffield basketball as both the Hatters and Sharks suffered defeats. The Sharks fell short to the Caledonia Gladiators on Friday, and against the Newcastle Eagles yesterday, while the Hatters lost to the Oaklands Wolves on Saturday.
Friday night showed a rough patch for the Sheffield Sharks as they had one of their worst first halves in a long time, by the end of the second quarter they were down by 26-points and by the end of the third quarter they were down by 25-points, leaving them a mountain to climb in the final quarter.
The Sharks gathered the strength and certainly fought their back as they accumulated 34-points in the final quarter, but unfortunately lost the game in the end as the Gladiators managed to secure an 8-point lead and won 87-79. Lu’cye Patterson took the MVP award fort hat game with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.
On Saturday night the B.Braun Sheffield Hatters faced the Oaklands Wolves in their first match-up this season. Like the Sharks, the Hatters were down the entire game, however each quarter end, the point gap was under 10. Each member of the team made sure to keep the score as close as they could, in hopes of taking the lead, at the end of the first two quarters the Hatters were only down by 8-points, as the half finished 32-40.
Laycee Drake and Tierra Hodges both pushed themselves to the limit as they pulled 2-point and 3-point shots at any opportunity. Unfortunately as much as the Hatters tried it wasn’t enough as the Wolves took the win 66-75, leaving the Hatters without a win at home so far this season. Tierra Hodges took the MVP award of the night with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 turnover.
On Sunday afternoon the Sharks took to their second game of the week against the Newcastle Eagles. With both teams having played that Friday and losing, they were both determined to fight for the win. The first half of the game started very strong for the Sharks as they took control and dominated the first half of the game as it ended 51-44, a much better improvement from the game against Caledonia.
However, the final quarter changed the entire game as the Eagles managed to catch-up to the Sharks and take the lead. In what looked and hoped to be a winning game for the Sharks began to disappear as the Eagles won the game 81-87. Rookie Dan Gherezgher took the MVP award with 21 points, the majority coming from amazing 3-point shots.
The Hatters next play on the 24th October against the Newcastle Eagles at the Vertu Motors Arena with tip-off at 7:30pm. While the Sharks next play on the 1st November against the London Lions at the Copper Box Arena with a 4pm tip off.