STUDENT BLOG: Basketball Team Undefeated

Student Blog by Daniel Mengstab

Wednesday afternoons means sport for the performance teams at The Sixth Form College, Solihull and the basketball team were in action again this week.

Having beaten BCU, Solihull were full of confidence going into a league game against Warwickshire College. Following a week off from games, Solihull had the opportunity to work on their fitness, strength and conditioning. Despite having  many set plays at their disposal the team started the game very slowly, only scoring 9 points in the first 5 minutes of play.

Having made some changes to the team and bringing on experienced Matthew and Nash, the tempo increased and Solihull racked up 3 quick baskets through Nash. However, Warwickshire were very resilient and pulled some points back. Going into the half Solihull had a lead of 2 points.

Disappointed with the score line, the Solihull coach decided to play a more pressing and aggressive style of play, which saw off BCU 2 weeks ago. The pressing on defence meant Solihull was pressuring the Warwickshire team into turnovers and easy baskets. However, Warwickshire did not give up and they came back to within 4 points by end of third quarter.

Having 12 players in their arsenal, Solihull kept rotating players to keep the intensity high and eventually Warwickshire had no reply to the sheer athleticism and speed of Rakim and Nash in the final quarter. As a result Solihull won the game 49-41 and is so far undefeated in the league and sits firmly in first place having won 3 out of 3 league games.