West Yorkshire Hawks see promotion hopes dented by Sheffield Sharks

Hawks, who had previously beaten the Sharks 72-53 away from home, lost grips of this Yorkshire derby early on and never recovered.

Head coach Danny Byrne believed that injuries and illness hindered his squad heavily.

“We haven’t been able to prepare like we normally prepare during the week. Some of our big players are the ones that have been ill and have been off the boil,” said Byrne.

Dave Walsh channelled the infamous ‘flu-game’ Michael Jordan though as he scored 21 points despite playing through illness.

But Hawks found themselves down by 10 at the end of the first quarter. A few missed free throws from the Hawks and three-pointers by their opponents saw the Hawks fall into a 17-point hole at half-time.

Moving into the third quarter, they did manage to compete with the Sharks as there was a great deal of energy put into the rebounding of the Hawks. One offensive sequence boasted six rebounds in a row by the team.

In the fourth quarter, Hawks managed to cut the lead down to 11 at one stage with Walsh scoring consecutive threes.

The Hawks performed admirably and fought to the last seconds knowing that the head-to-head score could make a huge difference in the long run.

“We competed in the second half, but it was just too little too late,” said Byrne, who will be going back to training next week and preparing his team for the last four games to come.

With Sheffield now having the head-to-head advantage over the Hawks by a solitary point, the likelihood of the West Yorkshire team’s chances of taking top spot have been reduced greatly.

Coach Byrne said there was a “very slim chance unless they (Sharks) drop a game elsewhere against a team other than Tameside Vikings”.

The crowd also played their part as the ‘sixth man’ as the noise lasted the whole game.

The team will be hoping they return for the last two home games of the season at the University of Huddersfield when they entertain Sheffield Elite basketball academy on March 1 and Cheshire Wire two weeks later.

There is still the post-season playoffs where the Hawks have another chance at winning silverware.