SHEFFIELD JUNIOR SHARKS DEFEAT NEW ENGLAND COLONIALS

Sheffield Junior Sharks   81 (16, 38, 51)
New England Colonials    70 (16, 33, 51)

Last year at the Flanders tournament, these teams faced each other in the semi-final, with Sharks pulling away in the fourth quarter for a tough win in the best game of basketball at the tournament. Seven players from Sharks and two from the Colonials (Cruz and Reese) matched up again.

Will Hall and Nigel van Oostrum of the Jnr Sharks had played most of the current Colonials line up (the Spirit 2008 team) as part of the successful International Colonials in New England this summer. It was indeed a meeting of old friends, united in excellence in basketball.

On the court, there were a lot of bragging rights at stake, since the opponents were also room mates for most of the players, hosted by Sharks host families, just as the International Colonials had been hosted so generously in the US. A full EIS (in August for an exhibition game) were ready to be entertained. Mike Shaft, as always, is able to do the occasion justice and after the friendly exchanges and the wonderful presentations by the Colonials captains to the Junior Sharks, it was game on.

From the tip, the Colonials intent was clear. Dominique Bull (Cushing Academy) went to the basket strong and finished the old fashioned 3-point play. From then on, it was a see-saw affair. Nigel’s quick 5 points gave the Juniors a lead, but a pull up three by Naadir Tharpe (Brewster Academy) gave the lead back to the Colonials. Calvin Morant-Hudson’s clever final second play gave him two free throws and it was tied after 1 (16 all) in a nerve affair. Nigel’s ‘and-one’ 3-pointer 'Oh BABY!' made the game come alive; after James Anderson and Jon Copeland (Sutton) had tied the game yet again (26 all), Ben Cepulis, Will Hall, and Calvin’s trey gave the Sharks a convincing 37-29 lead.

Six points by Dominique and a strong basket from Jose Cruz (Shrewsbury) made sure the Colonials were right back in it, 38-33 half-time Sharks.

In the second half, Tyler Olander’s (Smith) basket once again tied the game at 41. Mykel Moodie, Joseph Baugh, and Dan Cox then put another gap of 6 on the board. The pressure defense caused difficulty for the Colonials. A time-out by coach Dennis Dextradeur did the trick and Andrew Daigneault came off the bench with strong rebounding and finishing to pull his team once again into a tie at the start of the fourth (51-51).

The fourth quarter was all Junior Sharks. Will Hall dominated the boards, while putting Colonials big men Cruz and Olander in foul trouble on the other end. The boys stepped up a gear on defense and the fast break finishes were clinical against the tiring Colonials, with Nigel putting on a passing display. Ben Cepulis’ trey created a double-digit lead and in spite of some spectacular throw downs from Dominique, Mykel Moodie, Matt Cooke, and James Anderson just kept running the lanes and scored their lay ups. At 81-63, the Colonials kept fighting, Colby Reese (Shrewbury) hit his trey as part of a 7-0 run to close the game 81-70.

Once again, the game had been a magnificent display of top U18 international basketball. Clearly, the selection team from New England was at a disadvantage against the well-oiled machine from Sheffield. Mike Shaft gave recognition to excellent game performances before announcing the team MVPs. Sharks Head Coach Atiba Lyons presented the trophies to Dominique Bull, 16 points including 3 monster dunks and Nigel Van Oostrum with 13 points and an incredible 29 assists.

After the game, the boys enjoyed their time together at Nando’s (thanks Gordon!) and were getting ready for next day’s tournament. After a day which started early on BBC radio Sheffield and a visit to Chatsworth, they finally arrived back at the host parents from a stroll around Sheffield (unclear what tourist attractions were visited).

Scorers:
Sheffield: Ben Cepulis 15, Mykel Moodie 14, Nigel van Oostrum 13, Will Hall 11, James Anderson 11, Calvin Morant-Hudson 8, Matt Cooke 5, Dan Cox 2, Joseph Baugh 2, Dan James

MVP: Nigel van Oostrum

Colonials: Dominique Bull 16, Andrew Daigneault 14, Naadir Tharpe 13, Jose Cruz-Solla 10, John Copeland 7, Tyler Olander 6, Colby Reese 4, Ben Bickford 1, Jon Garen, Patrick Ackerman

MVP: Dominique Bull