Heat winning streak ends at Saints
Published on: 24th November 2011
Huddersfield Heat’s current winning streak in EBL Division 4 came to an abrupt end on Saturday at the hands of the Sheffield Saints at All Saints by 85-56. The Heat were missing key big men John Huggett and Chris Bigley for this Yorkshire derby, but nonetheless, the performance was a far cry from the form shown in the previous three weeks.
HUDDERSFIELD HEAT 56 (14+13+13+16)
Swaine (19), Gray (4), Irving (0), Allison (11), Woodward (1) – Andrew (5), Kraus (7), Kozlowski (0), Perez (5), Walker (0), Quinn (2), Treen (2).
CITY OF SHEFFIELD SAINTS 85 (21+24+24+16)
Olusoga (16), Hackett (16), Gayle (14), Bywater (3), Cockman (13) – Bourne (2), Rose (14), Drewett (2), Parker (2), Law (3)
The first quarter started poorly for the Heat, as the usually free scoring Joe Irving would struggle with his first four shots. For the Saints, Chris Hackett was beginning to impose is presence, and veteran Garnet Gayle pulled all the strings as he directed the Sheffield offence. Seven points from Jason Swaine in this quarter would keep the Heat barely in touch as the closed the period 21-14 down. The second period would follow the same pattern, but the difference in the score would get wider. The Heat would only have 5 baskets in this quarter, three of them threes, which meant the score at the interval would be 45-27.
After the interval, the Heat’s play showed no signs of improvement as poor ball movement, and ineffective transition allowed Sheffield to pull away further. Only Swaine was able to keep consistent scoring going throughout. The Heat would also increasingly get frustrated with a very partisan refereeing team, who in total would give five technical fouls and two unsportsmanlike fouls.
In the final quarter, with a line-up comprising fully with bench players, the Heat were able to move the ball more effectively as guards Kristo Kraus, Eduardo Perez and James Quinn would combine for 14 points to tie the final quarter 16-16. Player-coach Perez was clearly disappointed with the afternoon’s performance.
“To be honest that was pretty much awful in every department today. Our play was not aggressive enough, but what most concerns me is how we did not move the ball which is one of the trademarks of our team. We have pick ourselves up now for a very important game next week at Stockport that we need to win to get back on track.”
The Heat will travel to the Stockport Falcons on Sunday (6.00pm tip).
|
Team |
Void |
|||||||
|
Manchester Magic |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1.000 |
519 |
373 |
146 |
12 |
|
Loughborough Students Riders |
6 |
2 |
0 |
.750 |
680 |
556 |
124 |
12 |
|
City Of Sheffield Saints |
5 |
2 |
0 |
.714 |
562 |
455 |
107 |
10 |
|
Leeds Carnegie II |
5 |
2 |
0 |
.714 |
537 |
441 |
96 |
10 |
|
Sheffield Sabres |
4 |
3 |
0 |
.571 |
494 |
461 |
33 |
8 |
|
Warrington Wolves |
4 |
3 |
0 |
.571 |
490 |
475 |
15 |
8 |
|
Derby Trailblazers II |
4 |
4 |
0 |
.500 |
571 |
559 |
12 |
8 |
|
Huddersfield Heat |
4 |
4 |
0 |
.500 |
623 |
648 |
-25 |
8 |
|
Sefton Stars |
4 |
4 |
0 |
.500 |
541 |
597 |
-56 |
8 |
|
Shropshire Warriors |
3 |
4 |
0 |
.429 |
464 |
490 |
-26 |
6 |
|
Nottingham Hoods |
2 |
6 |
0 |
.250 |
513 |
518 |
-5 |
4 |
|
Birmingham Lions |
0 |
6 |
0 |
.000 |
308 |
509 |
-201 |
0 |
|
Stockport Falcons |
0 |
7 |
0 |
.000 |
368 |
588 |
-220 |
0 |
