U15 Arrows almost provide heroic victory against rivals

Sat 21st Derbyshire Arrows 41 Doncaster Danum 67

Sun 22nd Derbyshire Arrows 57 Sheffield Saints 67

The U15 Arrows saved their best performance for the second day of their Sout Yorkshire double header, as they almost sneaked a win against bitter rivals. The previous day, the young Arrows team battled elements of missing players and unfamiliar coaching, yet provided some of their best Basketball in the second half. Although going behind in the first half by 25, the Arrows bounced back and lost the second half by just a single point. This was a great platform for the tough game that followed against the Saints.

On the Sunday, the Arrows played bitter rivals, Sheffield Saints. Coach Jonathan Kelly stepped in as U15 head coach Pete Kelly was away with the Mens squad. Coach Kelly knew that stopping Saints main man Bakovic, was the key priority and a team defensive effort was needed.

The Arrows started positively and two baskets for Captain Andreas Lycoudis and a bucket for U14 star Ross Walcott got the team off to a 6-0 lead after just over 2 minutes. But the Saints finally got going and answered back with a 7-0 run. Abdifatah Mohamed then put his marker down in the game with 2 very sweet post moves as the Arrows regained a lead. Another 6 point flurry for the Saints got them back on top only for the quarter to finish with a Walcott 6-1 run to give the Arrows a 16-14 lead at the first break.

The second half proved to be the deciding one, Saints coach struggled to break down the Arrows defence in the half court so resorted to a runner and play the fast break game. This picked up some cheap easy baskets in quick succession. Although Mohamed and Walcott continued to score, it wasn't enough for the Arrows to keep up, as the saints took a 40-32 lead at half time.

The third quarter was a really positive one for the Arrows as they tightened their defence and continued their scoring consistently. The Arrows were given a blow at the start of the 3rd quarter as influential captain Andreas Lycoudis was fouled out, but the team rallied and Matt Bristow played a great game as he helped Walcott in the back court for the Arrows. Dennison increased his offensive mark in the game with a couple of baskets. The Arrows provided their best defensive quarter with the continued efforts of Jordan Hopkinson with blocked shots and rebounds. The Arrows won the third quarter 16-13 and set up a tense finish with the score 53-48.

The Saints came out the brighter in the fourth quarter and a 8-2 run threatened to blow the game wide open. But a stella defensive effort by the Arrows stopped the Saints offense dead for 5 minutes as the arrows through 2 buckets from Dennison created a 5-0 run. Points leader Abdifatah fouled out for the Arrows with 3 minutes remaining and left the young team struggling for rhythm. Alex Martin filled in defensively and made it difficult with Bristow at the top of the zone defense. With the deficit at just 6 points, 2 killer 3-pointers from the Saints' Murriero killed off the dreams for the Arrows and showed an unjust scoreline as Dennison got a consolation basket. The game finished 57-67 to the Saints but a positive performance from the Arrows.

Arrows scorers; Walcott 22, Mohamed 21, Dennison 10 and Lycoudis 4

Coach Jonathan Kelly had this to say on the game, " We played a great spirited game. There was times in the game where we didn't get what we deserved but that's just Basketball. I look back at the game and really proud of our defensive efforts. They had to play a runner in order to score in the second quarter and won the game with 2 clutch 3 pointers, we cant ask anything more from our guys. I'm hoping that the team can use this as a platform for games to come, and know that they are a really good team, despite what the standings say."