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Oh what a night!! Bears kicked off the 2008-9 season with a roller-coaster victory away to last season’s league winners, Portsmouth City Smugglers. Emotions ran riot from start to finish in a match that fell in the middle of a heart-wrenching week for the Bears.
The week started badly for Bears as they learnt of the tragic death of Oscar Johnson, Matty J’s little boy, just one day shy of his 4th birthday. Old and new faces alike were touched to the core and devastated for the whole Johnson family. The whole team rallied around and were determined to pay their respects in their own unique way. So the team stepped on court last night all wearing black tape on their vests, and observed a minute’s silence in memory of little Ozzy. Bears linked arms and bowed their heads deep in thoughts of a team-mate’s grief and the loss of one so young. Traditionally before any Bears game the team join together in a huddle and have a united shout of “win”, but for once this was replaced with a loud cry of “Ozzy”, going into the game united in the knowledge that they weren’t just playing for themselves and the team, but also for Matt and Oscar.
When the match finally got underway, it proved to be a tense affair. The two teams traded points but despite having the better of the opportunities, Bears managed to miss several easy buckets to keep the scores level as the quarter progressed. Suddenly three minutes of offensive madness saw Bears staring in the eyes of a 7 point deficit before the introduction of Volkan Dik who steadied the ship with 8 consecutive personal points to bring Bears back to within a single point at the quarter.
As the 2nd quarter started, Bears lost focus and looked decidedly ring-rusty, as they let Smugglers take a commanding lead with a 15-2 run. A key timeout and a strongly worded team talk had the guys up and firing on all cylinders as Mark Sanderson finally found his game and Marty Page started hitting his jumpers. This late rally brought Bears back within reach 36-30 down at the half.
The half-time team talk was simple and to the point: there was no way that Bears would lose this game and that everyone simply had to raise their game to ensure that it didn’t happen; we were playing for Oscar, and we had to win!
This was just what the Bears needed as they continually pressured the ball and forced the home team into simple mistakes. Within 4 minutes the lead had been chipped away to just 2 points and Bears were looking by far the fresher team. Unfortunately 3 uncontested threes from Smugglers saw the lead grow back to 9, but still Bears’ heads refused to drop. Volkan showed his class with several defensive steals and 3 consecutive layups followed by an assist to Liam Wyatt as the deficit was clawed back to just 1 point with 2 minutes to go in the 3rd. Marty then stepped back up and hit a 2 followed by a 3 in the final minute of the quarter to see Bears take their first lead of the game.
The 4th was a tense affair with the two sides trading baskets and the lead moving from one team to the other. Volkan again stepped up to the plate scoring 11 points in 5 minutes (including 2 threes) to keep Bears in with a shout. With just over a minute to go, Smugglers failed to score key free throws and then resorted to some professional fouls to try and stay in the game. Simon “Big Sigh” Colley went to the line and pulled the lead up to 2 points with less than 20 seconds to go. Another defensive stop saw Bears gain control again with time fast running out. Another Smugglers foul saw Simon go back to the line with 3 seconds to go. He scored the first, ensuring that Smugglers could then only tie the game, but missed the second. The hosts grabbed the boards and advanced the ball up to the half court when the final buzzer sounded. Bears jumped on court to celebrate a hard fought victory as one of the Smugglers players threw the ball towards the basket from just inside the half, which miraculously went straight in: a great shot but at least 2 seconds too late!
The two teams lined up and shook each other’s hands, Bears jubilant and Smugglers gracious in defeat. As is tradition at the end of a game, both teams got into a huddle and gave “shouts” for the opposition. The Bears huddle stayed where it was and gave one final shout for Oscar; poignantly the loudest shout of the evening.
But then the drama really started. One of the referees bizarrely claimed that she felt the final Smugglers’ shot had been taken within regulation time, meaning that the scores were actually tied and that overtime was needed to decide the result. Bears were up in arms whilst the hosts could only shake their heads in disbelief. After several minutes of discussions, common sense finally prevailed: Smugglers coach Mick Byrne declared that his team wanted to forfeit the game rather than play on as they felt the decision was a disgrace, not right and not in the spirit of the game. So it was almost 5 minutes after the final buzzer had first sounded before Bears were able to truly celebrate this hugely emotional victory!
Much of the report so far has focussed on the offensive efforts of a few key individuals, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Ultimately the game was won on the defensive end of the court. George “Mark Ghibril” Markell and Dan Park put tremendous pressure on the Smugglers ball handlers for considerable periods during the game. Chika was unstoppable on the defensive glass, pulling down some massive boards at key moments. Liam Wyatt ran up and down the court with endless energy and gave the team a huge lift throughout. Finally, captain Phil Bechmann led the team on the court and from the bench, never ceasing to loudly encourage every player.
This was truly a wonderful team effort, which was highlighted by the fact that players such as Martin “Sauna” Saunders and Rob “Brown Rob” Saint but came along to offer their support, despite not being selected for the fixture. Bears have strength in depth and an exceptional team spirit: the rest of the league better watch out!
There can only be one way to finish this report:
Oscar Matthew Johnson, may you rest in peace: this victory is dedicated to you.
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