Posted on 17 June, 2010
Under 14-1 boys Ballarat Tournament
The 14-1 boys had a successful tournament weekend away in Ballarat. They won the A grade section playing Warnambool in the grand final 44 to 25.
Eva Mc Master (team manager)
Under 18-2 girls Nunawading Tournament
We had a great weekend, the girls played really well only loosing one game on Saturday against Traralgon, with 5 seconds to go Kilsyth were up by 2 points, Traralgon threw up a 3 point shot on the buzzer and won that game by 1 point. The girls won the semi final game quite easily and went on to play in the grand final which we lost by 6 points.
Leanne Borthwick (team manager)
Under 12-4 boys Nunawading Tournament
Our first game was against Camberwell 2, we were slow out of the blocks and under some pressure at the start but were able to weather the storm and through improved defence and shooting we were able to come out on top winning 34 to 17. With a couple of hours between games the team headed off to the Coffee Club at Knox.
Next game was against Nunawading and it was hard fought, unable to maintain our defence we were beaten by 8 points 18-26. Next we played North Adelaide, the boys were impressed that they had travelled all this way to play. It was a close tussle all the way to the end and we were victorious winning by 2 points 31-29. Our last game on Saturday was against Warragul who came out hard and never let up. We could not match them and lost 15-36.
Sunday morning was a cold start and our first game was against South Adelaide, we put up a good fight but were unsuccessful and lost by 13 points. Our last game was against Bulleen, we let a few chances slip but still managed to keep up with them. It was a tight game and the end result was a draw 23-23. We placed 4th overall in our pool. The boys were tired but learned a lot that will come in handy for the remaining rep ball games. Many thanks to the coaches Barry and Darren, Rebecca for the drinks and Robyn for the many playing lists and scoring rosters and finally the parents, grandparents and friends for cheering the team on throughout the tournament.
Michael Renkema (assistant team manager in waiting)
Under 12-2 girls Nunawading Tournament
Well we really can’t complain going 7 from 7, starting from Friday night to Monday. The girls did a great job for the whole weekend.
Our Saturday games were played well and we managed some pretty good wins which put us near the top of both pools. Sunday was going to be a harder day with the girls having to play Melbourne 2 and Nunawading 2. The girls worked really hard and came out with 2 wins.
Going into the finals against Eltham 2 we were down on player numbers, Ellie fell sick the night before, Erin fell hard on her knee and did well to go on and Keely tripped down some stairs and hurt her ankle. We started fairly slow and didn’t play our best half of basketball, we were down by 4 at half time. The girls came out a different team in the second half and shocked everyone watching. To their credit they locked down on defence and didn’t allow anything to come easily. Fighting hard for rebounds and driving hard had Eltham in foul trouble. With 6 minutes left all that boring foul shooting at training paid off. We ended up winning 47-29.
Big thank you to Kelly Peacock (team manager) and all the parents for the weekend
Tim Hailes (coach)
Under 18-1 girls Classic Tournament
First and foremost I would like to say well done to the girls on Qualifying for the Classic Tournament.
We nursed through a few injuries and used the weekend as a teaching ground for giving players more responsibility on the floor.
We lost to 4th placed Bulleen, 13th placed Southern Tigers, 8th placed Warrandyte and 9th placed Woodville. We beat both Ballarat and Sydney. Two of the losses were decided inside the last minute of the game, so our 2-4 record could have easily been 4-2 with a little more poise and better execution. But that is the game and we did not take our chances when they presented themselves. Something I am sure we will learn from.
We came out of the weekend a better team than we went in and we were able to get more time into a few players who have been struggling for the most part of the season with continuity due to injury. Certainly the efforts of Sarah Phillips and Steph Docherty were very pleasing and that is not saying that other players did not put in, just that these two coming off an injury riddled start to the season certainly made the most of their chances. Sarah was our leading rebounder for the tournament coming off the bench which was a very good effort.
Jason Knight (coach)
Under 12-5 girls Nunawading Tournament
Our girls won every game and really dominated the competition. The stand out game was a 40-1 win. Our girls put all their training into practice, displaying some great personal skills and team work. They were also putting on some offensive screens which had our opposition baffled.
Coach Tania and I have been so lucky with the team we have this year. Everyone gets along really well (parents and kids alike) and the score rarely get mentioned, if at all, as we all understand the focus for our girls is aabout their development. Playing against the boys in our regular season has really proved worthwhile, although we have not been winning games our girls have really improved and toughened up along the way.
Troy Long (team manager)
Under 14-1 girls Nunawading Tournament
Our first game was played against Knox 2, the girls came out on fire though they struggled with a lot of fouls called their way. With good team work they won the game convincingly with a 27 point margin. The afternoon saw the girls playing Central District 1 the girls put up a valiant effort and unfortunately lost the game by 3 points. Next we played Bulleen3 in what was to be a very exciting game in the last few minutes. The girls came out strong and at half time had a 12 point lead. Bulleen crept up on our girls so that in the last 2 minutes of the game there was only 2 points between them, our girls pulled out all stops to finish the game with a 7 point win.
On Sunday we played Ringwood 1, fresh from a good nights sleep the girls showed their determination to make the tournament theirs defeating Ringwood by 15 points followed by NW Thunder 1 winning by 8 points. We finished the day heading off to dinner to celebrate finishing top in our pool.
In the grand final we played Bulleen 2, the girls put the parents through yet another nail biting experience which was worth it to see the smiles all round when the won the grand final by 7 points. Congratulations to Taylah Black who was awarded the MVP. Congratulations to all the girls, thank you to the parents for scoring and getting the girls to the games, great work Ben and of course fantastic team managing by Fiona & Kim.
Fiona Ryan (team manager)
Under 14-2 boys Nunawading Tournament
After a disappointing performance on Friday night the boys were out to return to the quality basketball they had been playing and indeed they responded on Saturday beating S.A. side Eastern Mavericks 53-8, Tasmanian side NW Thunder by 19 points. The most significant win on Saturday was against N.S.W. Hills Hornets who up to this point had won both their games by large margins, we won this game 32-15.
We continued into Sunday with similar success defeating both Bulleen 3 (37-21) and S.A. Norwood (58-18). It was pleasing to see the boys playing more as a team with their unselfish play and encouragement on the floor. With a 5-0 record we went into the grand final against Melbourne Tiger 4 who had lost just one game.
From the beginning it was clear that Melbourne were a well organized and highly skilled team. The score was tied at half time 22 all. We were finally able to take control defensively with some much improved communication and help defence. The result was 45-34 giving us the title as premiers. Well done fellas!
It was great to see such good improvement from all the players during the tournament, more importantly, the improvement made as a team. A special mention to Jacob Jones for his outstanding play through out the tournament. Becoming a rebounding machine, scoring force around the basket and most importantly to the team a defensive stopper. Thank you to all the parents for your efforts during the weekend and my team manager Bron. Lastly, boys 2-0 in tournaments, now to finally take that quality basketball and success into the season.
Adam Knott (coach)
Under 16.1 Girls National Junior Classic
The Girls 16-1 team qualified for the Classic as the last team, ranked 16th, so they were facing a challenging weekend.
Game 1 v Dandenong Lost 41 – 63
The girls recovered after a slow start to match it with Dandenong for most of the game. Shot selection and lack of consistency throughout the game cost us dearly but the girls did well to fight their way back into the game against a quality opposition.
Game 2 v Forestville Lost 37 – 49
A much improved performance against another very powerful team. The girls played extremely well and were only a couple of points down at ¾ time, before Forestville nailed a couple of 3s to put the game out of reach. Coach Kelvin Taylor was pleased with the team’s endeavour and improved focus.
Game 3 v ACT Won 41 – 30
Our first victory for the weekend! We got off to a flying start with 21 points on the board at ¼ time and looked to be headed for a huge win, but the rest of the game was much tighter with our scoring options drying up. Still, any win at the Classic is to be savoured and there were a lot of positives to take from the game.
Qual Final v Bellarine Lost 52 – 66
This was a huge game as a win would put us into the 9th -12th grouping. Unfortunately, we were unable to adjust to Bellarine’s rotation between a very tall offence and fast breaks and they scored a number of easy points. 52 points was our best score for the weekend, so that was a positive sign, but not good enough to get the win. We certainly learnt a lot for when we play them next.
Semi Final v Hills Hornets Won 49 – 39
Another victory, this time against Hornets. It was a game in which we were always in control, but never able to put a big gap between ourselves and the opposition. Strong defence kept them to a moderate and we were able to get some good baskets at the other end. We were also able to play with 8 girls and give a couple of others with injuries limited minutes, so overall a great result.
Play-Off 13/14 v Knox Lost 44-46
A local derby to finish the tournament and after leading all game we fell away in the last quarter to go down by 2. Given our earlier performances against Knox this year, however, this was an excellent performance and the coaching staff were very pleased with the girls’ efforts.
Summary
We went into the weekend ranked 16th and finished ranked 14th. Given that we played with 8 girls for most of the weekend and nursed another couple through, we have to be happy with our overall performance of 2 wins and 4 losses, against some of the best teams in the country. Two of our losses were against the teams that finished 5th and 6th, so we weren’t disgraced.
Congratulations to all the girls for a great weekend. They represented the club extremely well (as always) and should be proud of their efforts, while at the same time recognising what they need to do to improve. Thanks to Kelvin Taylor and Konrad Krusemann for their coaching expertise and to all the parents for their fantastic support.
