John Hawkins
Mojave King was named the Southland Sharks MVP for 2022 season.
The Southland Sharks put a smile on its faithful’s faces on Friday night when it finished a disappointing 2022 campaign on a high note.
The Sharks beat the Franklin Bulls 81-77 in its final outing of the NBL season in the game played at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
Southland trailed by 13 points at halftime time against a Franklin Bulls team missing three of its best players in Corey Webster (injured), Giddy Potts (injured) and Jayden Bezzant (Commonwealth Games).
But the Sharks showed some resolve and found their mojo to produce the third-quarter blitz to set up the victory.
READ MORE:
* Struggling Southland Sharks to wrap up horror 2022 NBL season
* Invercargilll to host ‘pinnacle’ 3×3 event
* Four years of toil to get to officiate at Commonwealth Games
Southland went on a 15-0 run to start the third quarter and won the quarter 33-15 to take a five-point lead into the final quarter.
The lead was pushed out to 74-64 on the back of a couple of Jaylen Gerrand three-pointers before The Bulls pulled it back and with just 1min 20sec to play found themselves back in front.
However, a three from Alonzo Burton and a dunk from Romaro Gill iced the win for the Sharks.
Brayden Inger was the star of the show for the Sharks banking 18 points and 12 rebounds.
American import Daishon Knight also picked up 16 points while Gill finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Friday night’s victory was a nice moment for a team was had generally struggled to click in 2022.
The victory meant the Sharks finished the season with a six-win 12-loss record to sit second-last with the Manawatu Jets picking up the wooden spoon.
Despite the Sharks drop from a regular playoff team to the bottom end of the table it has still pulled in good crowds during 2022 which highlights interest within the Southland community hasn’t diminished.
The work now starts for the Sharks decision-makers as they work towards putting together a competition group for an improved 2023 campaign.
If there was any doubt about the various elements of building a championship-winning roster it was hammered home in 2023.
The Sharks did a good job in recruiting Majove King and Dru-Leo Leusogi-ape.
The two youngsters were standouts for Southland with King named its MVP for 2022.
But coach Rob Beveridge admitted with youth comes some inconsistency. Southland potentially also lacked some leadership amongst its playing group this season.
Dom Keleman-Poto’s absence through national duties also had a significant impact, maybe a bigger impact than expected.
2.18m tall Gill had a mixed season but during the later stages of the season did show the true value of having him in the group.
Beveridge said there were periods in the season where he probably tried to do too much to help the team but when he got back to being that large nuisance for opposition offensives he was at his best.
As a result, Gill has been named one of five finalists for the NBL’s defensive player of the year.
He also developed into a fan favorite in Southland.
Discussion about this post