A battle was had in the Canon Medical Arena on Sunday afternoon, a battle that when concluded, had seen over 2 and a half hours of basketball and 2 over times. But in the end it was a decisive 2 free throws that mattered.
Sheffield Sharks squeezed past Cheshire Phoenix in a tense game, one that for the better part of an hour looked too close to call. In fact, it was the Phoenix who began the game much stronger, breezing into an 11-point lead with commanding efficiency.
Nazir Williams was quick to get himself into the game with some early 3 point shooting, whilst Jordan Hinds impressed in a well-coached, albeit aggressively defensive performance.
Whilst this aggressiveness continued from Phoenix, the Sharks initially couldn’t convert on key free throws from behind the line. On top of this, the Sharks’ inability to handle a fast-paced and transitional game kept them on the back-foot. Even when they were able to put points on the board, namely through the increasing brilliance of Lu’Cye Patterson and Adrian Delph, Cheshire were quick to respond with some clutch shots of their own due to a lack of fluidity on the Sharks’ defence.
In the 3rd quarter Sheffield finally came alive, but this time through the source of Donovan Clay. There was a point in the game in which every positive move came from the hands and work rate of the Sharks’ number 5, whether that was his ability to find space, his defensive rebound contributions, or his vision in key areas. It’s no surprise to find out that he had the highest plus minus out of any player on the Sharks, and he was the true catalyst to a change in fortune for the Steel City club.
By the 4th quarter, Sheffield was out for blood, and it looked as if they might pull away towards the end with colossal shots from Delph, the second most efficient three point shooter on the night, and Patterson, who Phoenix allowed far too much respect for.
Just as Patterson went on a heat check, mostly from his mid-range efficiency, Phoenix woke up and responded with tough shots of their own. The former Cornell graduate, Isaiah Gray carried the ball for every Phoenix move and seemed to be getting the most joy driving into the paint and scoring from a perfected floater shot, as well as contributions from Ryker Cisarik who hit a 100% success rate from inside the line. In fact, Cheshire could’ve won it at the death, both at the end of the 4th as well as the end of the first of two over times, and in extremely mirrored circumstances.
At the end of the 4th, Cisarik waved off support with a tied game, in hopes he might hit a crushing buzzer beater, but in fact he never managed to even get a shot off, with a rare moment of excellence in the Sharks’ defensive line.
With a tied game at the dying moments of the first over time, his teammate Gray decides to wave off support and drove into the paint. Unlike his compatriot, Gray managed to put a shot off, but it wouldn’t go, before time ran out yet again. However, without the brilliant calmness of the game’s deserved MVP Lu’Cye Patterson, we wouldn’t have even needed over time.
Before Cisarik had the chance to steal the game, Patterson with all confidence hit both free throws after a nasty foul on him, to tie the game. In some ways, this symbolised the switch of momentum; the Sharks never looked like losing, at least not with Patterson on the court.
Overtime slowed the game down, which certainly suited the slow-in-transition Sharks far more, who profited off of a combination of careless defensive displays. As Patterson drained a deep 2, the Phoenix could only look at each other and then to the sidelines as to find the answer to why the most in-form player on the field had been left in all kinds of space to cooly convert in what was essentially the winning shot of the game.
The Sharks crept into a 1-point lead with 23 seconds on the clock. Cheshire Phoenix could not make use of their possession, seemingly not learning from the failures of both Cisarik and Gray, giving the ball to Gray again who was clearly out of ideas, trying a mid-range floater that ended up way over, kissing the buzzer board above the rim before being cleared by the ever-reliable hands of Sean Bairstow.
All in all, the Sharks learned to live with the high-energy, and highly aggressive Phoenix, largely thanks to the brilliance of Patterson among some other stand out performances in a thrilling end-to-end contest.
The Sharks wanted it more, and for all previous inabilities to kill off games this season, they now leapfrog their opponents sitting at a comfortable 5th spot in the SBL.
As for the Phoenix, they must feel bitterly disappointed, knowing that their aggressive defence eventually came back to bite them, as well as a largely wasteful afternoon from an offensive point of view.
