First Half:
We were stuck in traffic (again) on the way to the match and so missed the first 5 minutes. The score was standing at 6 -4 to Cheadle when we arrived just in time to see Southside Bullets make 6 points in two minutes to take the lead.
SB were hungry for the ball, picking up one rebound after another and driving through the Cheadle defense. CT looked sleepy and lazy in comparison, waiting for the ball to come their way and standing back from the action.
With just 5 minutes of the first half left SB were ahead 14 -6 and looking very confident. Then CT got the wake-up call from Coach Andy, and took control of the game. Good marking kept SB's dangerous #10 and #14 out of the game. Initimidating moves in defence made the SB players look harmless. Cheadle were in attack mode and starting with a basket form Matt F they showed up all the holes in the SB defensive game. The final 2 minutes of the half, with Joe driving hard to score 3 baskets in quick succession left SB reeling
Half time score:14 all
Second Half:
Although Southside came out looking ready for a fight Cheadle quickly showed their superior team skills and organisation with a combination of aggressive defence and swift attack. When SB did get shot at the basket CT got the rebound, then got the ball out of the pack and drove it up the court.
Although in control of the game CT players were a bit too eager to score, taking their shots too early in the effort to get Cheadle into the lead. But Joe kept his cool and made another 3 excellent baskets to extend his unbroken run to 12 points and put Cheadle 6 points ahead.
Sol managed to pull off a nice long-shot in the 13th minute. After that SB did start to fight back. But Cheadle carried on picking up the rebounds and using intimidating man-to-man defence. Soon Southside began to look desperate, making a lot of wild shots. Only when Cheadle relaxed in the last minute of play could SB #14 score the final basket.
Final Score: CT - 22; SB -17
Stats:
CT: Joe - 16; Karl, Matt A, Sol - 2 each.
SB: #10 - 7; #14 - 6; #4, #9 - 2 each.
Pros and Cons:
If any game showed the benefit of playing as a team it was this one. To begin with everyone was hanging back and waiting for a chance of scoring to come their way. Result - dissapointment! When players start doing the not very glamourous defensive business of looking for rebounds and man-to-man marking the score starts building.
Kudos to Joe, of course, for a great run! And to Karl, Matt F and Sol for their baskets too. But if the other side always has the ball that's not going to happen.
This game wouldn't have been won without some good high interceptions from Dan, without Harry holding onto the ball until he was thrown over, without Tom watching over #10 and picking up rebounds, without some smart set-up passes from Matt A and without Josh hurling himself physically out of the court to stop SB getting to the ball. It's all about the teamwork.
Biggest Groan: Tom setting the ball spinning around the hoop, and unfortunately off on the other side.
Strangest manoeuvre: Matt F performing a bouncing pass behind his back while sitting on the floor. It could be a whole new sport.
Man of the match: Sorry Joe but you take second place. For getting the team up and playing as a team in the middle of the first half (when half of them looked as if they'd just woken up and the other half as if they wanted to go to bed) the prize has to go to Andy. Great Coach! I'm pretty sure the team all agree with me on that at least.
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