16th November 2008-10-27 Cadet Men’s Match Report

Result: Notts Nova 93 Warriors 53

On Sunday 16th the cadets travelled to Nottingham for their most difficult task to date. Notts Nova are top of our division so from the outset the cadets new they were in for a tough match. The cadets got to the court in good time and planned to make sure their performance was of a higher level than it was against Leicester Blaze 3 weeks previous.

The game started off fantastically for the cadets as they matched the Nova basket for basket for the first 7 minutes. Some top rebounding from John (14 points 12 rebounds) and penetration from Thando (8 points, 8 rebounds) gave some good scoring options and defensively the warriors were managing to put a lot of pressure on the opposition. The nova’s scoring ability played its toll though going in up by 7 at the break. The second quarter stayed much the same and some good defensive shifts from Laurence and Hamish gave some of the cadet’s starters a well earned break. The guards lost some composure towards the end of the half, needlessly turning the ball over. This lead to us being down 38 – 23 at the half. It was easily our best half performance of the year and the warriors felt they may even be able to get a result.

Unfortunately the nova had other ideas and stepped up their defence at the start of the third period. Our guards constantly turned the ball over with poor decision making and the opposition made us pay each time. It took 6 minutes for the cadets to score despite the coach trying every option available to him. That was until Ricky (6 points, 5 assists) was moved to point guard and the cadets offence started up again. Sadly the game was over by then and at the end of the quarter the side was down 70 – 34.

The warriors may earlier in the season would have folded but it was a different warriors that turned up on Sunday. They hustled and harried every second to try and restrict nova to under 100 points and score over 50. They managed it going down 93 -53, but the warriors knew that the game was closer than the score line suggests.

On a really bright note the team was praised by the referee’s for being “an outstanding example for our organisation”. This was really pleasing as the team stayed together throughout despite losing the game. I’m sure with a bit more composure and hitting free throws (2 of 16) the game will be much closer next time.

 

Match Report: Alex Robinson

Photo: Carsten Dieterich