Basketball Fundraising Top
From the co-Captains of Basketball, Angus Mattick and Matteo De Vecchi
Both the 1st V and 2nd V were hoping to get a win against Barker after both teams lost their games last week, something that had not happened since Round 3.
The 2nd V welcomed back Hayden Walton to the team, as they only needed one more win to break the record for the best season for a 2nd V Waverley team in over 10 years. Unfortunately, they had to do so against an undefeated Barker who hadn’t looked like losing all year and were very motivated to keep their record clean.
The game started out at a high pace and was very scrappy as both teams looked to push the ball on the smaller court to get easy transition buckets. Some great rebounding by Josh Weinstein and a lot of made baskets by Jake Thomas gave the 2nd V a lot of confidence, only being down by 2 points at half time.
It did not get better for Waverley as a lacklustre start to the second half gave Barker a comfortable lead which they were able to maintain for the rest of the game. This meant Barker remained undefeated and the 2nd V move to 3-1-4 for the season.
The 1st V were hoping to get their first win of the year as they had been very unlucky in the last two weeks not to get a win, but knew it would be a struggle without Nicholas Blakey in the team.
In the first couple of minutes Waverley had looked their best all season, but after coming out in the second quarter that quickly changed as Barker pushed the ball leading to open 3’s and easy transition buckets.
Some good finishing at the rim by Matthew Miller and sharpshooting by Ryan Lewis cut down the lead but it wasn’t enough as Barker’s intensity and hard work outmatched Waverley’s and the 1st V suffered their biggest lost of the year 91-55 and now move to 3-0-5 for the season.
We wish all teams playing Knox this weekend the best of luck!
From the Convenor of Basketball, Anthony Gibbs
After the disappointing loss to Trinity last week, the 2nd V needed to bounce back with a strong display against ladder-topping Barker. Barker set the pace for the game from the outset and both teams were relatively even on the scoreboard through a great showing of offensive and defensive basketball. An especially great effort from Waverley on defense forced Barker to make a lot of quick decisions and put up shots they did not take last time. Barker free throws and execution from the 3-point line eventually won them the game 49-38. Despite the loss, Coach Mr Chamberlain was pleased with his players for playing a hard game. With a win-loss record of 3-1-4, the 2nd V still have one last opportunity at Knox to break the long-standing record of 4 wins for a Waverley 2nd V team in a season. Given their last outing against Knox, the 2nd V will feel confident in achieving this, however it will be no easy task, given Knox have home-court advantage this time round.
The 1st V played exceptionally well the last time they met Barker at home to win by single point and would have been reasonably confident of putting on another solid performance going into the second match-up. The first quarter started well as the 1st V matched it with their bigger Barker opponents, however in the second quarter Barker lifted their intensity and pressured Waverley’s offense for the entire length of the court. This concentrated pressure forced Waverley to regularly turn over the ball as the team struggled to execute their half-court sets, becoming flustered and unable to handle the situation. The second quarter was probably the worst Waverley has played all season. To Barker’s credit their shooters were on-song, while every Waverley turnover virtually became easy points for Barker. Unfortunately, it was not to get any better in the third and final quarters as Barker continued to amass points. However, scoring flurries by Ryan Lewis and Matthew Miller kept the deficit from blowing out to 50+ points. In the end, Waverley went down 91-55 in a very disappointing performance and will look to lift considerably for their last game of the season, away to third placed Knox, and send off our Year 12 players in style. Congratulations to Trinity Grammar and Barker College – with one round to go, both schools have already won the CAS 1sts and 2nds basketball competitions respectively.
In other games, Waverley enjoyed considerable success against Barker, especially in the junior years. Waverley posted wins in the 6th V (40-33), 10C (31-20), 10E (29-27), 10F (31-29), 9A (34-28), 9C (27-25), 9D (21-12), 8B (23-22), 8C (35-13), 8D (16-13), 8E (23-21), 8G (38-23), 7A (42-24), 7B (39-26), 7C (20-12), 7E (37-14), 7F (30-3) and 7G (28-0). Currently, the 1st V (3-5) are 4th, 2nd V (3-1-4) are 3rd, 10A’s (5-3) are 2nd, 9A’s are 5th, 8A’s (2-1-5) are 5th and 7A’s (2-1) are 2nd in their respective divisions. The best performing Waverley teams to date are the 8C’s and 8E’s, both with 6-1 win-loss records for the season.
USA Basketball Development Tour
In December 2017, 34 Waverley students and 6 staff members will be participating in the USA Basketball Development Tour to the USA and Canada.
Long sleeve ‘Waverley Basketball’ shirts are 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 purchase shirts at the Saturday Basketball BBQ or at school on the ground floor of the TAS Building on Wednesdays at lunchtime.
Annual Basketball Presentation Night
The annual Basketball Presentation Night is nearly upon us. The event will be held from 5pm-7:30pm on Saturday 11 March at the College. Tickets and further details are available through Trybooking. Click HERE to book. Please contact Mrs Sharon Frazer (Supporter Group President) if you have any questions at sharonjf@bigpond.com.
Good luck to all teams this weekend against Knox for the final round of the CAS season.
