Vs South Bucks Comets, “More work needed…” (21/11/10)

The Shenley Scorpions U18 Boys had a slow start to the 2010-2011 Buckinghamshire Basketball League season in their first game against the South Bucks Comets. With the U18 squad being severely depleted due to many of last year’s players now being too old to play, the team drafted in a lot of U16 players, and in this game, even three U14 players. A combination of rustiness and perhaps unfamiliarity with each other, caused a slow start to the game. Only 2 first quarter baskets meant that the team was always going to struggle to catch up with the opposition. Some fundamental defensive frailties (boxing out and rebounding were especially lacking) meant the Scorpions trailed 34 – 17 at halftime. However the three U14 players played very well, considering they were up against players considerably bigger and stronger. The team showed more resolve and improved in the second half. With a greater amount of possession as the game progressed, more shots were taken, but unfortunately most would not drop. Clearly more work needs to be done in training on setting up the offense. Kamisi Fawehinmi pulled in 7 rebounds and Cameron Thomas was top scorer with 5 points as the team went down with a final score of Comets 53 – 23 Scorpions.

Vs Aylesbury Dux, “Unfortunate not to win” (21/11/10)

Following a good team discussion and a greater understanding of the offensive system during the hour break, the team played their second game of the afternoon with more cohesion and composure. Playing this game with only 7 players as they were now without the U14 players, the team started with the handicap of a 10 point deficit. There was a noticeable improvement in the effort and energy of all the players at both ends of the court. Defensive rebounds increased from 13 in the first game to 22 in this game. Turnovers were also reduced by 33%, which provided a lot better platform to run the offense. Having scored only 3 points less than the opposition in the first half, the second half proved to be even better, with the Scorpions outscoring the Dux by 6 points.  This was a super effort from the 7 man Scorpions team that started with a 10 point deficit. Kamisi Fawehinmi and Kian Vaziri were joint top scorers with 11 points each, with Kamisi also pulling down 14 total rebounds. The team shot only 50% from the free throw line, which needs to be improved. A promising second game shows that the team is heading in the right direction. The final score was Scorpions 28 – 35 Dux.