Wed 1st Feb.
Every year I think hard from a coaches point of view whether to enter the SABA league. We are, and always will be, outsized and out-strengthed. With the nature of a school team with players graduating it makes it difficult, and last year basically losing the starting 5 was a big hit to take. But I thought the next level guys would step up and you never know who will join the school.
And this last week we have proved that we belong in this league.
After getting a little lost in the cobbled, back streets of Winchester, we arrived with little time to warm up and it took us a while to get going. Playing away is always difficult and this court was odd to say the least, and none of us seemed to enjoy the ball either. Within the first 20 seconds I got to the line and missed both but then Henry decided to find his range. 5 quick points took us to 7-2 and in control. The offence was moving the ball well finding open looks. With the spongy ball we couldn't rely on the quick guards but still put moves on them and got to the basket. Defensively we gave up a bit in size and they were finding a few holes which we needed to patch up. A go-ahead 3 from them put them 16-15 up at the end of 1, but this was not a game we were going to lose.
The boys had clearly got in the head of Ridge (10) who was warned numerous times by the refs and he goaded Henry into a matchup he wasn't going to win. Henry added 8 more, mainly in the guys face, over him, round him, however, whilst he himself went 0 from 9 from 3 point range. I don't like writing about certain people in the opposition but he was about as sporting as Vinnie Jones in the 90s. A good player whose talent is massively overshadowed by his arrogance and temper. Anyway... he was taken to school by a 16yr old.
We took the lead from Henry to open the 2nd quarter and it was a lead that we were not going to give up. Niklas was also playing brilliantly inside, against the mountain Tommy Weere. No idea how many blocks Nik got but it was a whole bunch and adding at the offensive end too. Gabe was doing his normal run and gun game but their transition defence was much better than our last opponents and he wasn't getting the easy breaks like last week. Peter was breaking ankles and driving and getting to the hoop, including a brilliant And1. Myles added running bucket to extend our lead to 12, 35-22 before they close the gap 35-27 at the half.
The third quarter was a closer affair with them closing the gap 40-39, before we stretched it out again to 8. Henry kept adding to his tally, with 3's (one from Steph range), long range buckets and drives which kept the defence guessing. Gabe added a triple to his tally, Jack put some great moves inside and added some more, Iraj was his normal quick footed self but couldn't get the ball to drop, whilst I didn't really find my range but kept it ticking over. Myles had an amazing coast-to-coast, grabbing the rebound putting his head down and going around the whole team, before getting hit on the shot and it almost dropping for the And1; he'd settle for one from the line.
Defensively we played big and strong and did what we needed to do, but Webb found 3 3pointers in the quarter and finally Ridge hit one too! But with Henry on the court we were unstoppable. His hot hand meant their defence had to work, and if he couldn't get open, someone was. It was 60-54 by the end of 3 and we had the belief to get over the finish line this time.
We'd been in this situation less than a week ago, and this time we were not going to feel the pain of a loss. Everyone left everything on the court, giving their all. They closed the gap to 61-58, with about 6 mins to go, and a timeout to calm the nerves and Nik added some more to get us on the roll. Our D was pressing and trapping, and when I got a steal in the corner and released Gabe for the break we stretched it to 65-58. Nik kept blocking the big guy and getting so many stops we held them to 6 point in the final quarter. Questions were asked did he triple double in points/rebounds/blocks? We don't know how many he got, but only scored 9 so... At the other end clever slow offence ran the clock and used our heads. Henry added another, Gabe one from the line, and when I got another steal and the break away floater the game was put to bed. Gabe added a tip-in on the buzzer to stretch it to 12 points and a 72-60 win.
I can not credit the guys enough. Everyone played their part. There was no weak link. But hands down to Henry Cheng who warned us he was going "Kyrie" on them before the game. He dropped 32 points and God knows how many assists.
At almost the half way point in the season the team has really found that bond and is clicking. We know we can rely on each other to do their part and it shows. It shows in the results but also the camaraderie, maturity and style that the guys play with. And it sure makes my job easier and more fun!
It also means we have worked our selves off the bottom of the league table. If we can get another win over these guys at home, maybe turning the Jam close loss into a win, maybe getting one over Southbourne, its going to be a fun run in to the end. Bandits and Classics are fighting it out at the top, Id then put the Predators in 3rd, giving The Jam, Southbourne, The Nets and your Seahawks, fighting it out. It could come down to Points difference.
[Scorers: H Cheng 32, G Angstwurm 10, N Colonius 9, O Wood 8, J Xu 4, P Hueng 3, M Rothenburg 3, H Lau 2]
A well deserved McDonalds stop on the way home.