Captains of Basketball Report
Angelo Di Bartolo & Dion Hatziandreou, Co-Captains of Basketball
Juniors
This season Knox appears to be dominant through all age groups as the 10A, 9A and 8A teams all fell in defeat. On Saturday, the boys in the 9As faced off with a Knox team who were very well drilled and appeared to rarely miss a shot when given an opportunity. Jake Weinstein was able to keep the Waves in the game by heating up and making a number of outside shots. Unfortunately, the 9As lost by 11 points falling 55-44. The 8As and 10As teams both fought hard in tough losses with the 8As losing 55-22 and the 10As losing 50-22.
Seniors
2nd V
The 2nd V basketball suffered a disappointing loss to a strong Knox team after earlier beating them in the pre-season tournament. An immensely strong first half performance on the defensive end from the 2nds kept Knox to 8 points within the first 15 minutes. However, they were unable to execute on the offensive end only scoring 17 points during this time and eventually let the lead slip to within 2 points by the half. The 2nds struggled to pick up on their defensive dominance in the second half losing the lead and dropping to within a 10-point deficit. A last minute run brought them back into game, but the 2nds still failed to stop Knox knocking down 3’s in a lackluster defensive effort in the end. Matthew Higgins-Titsha starred in the 44-31 loss, dominating the boards consistently throughout the game and keeping Waverley in the fight.
1st V
1st Basketball had its greatest competition for the season in championship contenders Knox. Following up on the previous week’s loss to Barker, the boys were looking to make a statement to the rest of the competition. Both teams were competing right from the get-go and the overall effort & intensity of both teams didn’t disappoint as the action was constantly back and forth. Knox got out to an early 14-point lead in the first quarter before two threes from Ryan Abbott and Angelo Di Bartolo brought it to within 8 by the end of the quarter. The action slowed down a bit in the second with Waverley taking the quarter only 13-12 to trail by 7 into the half.
The intensity significantly picked up in the second half with Waverley able to cut the lead to within three points. Some handy assists from Stephen Morrissey shooting a near half-court shot and Christian Diaz finding the open man in Angelo Di Bartolo for back-to-back 3’s, along with a magnificent hustle play from Dion Hatziandreou to drain the deep 2 helped maintain their momentum into the fourth.
The fourth picked up exactly where the third finished, with Waverley continuing to fight back and extinguish the Knox lead. Unfortunately, the main shooter at Knox was able to ‘knox’ down 4 threes in the final period to help stretch and maintain their lead to go out victorious 81-69. This performance proved that Waverley are strong contenders this season when they’re able to execute and will be looking to get their first win of the season against a strong St Aloysius outfit next Saturday at the Waverley Gym.
Convenor’s Report
FROM CONVENOR OF BASKETBALL, ANTHONY GIBBS
Buoyed by their Round 1 victory against Barker, the 2nd V were looking to maintain momentum and make it back-to-back wins against Knox. Knox had good form coming into the game, having easily defeated Trinity the week prior. Coach Mr Linden Smith-Hyde reports that Waverley established control of the game early thanks to some strong inside play from Ben Walton and Matthew Higgins-Titsha. Point Guard Keilan Grace was also a force early on, able to carve up Knox’s full court man to man defense to help open up a 15-7 lead. Unfortunately, Waverley were unable to put a well drilled Knox side away, allowing them to hang around long enough to make a run of their own.
Some hot shooting from several Knox guards enabled them to take the lead early in the second half. Not giving up, Waverley fought back through an excellent defensive effort that was able to slow Knox down, however were unable to capitalise with several key offensive threats on the bench in foul trouble. Despite the strong defensive effort, a couple of big shots from Knox late in the second half put the game out of reach for Waverley 44-31. Matthew Higgins-Titsha, Ben Walton and Keilan Grace were notable for their play on the day.
The 2nds now face St Aloysius, who narrowly lost to Cranbrook in Round 1 and posted a 12-point win against Barker last week. This encounter will be another close affair and the 2nds will need to lift their game if they are to ensure victory.
The 1st V faced CAS competition favourites Knox and were looking to post their first win of the season, having lost narrowly to Barker in Round 1. Knox had comfortably accounted for Trinity the previous week and would be a tough assignment playing at home at Wahroonga. Knox were able to move out to an early lead in the first quarter, however, pleasingly, Waverley was playing with a lot more intensity than the previous week against Barker. Unfortunately, the 1st V missed a number of easy layups and our bigs got into foul trouble in the first half. Despite this, the score line at the half-time break was 35-28 in Knox’s favour.
The third quarter was an even affair, with Waverley unable to reduce Knox’s lead with the score 54-47 at the end of the term. In the last quarter, Waverley was able to play excellent defense, producing numerous stops to prevent Knox from increasing their lead. Knox’s shooting guard, however, had other ideas, making three 3-pointers at crucial times in the quarter to give them breathing space and ultimately put the result beyond doubt. Despite losing, the 1st V can be very proud of their defensive effort, passion and urgency throughout the game, however their scoring and finishing was below their best, having missed too many layups and free throws. Christian Diaz, Stevie Morrissey and Ryan Abbott played great games.
This week Waverley are up against St Aloysius, who were dismantled by Cranbook in Round 1, losing by 30 points. St Aloysius, however were able to defeat Barker by 5 points in Round 2, so on paper, it looks like it will be another close game for the 1sts unless they are able to put their shots away.
In other games, Waverley had minor success against Knox. The following teams recorded wins: 10C (38-30), 10E (19-17), 10H (37-22), 9B (33-24), 9D (41-29), 9F (19-12) and 8C (41-40). The 9C’s drew their game 26-all, while the 10B’s (26-22), 9H’s (18-12), 8B’s (19-11) and 9H’s (14-10) lost in close games. After two rounds of basketball, the 10C’s, 10H’s, 9D’s, 9F’s and 8C’s remain undefeated on 2-0, while a number of teams sit at 1-1 (2nd V, 5th V, 10E, 9B, 9C, 9E, 9H, 8B, 8D, 8E, 8F and 8H).
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Good luck to all teams this weekend against St Aloysius!
