Recaps
BRECON HIGH SCHOOL 54-36 NEWTOWN TITANS
Friday May 4th 2007
Titans line-up:
Head Coach: Guy Evans
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Conclusion
Man of the Match: Matthew Humphreys (16 points)
Brecon High School 54-36 Newtown Titans
Brecon High School
Attendance: 10
PG Hamish Clifton
SG Sam Cook
SF Matthew Humphreys
PF Josh Staff
C Leo Rutter
6 Steve Jones
7 Adam Yates
The Titans traveled to Brecon on Friday, May 4th to face Brecon High School in what was sure to be an exciting clash. We decided to start out in man-to-man defense and offensively looked to run the floor whenever possible. The Titans were forced to slow the game down however and were perhaps too patient when in posession of the ball, allowing Brecon to set their defense and limit their opportunities. A disjointed start to the game saw Newtown build a slim lead as Matthew Humphreys began to heat up from the outside.
All 7 Titans saw action in the second period which started the way the first stanza had ended with Matt Humphreys chucking up some ridiculous shots which continued to find nothing but cotton. Leo Rutter started to make his presence felt under the boards as usual but to coach Guy Evans' concern the Titans were unable to get any transition baskets and continued to play to Brecon's pace. We allowed far too much penetration into our key and our help defense was about 4 years late. In the waning minutes of the half, the ball-handling of Hamish Clifton and Sam Cook allowed Matt to sustain his torrid shooting, with a variety of running one-handers and pull-up jumpers from 'The Humph' increasing the Titans' advantage.
We had played a decent first half but the question that lingered in the air was how long could Matt keep up his incredible shooting display? He had racked up 14 points in the first half and that was the main factor in helping us create a gap on the scoreboard. We began with the same line-up for the second half that started the game but our defense became even more porous, allowing lay-up after lay-up for our hosts. Things went from bad to worse when Leo Rutter went down with an ankle sprain halfway through the period and would not return. Brecon took full advantage and pulled ahead and with now only one substitute at our disposal, we would have to dig down deep to come back after giving up our lead.
We hoped to come out at the start of the final quarter with a lot of energy to reduce the deficit but this was not possible as we struggled to get anything going on the offensive end and defensively we simply did not play as a team. Several players began to fatigue as the quarter went on and Matthew Humphreys was harassed into taking difficult and often unnecessary shots. The game was now out of reach but we continued to hustle, getting valuable experience for our players and trying to do the best we could on every possession. As the final buzzer sounded, Brecon prevailed, winning 54-36.
This was, to use an overused sports cliché, a game of two halves. In the first half everyone contributed to building our lead but the second half we played out of character and selfishly at times which allowed Brecon to fight their way back and eventually pull away. Matt Humphreys is player of the game for his remarkable shooting performance in the first half, although he was shut down by the Brecon defense in the second half. Leo Rutter battled as usual but was unfortunately lost to injury. Get well soon Leo. Josh Staff showed his all-around skills but needs regular practice to continue to improve. Hamish and Sam coped well against the pressure of the Brecon guards, but we would also like them to stay involved with the team as we move towards a schedule of summer fixtures. Adam Yates and Steve gave us a lot of energy off the bench and were contributors in the first half. As a team fitness is definitely a concern with only 8 points in the second half as a team reflecting this. Having said that, there were a lot of positives to take from the day and we look forward to the next game to continue to improve. Many thanks go to Sam's Mum and Hamish's Dad for providing transport on the day.