Jets bring points back west side
BBL Championship – 29th March 2012
One Health Sharks Sheffield 72 Cheshire Jets 78
An innovative night of net sports saw Yorkshire Jets triumph in Superleague netball followed by namesakes Cheshire Jets gaining an invaluable road win over Sheffield Sharks at the EIS.
Results were infinitely more crucial than quality of play as Sky TV viewers will be able to testify as Cheshire threw themselves into the playoff mix with a determined display against a Sharks side that has now lost three on the bounce. After Bill Cole’s opening two pointer, it was the homesters who were to dominate the first twenty minutes. Mike Tuck excelled at both ends under the basket, pulling down numerous rebounds and contributing several lay ups as Sharks inched the first quarter by 16-12. Fellow big Olu Babalola cranked up the offensive on the Jets with 13 first half points working inside, with Adam Brown detailed to do a ‘job’ on Sharks talisman Jimmy Langhurst. A 37-30 lead to the Sharks was the outcome at the half although it was clear the game was low on quality play as league positions mattered more than decisive basketball.
A 9-2 run by the Jets saw the Cheshire side draw level at 39 on a Brown 3 and in scenes eerily reminiscent of Sharks last home defeat against Mersey, it was inevitable that the Jets would overhaul the home side’s lead. Scores by Williams and Brown brought the scores out to 45-49 and it was only five points by Langhurst in the last two minutes that saw the third quarter scores close at 52-53 in favour of the Jets. Cheshire Coach John Lavery was optimistic as he declared to his side that the game was ‘ours to lose’ in the third quarter team talk but was proved prophetically right as Cheshire played with great purpose in the final stanza.
An 11-4 burst by the Jets in the fourth quarter left the writing on the wall for Sheffield. Brown’s 22 points equalled the game high but didn’t reflect a superlative performance for the Cheshire guard, who had kept Langhurst at arms length for 40 minutes. A Ryan Patton three from considerable distance brought Sheffield to within seven with two minutes to play but again lack of timeouts and the need to stop the clock saw Cheshire make eight out of twelve from the charity stripe and run out comfortable 72-78 winners.
Sheffield moved the ball comfortably for the first half but lacked a killer edge on the shot and by contrast failed to set the screens and were sloppy with the basics in the second. Cheshire by contrast grew in stature as the game went on and played the new BBL sport of ‘Stop Langhurst’ with aplomb. Jets trio of Schneck, O’Reilly and Cole formed a formidable defensive unit and allowed the rangy Brown to steer them to a vital away win. 72-78 didn’t really reflect the Jets dominance of the fixture and Sheffield must look to a significant win over strugglers Durham next week if they are to assert themselves on the 2012 playoffs.
