Basketball Report – CAS Round 3 vs Trinity

From the Convenor of Basketball, Anthony Gibbs

Match Report – Waverley vs Trinity

After a very hard fought draw last Friday night against Cranbrook, Waverley 2^nd V matched up against the winless Trinity Grammar team this week, hoping for a much better performance, and welcoming Year 12 Joshua Weinstein for his 2^nd V debut.

From the start of the game both teams traded baskets with Waverley running on the break to get easy buckets, but were not able to contain the Trinity shooters who were making 3 pointers all around the court. With a couple minutes to go in the first half Trinity looked like they would go into the break with the lead, but some great defense from Waverley and some crucial shots by Hayden Walton had the scores tied 29-29 at half-time.

The second half game plan was similar for both teams and the match remained close and tight. The 2^nd V continued running the court and getting some easy buckets which, coupled with some high pressure on defense, allowed Waverley to gain the lead but Trinity fought back to lead 62-58 with only a couple minutes remaining in the match.

After a time out, Waverley hit right back with a 3 pointer from George Hatziandreou, then a steal from Matteo De Vecchi lead to a lay up from George which gave Waverley a one point lead with 20 seconds to go. Unfortunately for the 2^nd V, a Trinity long shot with 10 seconds to go won the game for them 66-64 leaving the 2^nd V with a somewhat disappointing 1 win, 1 draw, and now 1 loss tally.

It was a top of the table clash for the 1^st V as they faced off with the co-undefeated Trinity team. The 1^st V welcomed back Nicholas Blakey who made it clear from the start that his presence would be felt by attacking the basket creating ‘two and one’ opportunities for himself and tough attacking play by he and Johnny Pawle made sure that Trinity didn’t extend to a big lead going into half-time.

The last thing the 1^st V wanted after the half-time break was for Trinity to come out firing, but their relentless pressure and size advantage showed as Trinity absolutely dominated every aspect of the game despite some good shooting from Luca Zanarini and Jeremy Petritsis.

Although the game was effectively over at the start of the final quarter, with regards to the score, to their credit, the 1^st V played hard and competitively right up until the final buzzer, but the overall strength and depth of the Trinity team won out on the day. The 1^st V encountered their first loss of the season 99-74 and are now placed with 2 wins and 1 loss.

Angus Mattick & Matteo De Vecchi, Co-Captains (Waverley Basketball)

 

Around the Courts

Waverley made the trek out to Summer Hill to take on basketball powerhouse Trinity Grammar for Round 3 of the CAS competition. Buoyed by impressive performances from their first two outings, the 1^st V and 2^nd V were hopeful of delivering further imposing performances against Trinity teams that have enjoyed dominance over many seasons.

The 2^nd V was competitive despite losing an agonisingly close game 66-64 that was decided in the dying seconds. Offensively the team played well, however the defensive effort will need significant improvement if the team is to worry Barker this week. Trinity were given too many 3-point and fast break opportunities due to Waverley’s weak pressure in the half court. In the closing stages of the game, once again as occurred the previous week, foul trouble enabled the opposition to go to the free throw line and keep them in the game. The 2nd V coach Mr Chamberlain believes that despite the loss last week and the draw the previous week, the positivity at training has been excellent and he urges the players to continue to train hard to lift their game both offensively and defensively this week to compete against ladder-leading Barker.

The 1^st V showed glimpses of good basketball during the first quarter of their game, despite coach Mr Jovine having to call an early time-out to get the players re-focussed. While Waverley went into the first break down by 7 points, it was a lacklustre second and third that gave Trinity too much space from the perimeter and too many second chance opportunities under the basket as Waverley were comprehensively beaten on offensive rebounds. Trinity were able to build a substantial lead at the main break (49-30), which increased at three-quarter time (75-44). Though Waverley was able to post a 30-point fourth quarter and outscore Trinity, the damage had already been done with the 1^st V going down 99-74. While the starting five did not play to their potential (as they had over the first two rounds), the bench players showed great initiative when given their opportunities. Coach Mr Jovine thought his players needed to be better at displaying poise under pressure and sticking to the system of play. He was disappointed with the little things that were not being executed, such as making leads, boxing out and knowing who to mark on defensive transitions, all aspects which will need to be improved upon if Waverley is to be competitive against a very strong Barker team, who in earlier rounds defeated Knox convincingly and pushed Trinity all the way to lose only by 3 points.

In other games, while Waverley was only able to achieve a limited number of wins, there were numerous solid performances from many of our teams. Wins included: 10A’s (39-26), who maintained their unbeaten run and are now 3-0 for the season, but will face the toughest game of their season this week against Barker, 10C’s (21-16), 10D’s (37-17), 10G’s (48-12), 10H’s (22-8), 9F’s (31-8) and 8C’s (38-25). A number of very close games were played that resulted in draws: 10F’s (21-21), 9C’s (37-37), 9E’s (20-20) and 8E’s (29-29). The following teams played well, but lost their games by small margins: 3^rd V (33-29), 7^th V (33-30), 10B’s (31-30), 10E’s (24-21), 9A’s (44-37), 9B’s (39-34), 9D’s (26-24) and 8F’s (30-23). Along with the 10A’s, the 8C’s have been outstanding and are to be commended for being the only other unbeaten Waverley team this season, moving to a 3-0 record.

Good luck to all teams this weekend against Barker. 3^rd’s to 6^th’s basketball teams are encouraged to remain after their games, while the 8A’s to 8D’s are encouraged to arrive earlier for their games to support both the 2^nd V and 1^st V in their quests to defeat Barker and get their seasons back on track.

Mr A Gibbs, Convenor of Basketball