Basketball Report, Round 4, Summer 2018

Captains of Basketball Report

FROM ANGELO DI BARTOLO & DION HATZIANDREOU, CO-CAPTAINS OF BASKETBALL

Juniors

The Juniors were looking to gain their first wins of the season against a competitive Trinity outfit. Unfortunately, the 10A’s, 9A’s and 8A’s weren’t able to get their desired first wins of the season to go into the holidays on a high. The final results from their games were 40 to 35, 48 to 32 and 32 to 30 respectively, with Trinity proving to be CAS contenders right across the age groups. The juniors will keep their heads high and aim to improve their game during the holidays to hopefully get their seasons back on track throughout the next five games.

2nd V

The 2nd V were looking to get their season back on track and improve to 2-1-2 for the season. This would shift them to third or fourth on the CAS ladder depending on other results. Following a disappointing draw in the Friday night lights game, the 2nds were determined to make a statement and this is exactly what they did, delivering on both ends of the floor to get a 64 to 50 win over Trinity. One final dominant performance from Matthew Higgins-Titsha before leaving to Melbourne, proved to be too good for the team from Summer Hill, emphatically leaving his mark on the game to help get a victory in his last game as a Waverlian. The 2nds will be looking to escalate their skills to the next level during the holidays, aiming to work around the absence of Matthew. Fortunately, they have acquired previous 1st V player Joshua Gleeson, who is now a valuable player on the team.

1st V

Round 5 of CAS Basketball was a very exciting one for our Waverley 1st V boys as we looked towards a victory against a young, but talented Trinity side. The Year 12 boys prepared for the game knowing it would be the last time that they would ever play on Trinity’s home court wearing Blue and Gold. Ryan Abbott opened the scoring for the Waves with a great move in the paint. Angelo Di Bartolo led Waverley in scoring for the first quarter with 12 points, scoring two three-pointers and attacking the ring with aggression. To end the first quarter Waverley led 21 to 25. The 2nd quarter was a great shooting quarter for Waverley scoring 18 consecutive points of three-point makes. This began with Stephen Morrissey making a 3 off a drive and kick by Ryan Abbott. Right after this, Waverley guard Christian Diaz heated up scoring 4 straight contested 3-pointers. The Waverley College bench cheered loud and proud for Christian and the boys, inspiring Stephen Morrissey to connect again from 3 and Diaz to score two more baskets inside the paint. Waverley led at the half 43 to 53. The 3rd quarter was a great defensive quarter for the Waves holding trinity to only 14 points. Offensively the team was led by Ryan Abbott who scored all but two of Waverley’s 3rd quarter baskets. Ryan scored 17 points in the 3rd quarter allowing the Waves to build on the lead they had created in the first half of the game. The 3rd quarter ended with a 73 to 57 point lead for the Waves. The fourth quarter involved the Trinity boys coming out strong with hard fought defence and spirited offence. Ash Backlund and Ryan Abbott created the majority of the scores for the Waves in the fourth scoring 15 of the 19 Waverley fourth quarter points. Ryan lead the game in scoring with 24 points in the well fought team, with the final score being 92 to 81.

Convenor’s Report

FROM CONVENOR OF BASKETBALL, ANTHONY GIBBS

After a successful Round 4 against Cranbrook, both the 1^st V and 2^nd V were on a high heading into their games against Trinity. Despite a 12-point loss to Knox and a 1-point loss to St Aloysius, the 2^nd V have played very well over the first part of the season and have been very competitive. Similarly, with the 1^st V, notwithstanding their lacklustre effort against Barker in Round 1 and an admirable effort in losing to Knox in Round 2, have also played some good basketball, winning their last two games. In the Seconds fixture, Coach Mr Smith-Hyde reports that despite strong play from both sides, Trinity made a number of tough shots to gain an early edge over the visitors. In response, Waverley were able to make the necessary adjustments turning defensive stops into easy scores en route to snatching the lead before half time. It was a true team effort in the second half from Waverley, with the starting five executing well offensively while establishing great energy on defense. As substitutions were made, each player slotted in seamlessly as Waverley outplayed Trinity in the second half to secure an impressive 64-50 victory with all 10 players finding a way to contribute. Joey Lyons, Ben Walton and Adam Femia were the standout performers on the day. The Seconds say farewell to Matthew Higgins-Titsha, who played his last game for Waverley and is now moving to Melbourne with his family. Matthew has been played consistently well and is one of the reasons the Seconds have been successful this term. His team play, scoring and rebounding ability will be greatly missed. The Seconds now head into the Christmas break with 2 wins, 2 losses and a draw and if their development throughout the first half of the season is any sign, Waverley are set for a strong second half of the 2019 CAS season. They sit in fourth place behind Knox, Cranbrook and St Aloysius. The 1^st V went into this game having won their previous three games.

Despite Trinity being a young side and looking like they are in a rebuilding phase this season, they still boasted some very athletic players and are always a handful when playing them at Summer Hill. The first quarter was a close affair with both teams trading baskets and Waverley going into the break with a small lead at 25 to 21. Neither team could pull away from the other in the second quarter with Waverley outscoring Trinity by 28 to 22 to take a 10-point lead into the main break with the score 53 to 43. In the third quarter, Waverley continued to go about their business in workmanlike fashion to stretch their lead to 16 points to end the quarter 73 to 57. During the fourth quarter Waverley was out to a 20-point lead at one stage, however Trinity were able to close the gap outscoring Waverley 24 to 19. Fortunately, Waverley had already done enough to eventually win the game 92 to 81. Despite losing each quarter, Trinity did very well to stay in the game and over the break Waverley will need to work on their ability to close out games, of which defence plays a big part. Christian Diaz (18 points, 4 assists, 4 steals), Ryan Abbott (24 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) and Angelo Di Bartolo (20 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists) played very well. The 1^st V were dominant in several key areas of the game including, Rebounds, Points in the Paint, Assists and Turnovers. The 1^st V move into the second half of the season with 3 wins from five games and sit second in the race for the Rev Fr A V Smith Basketball Shield. Knox are outright leaders and undeniable favourites to win the competition, sitting in first place with five wins, while Barker are equal second with three wins. The 1^st V must defeat both Barker and Knox in the first two rounds next term to keep their premiership hopes alive.

In other games, the following Waverley teams posted victories: 10B (35-15), 10C (39-25), 10D (43-33), 10E (36-21), 10F (26-23), 10G (26-22), 9C (26-16), 9D (27-24), 9F (31-8), 9G (34-21) and 8C (38-34). The 3^rd V (50-48), 5^th V (33-32), 8^th V (27-26), 10^th V (28-22), 10A (40-35), 9H (14-13), 8A (32-30) and 8E (23-18) lost close games. After five rounds of basketball, the 10C’s, 9F’s and 8C’s are still undefeated with 5 wins. The 10E’s are 4-1 and the 10B’s, 10H’s, 9B’s, 9C’s, 9D’s and 9E’s are 3-2 for the season. 10C’s, 9F’s and 8C’s are the only undefeated teams at 4-0, while the 10E’s, 10H’s, 9B’s and 9E’s are 3-1, the 10F’s and 9C’s are 2-1-1 and the 1^st V, 10B’s, 9D’s, 8B’s, 8D’s, 8E’s, 8F’s and 8H’s are all 2-2.

Waverley Basketball uses Team App to publish information such as scores, news, fixtures, team lists and announcements. Download the app and search for ‘Waverley College Basketball’ to receive notifications and updates. Until next term, when basketball resumes with Year 7 trials and the CAS Basketball Blitz, enjoy a well-earned break!