Basketball Report: Weeks 2 and 3

Captains of Basketball Report  – Week 2

From Co-Captains of Basketball, Luca Zanarini & James Foster

Juniors

The junior teams this week had some good results with the 9A’s winning in a tough matchup against St Aloysius’ by 5 points, however some of the other teams lost such as the 8A’s who lost by just two points with the St Aloysius’ team featuring a 6.5 ft player. The 10 A’s also lost in a highly contested match that came down to a late surge by Saint Aloysius, who eventually beat the Waverley boys by 7 points. After the first two rounds of CAS competition over it is great to see the teams show good sportsmanship and mateship through their opening games.

First V game

This week the strong Waverley First V regained a past First’s player, Luca Zanarini who was back from an ankle injury. After being strapped and warmed up the game began. The St Aloysius’ side came out to a strong start that put pressure on the Waverley boys, however with a few stops and smart shots Waverley began to claw back into the game, where at the end of the first quarter Waverley, was trailing by just 3 points. During the first half the Waverley boys showed how they have grown as a team but still struggled to find a rhythm on both ends of the floor, this may have been due to the absence of the Year 12 cohort just returning from retreat. However, this was no excuse for the mass of turnovers that flooded onto the team due to a few bad passes and decisions. Fortunately, a run led by Jeremy Petritsis with some big shots to reduce the gap to 2 points entering the half and put Waverley back into the game. Things looked good for Waverley as they gained a lead early in the second half but the Aloysius team began to go on a run after a dunk from their teammate. However, this was quickly answered back with a 3 point shot to silence the home crowd.

With the third quarter coming to a close the Waverley boys were down by 7 points entering the fourth quarter. With the boys’ recovering their energy, they were ready to go. After the break the St Aloysius’ lead was slowly chipped away by a few big shots from Ryan Abbott and the defensive effort produced by Waverley lead to a St Aloysius’ shot missing and a final push to tie the game with less than 20 seconds left. With the pressure mounting, Waverley were down by 3. With a rebound for the Waverley boys, the ball was recovered in their possession, just in time for a drive and kick for a final shot at the buzzer. Unfortunately, the shot didn’t fall and this left Waverley disappointed with their performance and loss. However, this was a good wake up call for the First V team to use this as an experience to regain their form for the upcoming home game against Cranbrook.

Second V game

After the first win last week, the Second V team were after another to add to their list. This week’s opponent being St Aloysius’. As the Seconds warmed up for a few minutes, they got to see first the competition they were about to face. As both teams went in for their huddle, the Seconds had a game plan to stick with. They knew it would be tough to keep themselves composed throughout the game. As the game started, Waverley were off to a solid start scoring some quick layups, however Waverley’s fouls gave away some easy points for Aloysius’. As halftime approached, some good 3-point shooting from Justin Capra and Stephen Morrissey, left the boys with a lead. However, some lazy passing led to turnovers and allowed St Aloysius’ to narrow that lead with the half time score being 29-30 Waverley. Although Waverley were dominating most of the first half, the Seconds boys knew that St Aloysius’ would put up a fight till the very last minute. Knowing they needed to adjust, Waverley came into the second half with a want to win. Like the first half, St Aloysius’ scored some much needed points through their offensive side of number 4 and 14 who scored their first 10 points of the half. This gave St Aloysius’ momentum as they began to grow a lead. Ash Backland got some much needed points through some strong points inside the paint, again narrowing the margin.

As the game continued to be close, like last week, Waverley’s turnovers played a big role in the game. This lead to many fast break points and much needed possession entering into the final moments of the game. Number 14 for St Aloysius’ again dominated with inside scoring, as Waverley struggled to get stops.

St Aloysius’ grew a lead of 4-5 points and Waverley needed to get some defensive stops to keep themselves in it. Unfortunately for Waverley, the defense and offense of St Aloysius’ stopped them from getting back into the game, as they ended in a close loss of 59-54. The Seconds boys showed significant grit throughout the game, however they unfortunately suffered their first loss of the season, but allowed them to find errors in their game to work on for next Friday night’s opponent, Cranbrook.

 

Convenor’s Report – Week 2

From Convenor of Basketball, Anthony Gibbs

After thrilling wins for 1^st’s and 2^nd’s against Knox in the opening round of the CAS competition, Waverley were optimistic about their chances against St Aloysius’ on the weekend. The 2^nd V were focussed on ensuring that they ran the court well, opening up shooting opportunities and making baskets. The game started well with the 2^nd’s racing to a 10-point lead, however St Aloysius began playing more aggressive basketball, using their hands and pressing full court. The 2^nd V struggled to maintain their composure under this pressure. Despite this the 2^nd’s did well to stay in the game and at the half-time break, the score was 30-29 in Waverley’s favour. In the second half, the 2^nd’s were able to build a small lead, however the continued pressure and missed opportunities kept St Aloysius’ in touch. Eventually, St Aloysiu’s were able to close out the game 59-54. Despite the disappointment of the loss, Coach Mr Creus Custodio, was pleased with the way the players never gave up and kept playing to the end. Ash Backlund, Daniel Marando and Justin Capra were the standouts on the day.

The 1^st V were feeling very confident after their morale-boosting win against Knox the week before. During the week, video footage of the Knox game was analysed by Coach Mr Jovine and the players. The key messages from this analysis were to minimise turnovers and get defensive stops. The game started relatively well for the 1^st’s as baskets were traded between each team with the score at the first break 15-12 to St Aloysius’. In the second quarter, St Aloyisus’ aggressive defense began to pay dividends as they capitalised on defensive stops and Waverley’s turnovers to jump out to a 7-point lead. Despite this, the 1^st V were able to stay in the game and pulled to within 2 points at the half-time break with the score at 28-26 in St Aloysius’ favour. Late in the third quarter, the 1^st V struggled to score points with the quarter closing at 47-40 to the opposition. Despite the mounting turnovers, the 1^st’s were able stay with St Aloysius’, winning the fourth quarter 22-18, but ultimately losing the game 65-62. Coach Mr Jovine believed that Waverley was the better team, however the continued high turnover count will keep opposition teams in the game, making it difficult to get wins. He was happy that Waverley rallied towards the end of the game, having two opportunities to tie the game. Ultimately, the 1^st’s fell short, going down 65-62. Coach Mr Jovine thought that if the 1^st’s played the way they did in the last few minutes of the game, they would be hard for anyone to beat. Ryan Abbott, Jeremy Petritsis and Luca Zanarini played quality games.

With one win and a loss, both the 1^st V and 2^nd V are equal second on their respective ladders with three other schools. With 2 impressive wins from 2 games, Barker sit atop both the 1^st V and 2^nd V tables and look to be early favourites to win both 1^st’s and 2^nd’s competitions.

Friday night sees the 1^st V and 2^nd V take on neighbouring CAS school and traditional rival Cranbrook in the Eastside Derby. Friday Night Basketball is always a thrilling affair played in an electric atmosphere with many games over the years going down to the wire. Come and show your school spirit by attending and supporting your 1^st V and 2^nd V teams in their quest to be the best in the East! The 2^nd’s tip-off at 6pm and the 1^st’s at 7:15pm. Waverley student spectators must wear the full Waverley school uniform or sports uniform and ensure they adhere to the CAS Code of Conduct for Spectators (reproduced below).

Families participating in the USA / Canada Basketball Tour will be selling food and drinks on the night to help raise funds for the Tour. Long sleeve ‘Waverley Basketball’ shirts are also being sold to help raise money for the Tour. Proceeds from the sale of these shirts will go towards purchasing tour gear and uniforms for the players. The shirts are made from 50% cotton and 50% polyester and are smart, comfortable and perfect for wearing to basketball training, games or casually. The cost of the shirts is $50 each with some of the proceeds from the sale of the shirts going towards the Social Justice component of the Tour. Many families have already purchased the shirts and you will have no doubt seen them being worn. Show your support for the players on tour by purchasing a shirt before they are all sold out! You can also purchase shirts at the Saturday Basketball BBQ or at the Supporters Club stall at this week’s Friday Night Basketball.

In other games, Waverley enjoyed considerable success against St Aloysius with the following teams winning their games: 10C (18-17), 10D (46-14), 9A (39-35), 9B (30-14), 9C (28-24), 9D (51-11), 9F (39-12), 8B (34-20), 8C (), 8D (), 8F (27-8). The 10E’s (19-all) and 9E’s (22-all) drew their games. The 9G’s also won, defeating Shore 27-20. Despite losing, many other Waverley teams played in close games including the 10A’s (32-25), 10B’s (47-40), 10F’s (19-13), 9H’s (24-20), 8A’s (44-42) and 8E’s (19-12).

Waverley Basketball is now using Team App to publish information such as scores, news, fixtures, team lists and announcements.

 

Captains of Basketball Report – Week 3

From Co-Captains of Basketball, Luca Zanarini & James Foster

Juniors

In the Juniors this week the 8A’s had a significant win over Cranbrook winning 69-27 along with the 8B’s who won 30-17 at home. The 9A’s game was a tightly contested game and even with some big shots from Eoin Morrissey to close the gap, it wasn’t enough as the Waverley team lost by just 7 points. The 10 A’s had a well contested game but couldn’t close out the game and unfortunately lost by 10.

2nd V

In the opening game for the Friday night local Derby against Cranbrook, the 2^nd V were tremendous. The scene was set with a crowd building in anticipation for what was going to be a great game, with an incredible atmosphere and electrifying chants even before the opening tip off. The first points for Waverley came from an early basket from Mark Goncalves, which was quickly answered by the Cranbrook side who scored a basket of their own to level the scores. It was shaping to be a tight game with each team taking advantage of opportunities throughout the first half. As both teams were on fire offensively, they capitalized on turnovers, Heath Lawther and Ash Backlund began to score frequently inside to add pressure to the Cranbrook team, however they still could not break away in the first half of the game. As halftime approached Waverley left the court with a 2-point lead.

At the start of the second half, the crowd began to get behind the Waverley boys as the Waverley chants echoed throughout the gym. The game looked like it would come down to the wire as both teams struggled to break the cycle and gain a substantial lead. Waverley steadily began to pull away due to some great looks on offence and stops down the other end, which led to a run that would leave Waverley ahead by 7 going into the final minutes. However, Cranbrook came back out firing and soon it was a tied game with only a few minutes remaining. Waverley turned on the pressure on the Cranbrook team and began to lead the game, getting stops that would prove to be a crucial turning point as it led Waverley to take the win 54-47.

1st V

Last week was the annual Friday Night Game against Cranbrook at Waverley. One of the most popular and sought after events in CAS. After a harsh loss to St Aloysius last week, the 1^st V boys, were determined to be the victors of this week. Like always, a large crowd was expected. The attendance of the Old boys, younger students, Parents, Staff and others were a huge aspect in support of the boys in their games. With the success of the 2^nd’s win, the 1^st V boys knew they needed to win to still be considered CAS contenders.

Preparing for the game, a large portion of the motivation for the boys was to play for each other and themselves as a brotherhood, and not for the crowd. Coach Johnny Jovine made this clear this was a factor in being successful in the game. As the game started, the First V boys were off to a strong start going on a 10-1 run within the first 5 minutes of the quarter. Using this as momentum, Waverley finished the quarter strong with a lead of 10 points. As the next quarter began, Waverley continued their offensive push, however still struggled as Cranbrook scored some easy layups as they played through their big men.

As Waverley’s defense became cluttered, more open shots and poor fouls, allowed Cranbrook to score 16 points to finish in the half with the score 36-26 in favour of Waverley. After this poorer defensive half, the boys needed to make some adjustments to keep Cranbrook as far out of the game as possible. Some good defense by Dion Hatziandreou led us to get stops and push the fast break to score points, tiring out the Cranbrook squad. As we were composed throughout, we didn’t allow Cranbrook to make a push, ultimately leaving them to only be able to score 3 points in the whole quarter! Going into the last quarter of the game, Waverley held a comfortable 24-point lead, and continued to score.

With Cranbrook tired out, Waverley finished off the game with a 74-39 win as Luca Zanarini scoring 16 points and Dion Hatziandreou scoring 17. The boys worked hard throughout the whole week and game and deserved the win. However, even though the 1^st V were successful, there are always areas for improvement as Waverley shot a poor 37% from the free throw line. This will need to be improved against next week’s opponent Trinity.

 

Convenor’s Report – Week 3

From Convenor of Basketball, Anthony Gibbs

Last round saw Waverley host local rivals Cranbrook for Friday Night Basketball. By the time the 2^nd’s tipped-off, a healthy crowd had built and were eager to see some quality basketball. The 2^nd’s began well, maintaining their composure and controlling the ball well and the first half saw both teams trading baskets and keeping the crowd on edge. The score at the break was 25-24 to Waverley. It was not until halfway through the second half that Waverley was able to pull away from Cranbrook and close out the game 7-point winners 54-47. The 2^nd’s performed extremely well, playing relatively mistake-free basketball with the performances of Ash Backlund, Nathan Papageorgious and Samuel Frazer played of particular note.

Despite the narrow loss to St Aloysius the previous week, the 1^st’s were primed to put on a good performance against neighbours Cranbrook. Waverley began very well jumping out to an 18-8 lead at the first break. In the second quarter, the 1^st V were unable to gain a definitive ascendency over Cranbrook, with both teams collecting 18 points, leaving Waverley with a 10-point lead at the main break. It was the third quarter, however, where the 1^st’s really shone, shutting down the Cranbrook offense to a measly 3 points, while posting 17 points themselves. This trend continued in the final quarter where the 1^st V outscored Cranbrook by 21-points to 11. By the end of the game, the 1^st’s had outgunned Cranbrook by 35 points, winning the game 74-39. It was the biggest winning margin by a Waverley 1^st’s team in many seasons. Dion Hatziandreou, Mike El-Haddad, Luca Zanarini and captain Jeremey Petritsis had excellent games.

After three round, both the 1^st’s and 2^nd’s sit in equal second place in their respective competitions with 2 wins and 1 loss. A significant challenge awaits them this weekend in the form of Trinity, who despite losing to Barker and St Aloysius this season, will still be very competitive.

Thank you to the parents of the 1^st’s and 2^nd’s players for hosting a sumptuous after-game feast, especially Ms Terry Higgins for her organisation skills. Thank you also to the families participating in the USA / Canada Basketball Tour who staffed the Friday Night Basketball BBQ and sold food and drinks to help raise funds for the Tour. You can continue to support the players on the Basketball Tour by purchasing a long-sleeve Waverley Basketball shirt. With Christmas around the corner, the shirts would make a great gift. The Tour departs in just 28 days’ time and 32 students and 6 staff members will travel through the Pacific Northwest region of North America playing up to 7 different US high schools. Waverley will be represented by three teams – Varsity, Junior Varsity and Freshman, who will participate in three home-stays with American families as well as attend the Portland Trailblazers versus Houston Rockets NBA game, an NCAA game between the University of Washington and Loyola Marymount University and a WHL ice hockey game between Seattle Thunderbirds and the Prince George Cougars.

In other games, Waverley enjoyed great success against Cranbrook with the following teams winning their games: 10F (21-16), 9B (50-17), 9C (20-18), 9D (49-12), 9E (38-10), 9F (32-24), 8A (69-27), 8B (30-17), 8C (25-23), 8D (32-27) and 8F (35-10). The 10E’s drew 24-all, while the 10A’s (50-40), 10B’s (41-31) and 9A’s (30-23) lost in close games.

Waverley Basketball is now using Team App to publish information such as scores, news, fixtures, team lists and announcements.

Best of luck to all teams this weekend against Trinity.