Recap
*High flying Sheffield sink U16 Girls*
There was a strong sense of deja vu when the U16 girls stepped out in Sheffield and went down 103-46 in a near exact replica of the Cup fixture six weeks earlier.
In fact, that was the last time the team played and there was plenty of rust in evidence for the visitors as the hosts blasted their way into an early 24-7 advantage. Capitalising on the fruits of some relentless full court pressure, they turned the screw further with a one-sided 35-11 second period.
It was a difficult half and to their credit, the girls emerged to produce a far better second half. They made a number of adjustments and were more aggressive themselves which paid dividends during an impressive third quarter.
While they were unable to make any substantial inroads into the deficit, the improvements were tangible and continued into the last quarter. “It was a brutal first half and maybe the most difficult locker room talk at the interval I have ever had to do. There was a lot of disappointment in there,” stated Paul Nilsen, who was deputising for Marina Fernandez who was on WBBL duty. “Everything that could have went wrong basketball-wise certainly did. We started slow, didn’t match their intensity and we couldn’t adjust to them being given the green light to apply as many hands on as they needed when they pressed us full court.
We found ourselves at a significant fork in the road at half-time. Thankfully the girls chose the best path. To respond as they did by stepping out and producing our best quarter of the season so far, was testament to the resilience and character of the girls.
Now they have to answer the ever-present question of why it takes a massive amount of adversity in almost every game for us to show our best collective face.
With Manchester and Milton Keynes, who are even deeper than Sheffield next up on the road, it’s going to be a potentially rough ride. But it will be far less bumpy if we start these next games as we finished this one, by being aggressive and energized right from the tip-off”
