Sheffield Steelers

Steelers B v  Steelers A 26^th September 2010

Steelers A entered the game desperate to avenge their 2 point defeat at the hands of Steelers B a fortnight earlier.

In the opening exchanges, Calum Gordon was unstoppable as the more experienced Steelers A raced into an early 6 -0 lead causing Steelers B coach Maurice Hammerton to call a time out to settle his team down. Steelers B fought back to within 1 point before Steelers A extended the lead again to finish the first quarter with a 12 – 9 advantage. The impressive veteran Gordon led all scorers in the quarter with 8 points personal.

Steelers A continued to pile on the pressure in the second quarter and, with Steelers B struggling with their half court offence, went into the half time break leading by 8 at 24 -16.

In the second half, Steelers B raised the intensity by immediately employing an excellent full court press, forcing Steelers A into a number of turnovers. The added intensity allowed Steelers B to find their shooting form as they converted a number of turnovers into fast break points. A 15 point run by the Steelers B saw them take an 8 point lead 31 -24 with 4 minutes of the quarter remaining. This lead was maintained until the end of the quarter by which time Steelers B led 38 – 30.

Steelers B scored the first basket of the final quarter to lead by 10, the biggest lead of the game. However, Steelers A showed their fighting spirit to come back and a 12 – 0 run saw them take the lead 48 – 46 with 2 minutes on the clock. Steelers B showed tremendous desire not to be beaten and managed to hold off Steelers A to take the game 54 – 50.

Steelers B were led in scoring by Harry Brown with 20, ably assisted by Jack Waring with 15. Great Britain International Maddie Thompson had a great game, playing superb defence as well as contributing 11 points. Steelers B played a team game and all the players contributed in a fine team effort.

For Steelers A, Calum Gordon (20) was top scorer with Jess Pilkington on 12 and Hatim Ghaniami contributing 10.

The 1st division game was followed by a win of the SSB super league team over Essex Outlaws, with Mark Scholefield having his debut game for the super league team. 

The second game of the season for the SSB Steelers Superleague saw them take on the Essex Outlaws, who placed fourth and sixth respectively in last seasons RGK Super League.

Colin Price took an early lead for the Steelers with three baskets in quick succession, and with four baskets to one in the first five minutes of the game the Steelers looked to be the stronger side.  However, the Outlaws bit back, with a string of shots on target, including one in the last few seconds of the quarter, suggesting a close game was in store as the quarter concluded at 12 – 10 to the Steelers.

Despite equalizing in the beginning of the second quarter the Outlaws didn’t keep up to the Steelers, quickly being overtaken again and failing to take the lead for the rest of the game.  Steelers caught the majority of rebounds in the quarter, allowing them to secure more baskets and increase their lead, the score at half time being 26 – 19.

Another three basket string brought the Steelers into the second half and despite a three pointer and free throws to the Outlaws, the Steelers managed to keep increasing their lead until the final whistle, winning the game 48 – 38.  A strong performance from both teams made for a very interesting game, but the consistency of the Steelers seured them their victory.