11 Boys Basketball v Gordano

On Wednesday 1 March the U16 boys travelled across the M5 for a basketball fixture against Gordano School. The boys have really struggled on the basketball court of late as their performances have plateaued somewhat. The boys have really improved their ball handling ability but as a consequence their pass & move game has suffered. They were determined to set about putting this right on court in this match.

Q1

The first play of the match was a really positive one for SK. Gordano tipped the ball but SK were matched up well man for man and eventually the pass caught Max’s fingertips and went out of bounds. SK stole the resulting inbound and managed to throw a quick outlet pass for a fast break & unopposed lay-up which the boys unfortunately missed. They didn’t let this get to them as they continued to work hard and show signs of passing the ball much more readily than in previous matches. Max was the sole contributor to the points total in the quarter despite other boys having opportunities from the floor and from the free throw line. Nonetheless the boys were up by a point 9 to 8 at the end of the first period.

Q2

In the second period of the game other boys started to take Max’s lead and get to the basket. They were moving the ball much slicker than they had been but the Gordano boys were well organised defensively and were able to heavily pressurise the majority of the lay-up attempts. Ciaran and Lowell both drew contact fouls going to the hoop but couldn’t convert the resulting throws. It was defensively where the SK boys came undone a little in this period as too many boys lost their men too easily and this proved costly on the scoreboard. Jacob and Max were able to claw their way back into the tie somewhat with a successful mix of jump shots and lay-ups but Gordano had seized the initiative and took a decisive 6 point lead into the third period.

Q3

With Max on the side for the third period there was a real need for other boys to step up in terms of the scoring duties which has not been the case of late. Lewis Mason was first to take on the responsibility as he contributed with the first SK points of the period with two successful lay-ups. Lewis has great athleticism on the basketball court and is a real presence under both hoops who has worked hard on improving his lay-up technique. Mason, Ciaran and Jacob all weighed in with further 2 point efforts to keep the tie as close as possible. Gordano continued to get to the hoop too easily and on every occasion SK added to their score the Gordano boys visited successfully in reply. At the end of the period Lowell got up to the basket and drew the contact to head for the line. One of the highlights of the game for me was the yelp of excitement he let out when it looked as though his free throw was going to drop before rolling around the rim and back out onto the floor. It was a huge positive that the boys had sustained their scoring rate with Max off on the side but they were still 6 points behind and suffering from the dip in the second period.

Q4

The final period of the game saw SK mount a real charge in search of overturning their deficit. The period also saw the debut of Caolan Pearce who had nervously waited on the side but couldn’t resist the urge to get involved any longer. His first involvement was to clean strip the ball from a Gordano player and drive hard all the way down the court to the hoop. Caolan is a hugely talented all round sportsman and the boys were delighted for him when they saw his lay-up attempt drop and him earn his first points for the school on the basketball court. Buoyed by Caolan’s first contribution, Jacob picked up the mantle as he added the next 4 points to the total; 2 from the floor and 2 from the line. Next came the most controversial moment of the game involving Mason Smart and the 3-point arc! Mason was in possession on the perimeter and leapt up to release what he though was a 3 point shot. When Jez signalled for 3 points attempted the rest of the boys watched with huge anticipation! When the shot dropped anticipation turned to sheer elation as they were running around and screaming with delight. Elation then quickly turned to devastation when an adjustment was made to the scores after discovering that Mason’s toe had in fact caught the line before he jumped to shoot. I have to admit it was the correct decision but I’ve given Mason the points below in brackets else he won’t let me forget it! Max and Lewis added further points to the total but unfortunately the boys were short by 6 and down 45-39 at the final buzzer.

It was pleasing that the boys were heading back to the right track and seemed to have shaken off the stagnation in their performances. Hopefully now they are back on the road to improvement again and they will see the rewards on court. MVP has to go to Max Tryfonos for sheer contribution of points.

Well done gentlemen.

Mr Cook