The U16's defeated St. Peter's School in their first match of the season. This was a chance for the younger members of the Academy to show what they had, and push to get into the senior team.
Although St. Peters were the bigger, taller side, we showed that skill wise, we had them. Offence was structured but the ball wouldn't drop. Henry, Josh and Iraj, made it 8-2, before some weak defence let them back into it 8-6 at the end of 1. Players were visably upset that it was this close. But they needed to get their heads in the game, relax and play ball, rather than worrying.
The second was a little better with some less experienced players getting some minutes. Zhong and Tom were playing well at both ends, with Henry and Josh still controlling the game. Good solid zone D forced them into outside shots, which 2 managed to drop. taking it to 15-14 at the half.
After a talking to, instrcutions to relax and play the game, clearly worked. Stephen and Kevin played "twin-ball" and telepathically working together got some good breaks including a 3-point play. Harry Warren and Myles, both stepping up, clearly were not phased and played the PG position well. We outscored St Peters 12-6 in the quarter to make it 27-20.
The forth we turned the screw on defence, pressing well and converting turnovers. Josh added some more on the break, Iraj converted and Stephen and Kevin again linked up to add to the tally. It could have been way more, with 5 missed free throws in the final period (8 from 20 for the game) but a satisfying performance which finished 35-22.
Although the play wasn't the finest the boys have played it showed some maturity and dominance at this age. Looking forward to the Schools Tournament in a few weeks.
[Scorers: J Strongman 11, H Lau 8, I Safaee 7, S Lao 5, T Tang 3, H Bates 2]