our first game of the season tipped off this afternoon at the worthing leisure centre. a tough, tall, athletic uxbridge college were in town for todays match up. after watching them warm up i knew we were in for a good game & would have our hands full in our first test!
we won the opening tap & started well with a 3-pointer from louis harris followed by a drive from ian marshall giving us an early 5-0 lead! but uxbridge found their feet & went on a scoring run taking the score to 14-5! we called for time out to settle down. uxbridge were trying to intimidate our ball handlers & speed us up forcing us into silly mistakes & it was working! we were rattled by their pressure so we needed to relax & slow down. after the time out we looked a little better, getting scores from ian marshall, josh mountifield & tom wyatt closing the point spread. a 3-pointer from richard bell & a lay in from jack ryan ended the 1st quarter with us trailing by 2 points 18-16!
between quarters we spoke about taking care of the ball as we had turned it over far too many times practically handing uxbridge easy scores. we changed up the defense in to a 2-3 zone!
again we scored the first basket of the quarter, ollie hunt with 2 free throws fresh off our bench. another lay in from jack ryan gave us a 20-18 lead. our change of defense was working but for the majority of the 2nd quarter both teams traded scores! 5 quick points for lucy uncles gave us a slender advantage but uxbridge answered again going on a scoring run. 3-pointers from richard bell & matt sharp & free throws from tom wyatt ended the 1st half (both teams had scored 24 points a piece in the 2nd quarter) so the score at halftime was 42-40 to uxbridge!
at halftime we talked about intensity as it felt like we hadn't got out of 1st gear! our body language was bad, heads down shoulders slumped like we had already lost & it was only a 2 point game. we weren't doing anything well we needed to step it up & take the game to them. we had a loud team shout & took the floor for the 2nd half
the 3rd quarter started & for the opening minutes both teams again traded baskets! uxbridge then stepped it up a gear & really upped the tempo. they closed us down defensively & made it tough for us to score! offensively they found easy routes to the hoop! we had no answer. to make things worse, lucy uncles twisted her ankle & had to leave the game! i rotated players in & out but we couldn't find a spark finding ourselves trailing by 10 points at the end of the 3rd! 62-52 uxbridge had outscored us 20-12 in the period!
going in to the 4th & final quarter we tried to get pumped up & find some energy! we were playing very badly & couldn't get going at either end of the floor! it was "now or never time' & we had to step up if we wanted to get back into the game!
the 4th quarter started & we had a mini run to bring us back. scores from louis harris, memo habib, & ian marshall got us within touching distance at 66-61. but again uxbridge answered back & weathered the storm. both teams traded scores & the minutes ticked away! time out! we changed the defense into a full-court press. we needed urgency & pressure on defense to get the ball back & score! uxbridge handled it well & kept a cool head staying in front. baskets from richard bell & louis harris concluded our scoring & we came up short! the final quarter was close (uxbridge outscored us 20-19 in the period.) the damage was done in the third quarter when we were held to only 12 points. the final score was 82-71 to uxbridge! a disappointing first game as we didn't really get going, we had played a disjointed game. we weren't all on the same page & have a lot of work to do before our next match.
scorers;
memo habib- 2 points
ollie hunt- 3 points
matt sharp- 3 points
jack ryan- 4 points
josh mountifield- 4 points
lucy uncles- 5 points
tom wyatt- 7 points
ian marshall- 12 points
louis harris- 12 points
richard bell- 19 points
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