WABL Wrap Week 15 – 06/08/23
All of our “Player of the Game” superstars will receive a FREE PIZZA from our friends at Domino’s Kalamunda – Thanks Guys!
Players of the round:
Zakk Venetis (U16 Boys) – Zakk Venetis – Player of the Round goes to Zakk Venetis. Like the rest of the team, Zakk struggled in the 1st, but he settled in and turned it into one of his best games so far this season. Zakk was aggressive in both offence and defense and made some big plays including 3 x 3 pointers in 1 quarter.
Fearne Van Beek (U18 Girls) – Fearne Van Beek: This is a tough one this week with all of the girls potentially being able to receive this award for different reasons. However at the end of the day it can only go to one and for me that is Fearne Van Beek who played more minutes than she has all year and worked tirelessly and without complaint whilst defending brilliantly against much bigger opposition.
U12 Girls Black (Lawrence West)
Loss against Lakeside Lightning (39 – 56)
U12 Girls Orange (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against East Perth Eagles (55 – 14)
Coaches notes
Everybody played brilliantly again. Our teamwork got us over the line convincingly and the emotional maturity of our team & parents was on good display throughout a physically rough game.
With more than 5 injuries received, our girls didn’t give up and stayed aggressive and on the ball. Our defence and offence were great, however our shots under pressure need work. Unlike our opposition, we had the skills to 100% play the man and not the ball and get where we needed to be.
Our team needs to keep up their improvement each week, even at this end of the season.
Keep at it girls!
Player of the game
Lily Butler – Lily played the best game she’s played this season. She was strong under the basket and made some great steals, she still needs to get her eyes up and pass early but the improvement in the past 3 weeks is a step up every week. That’s what we like to see.
U12 Girls White (Bruno Kongawoin)
Won against Lakeside Lightning (58 – 13)
Coaches notes
Another well deserved win in the bag. Although our play execution and performance were lackluster, teamwork prevailed especially on the defensive end of the court. We recorded 28 personal fouls which is testament to our commitment to stop the ball coming up the court.
Indigo Anderson and Sienna Raddock continued to provide valiant leadership defensively negating any fastbreak opportunities and creating some quick offensive openings for us. Millie-Rose Ronan and Cassidy Buckingham capitalized on our poor shooting from the floor by hitting the board hard on every missed shot of ours, resulting in some personal best of the season with 12 points and 11 points on the scoreboard respectively. Nice work girls.
It was pleasing and encouraging to see Dani Simmons moving the ball up court and creating scoring gateways for her teammates.
The girls will need to keep up that level of play and then some to see us through the remaining games of the season.
We are now set to iron our in-bound and set plays.
Player of the game
Sienna Raddock – Sienna has been a silent consummate leader on the floor at training and games. I could not be any prouder of her and her work ethic is second to none.
U12 Boys Black (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against Southwest Slammers (75 – 56)
Coaches notes
One of our best games we have played. Southwest Slammers played a really good running game beating us up the court and forcing us to step up to the challenge. The boys concentrated on rebounds both offensively and defensively and made great improvements in this part of the game.
Considering they lost previously to the South West Slammers by 40 points in Bunbury, this was a great turn around.
Player of the game
Zayde – What can’t he do??? Zayde has really improved in all areas of his game and really helps to lift the standard of the team and gives the other boys something to aspire to.
U12 Boys Orange (Tim Hart)
Loss against Warwick Senators (48 – 70)
Coaches notes
The team showed a strong defensive performance in Q1 with steals 8 (Suns) to 3 (Warwick), and deflections 6 (Suns) to 1 (Warwick) – but Warwick managed to finish the qtr up due to pulling down three times more rebounds, coupled with more accurate shooting. Suns were 4 points down with 1:44 left to play in Q2, before Warwick picked up a quick 8 unmatched points to take a 12 point lead coming into H2. The bench lit up with 1:30 to go in Q3, as they watched an 8 point run from Hunter (2 back to back three point shots), both off an assist from Kade, followed by a quick baseline right hand drive. Alex had a big game (with 6 steals, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 7 deflections, 10 points, shooting 66.7%). Darragh was on point with the shooting this week, and putting in the effort to chase down loose balls – 3/5 from the field (60%) and 3/5 from the foul line for 9 points total. Overall we had 22 steals this game, to 19 for Warwick. We shot 37% to Warwicks 40%, both teams shot 63% from the foul line. Rebounding is an area we will continue to improve on, we only had 21 rebounds vs 50 for Warwick. Warwick had 75 shot attempts to our 43, mostly due to the extra rebounds.
Player of the game
Cohen wins player of the round this week, for sprinting up in defence and offence all game, removing space in D and playing patiently in offence. Cohen picked up 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 9 steals and 6 deflections. Offensively, Cohen had 9 points (shooting 60%), 1 of 2 from the 3 point line.
U12 Boys White (Patrick Massam)
Loss against Rockingham Flames (39 – 57)
U12 Boys Blue (Dave Yan)
Won against Rockingham Flames (64 – 31)
Coaches notes
The ending of last week’s loss showed us what the boys were capable of defensively. Coach Jarrod and Myself preached early on, that this game we wanted to start how we ended last week.
We came out strong defensively only conceding 2 points after the first qtr, offensively we didn’t get going ourselves only scoring 8, but numerous turnovers cost us chances of having more opportunities.
Our defense continue to be locked in and by the half we were up 27-7. by the 3rd qtr Rockingham had only scored 13.
There was individual brilliance on the day, with Austin notching 7 odd steals, and Rylan facilitating the offense with some nice crisp passes. But the day really belonged to Lukas, who fought hard and has improved weekly, this game he showed us a little of what he will be in a couple of years, with time on his side.. he will be a force in the future with his size, strength, and soft touch around the keyway.
With the season nearing the end, it’s great to see the boys all locked in early on defense, and going forward this is what we expect every game until the end.
Player of the game
Lukas Jones – had an amazing performance running out almost an entire 3rd qtr and 4th qtr with tremendous shooting efficiency and effort on the boards.
U14 Girls Black (Andrew Herbert)
Loss against Lakeside Lightning (47 – 69)
Coaches notes
Sunday was another tough loss on the road. We need to make sure we are more automatic with our regulars and execute at all times. I look forward to seeing the ladies learn from this game and they will be ready for Sunday.
Player of the game
POTR this week goes to Eunice Espanola. Eunice stepped up this round into the starting line up, as she understands the importance of executing her role in both offence and defence. Eunice’s full court defence is improving constantly in both containment and pressure. Keep working hard Eunice!
U14 Girls Orange (Adam Brickwood)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawkes (32 – 45)
Coaches notes
With such a tight squeeze on the ladder with 4 points separating 3rd to 7th each game has become so critical in the race to finals.
In the first half each team battled hard without being able to find a rhythm making for a scrappy affair, heading into the break with a 19-21 scoreline reflected this.
As the second half started our defensive pressure was solid and we started to get out in transition, unfortunately we couldn’t capitalize on these moments along with missed opportunities under the basket ultimately gave Perry Lakes the W.
Player of the game
Matilda Little – 15 points and some great post work, she was looking like having a big game. Some foul trouble slowed her but the way she adjusted by taking charges and positioning well in rebounding situations gives her our player of the week. Good job Matilda!
U14 Girls White (Daniel Heyman)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawkes (27 – 52)
Coaches notes
Facing a very tall and skilled Perry Lakes team, our girls played with determination until the end. Unfortunately, we struggled to find ways to score. In the halfcourt, we drove into the interior and putting up shots over much taller players, with little success. To counter, we planned to generate offense by scoring in transition, but failed to apply enough ball pressure to get going.
We learnt a lot about ourselves in this game. It highlighted our strengths and weaknesses. Coming into our next training session, we have clear areas we know we need to work to be able to put more points on the board. This is key to playing our last 3 games of the season to our optimal level, giving ourselves a chance of making finals.
Player of the game
Jaeda Aliphon. Jaeda was awesome on defense and played with energy on the offensive end. Her efficiency with the ball and unselfish play helped our team in a game where we needed someone to step up, and step up Jaeda did!
U14 Girls Blue (Tamara Reeves)
Won against Cockburn Cougars (41 – 38)
Coaches notes
It was a close score all game with us winning by 3 points. We did the high IQ passes on our inbound plays to get each other open and score. It was a scrappy game with us wanting it more and putting our bodies on the line. The grit to get in front in the 1st quarter and keep the lead until the end was great. The girls also communicated well on the court telling each other needed information.
Player of the game
Bianca Maldonado Reveggino- Bianca had awesome on ball defence stopping the opposition in their tracks over and over again. She fought really hard and gained possession for the team multiple times with steals and jump balls. Bianca played as a team player and did the hard jobs of getting rebounds, jumping on loose balls and setting screens for her teammates.
U14 Boys Black (Shannon Trew)
Loss against Willetton Tigers (62 – 70)
Coaches notes
We learnt the hard way today that you can’t go to Willeton and not start well or they will punish you. We let in 28 first qtr points to 12 points which pretty much ended the game for us before it started.
2nd qtr saw us play alot better but still let in 17 points to our 21 which ruined our hard work in offence.
We challenged the boys at half time to lift their energy and effort in defence, which they did and as the game went on, we started playing our style of defence and offence.
Having 3 key players sick doesn’t help things when you’re away from home, but that is basketball and we will learn from it and we needed everyone lifting and giving 100%.
Toby, Bailey, Aiden and Cash came in and out of the game but did some good things in offence or defence when on.
Big focus on our effort and pressure in defence at training this week. When we play great defence, our offence flows well.
Player of the game
Dane Brassington was outstanding in offence and defence this week and clearly played his best game for us this season. We knew it was inside him to play this style of basketball and we challenged him to bring it out and do what he does best. Dane finished with 16 points and lots of defensive pressure/Stops.
U14 Boys Orange (Adrian Mok)
Loss against Lakeside Lightning (43 – 46)
U14 Boys White (Joel Warner)
Won against Southwest Slammers (73 – 60)
Coaches notes
This week we ventured to Eaton to play the South West Slammers, which is always a difficult game on the WABL calendar. Having the early time-slot added a layer of difficulty, but the road trips do tend to bring out a level of unity in the players – which is nice to see. We started a little slow and relied on a buzzer beater to keep us within one point at the first break. We won two of the next three quarters, including the fourth quarter (by 10) which was the best we have closed out a game. We got back to a better scoring spread this week as well, so if we can repeat playing that way (closing well/ broad scoring options), we will challenge the top Teams.
As Coach James and I have done all season, we rewarded those players who are playing to the systems, executing as we have trained, and sticking to the Team values, with starting opportunities. Each week we are having a hard time selecting the starters and as I’ve said before, that is a great problem to have. It has also meant that starters tend to change, giving us the option to show different looks/ match-ups to our opposition. So, this week we had a slightly different starting unit, allowing for Coach James and I to give very specific instructions to those players coming in as first subs. Often, being the first player off the bench is the best way to get started in a game, because a player can sit with a Coach, ask questions and better understand what defences they will face and what counters are needed when they hit the court. Our first rotation of players off the bench this week was outstanding, and Coach James and I felt like we didn’t give up a lot in any substitutions that was made. That would also suggest that we are getting the expected development into all players, rather than into a smaller group of players. Although we had a tight game for the most-part, I am pleased that we are learning to cope with the pressures of close games better, this week we were able to stay calm and find another gear when we needed it. The majority of that work is being banked at practice. Well done to the boys who lead the Team values at practice, they are being demonstrated on the court more consistently, at the right end of the season. This week was a sound win that players should be proud of.
Player of the game
This week’s player of the round goes to Elisha. Elisha winning the award this week started on Tuesday at practice. After our loss to Joondalup last week, Elisha (one of the most skilful players on our Team) was very focussed and driven during practice. I saw some of his frustrations in the game last week, and at practice he used the opportunity to push his Team-mates to do more, to improve, to work harder, to have each-others backs, to work towards the values we as a Team agreed on. Even when his Team-mates may not be as polished as he is, he is not critical, he is leading by example. On Sunday he kept his head held high, he ran our offences to the best of his ability, made clever decisions and should be commended for how he represented himself and his basketball Club. Elisha was very driven on Sunday, even scoring a buzzer beater at the end of three of the four quarters of the game! In a nutshell, he played an amazing game, but also dragged his Team-mates along with him this week. Elisha got a huge bag of points in the game, which is exciting, but our Team-work and playing with the right spirit helped him to get a lot of those opportunities to score. Well done Elisha on a great individual performance, and congratulations on showing firm leadership and facilitating unity in our Team when things get tough. You should be very proud of your game and the impact you had on your Team. Coaches shout out… To Phoenix for upping the energy and effort to 11 out of 10 in the fourth quarter. To Ethan for buying into the game plan and staying focussed. And importantly to Adam, our super-star DP. I expected to play Adam this week but we ultimately had a full contingent. Adam always puts in at practice, he battles and he tries his best week-in, week-out. He doesn’t complain. Other players on our Team wouldn’t be as good as they are, without the work that Adam brings to practice. He is highly valued and is improving greatly.
U14 Boys Blue (Hayden Bird)
Loss against Joondalup Wolves (51 – 49)
Coaches notes
The team played with a strong intensity throughout the whole game! Cheering each other on and playing with heart!
The 4th quarter shined out to us with it being our best quarter of basketball, playing with a very small line-up, the boys played hard and played as a solid team.
Player of the game
Sandrae Miguel – Maesa: during the whole match up Sandrae was working as hard he possibly could, being defensively sound stopping the bigger players from making shots. Sandrae was a big problem on the offence pushing the ball and creating opportunities for himself and his teammates.
U16 Girls Black (Charlie Smart)
Won against Southwest Slammers (60 – 46)
Coaches notes
The long trek to Bunbury was worth it, especially to see the team rally together and play their strongest defensive game of the season.
A nail biting, very slow start, coupled with Slammers scoring off every shot, saw the girls down by over 10 points early in the first quarter. After a major reset during quarter time the team came out with renewed focus and determination arguably playing their best basketball to date, taking out the quarter and gaining the lead. During the second and third quarters we couldn’t fault the effort in crashing the glass both ends of the court and putting on great ball pressure mid court. Everyone worked that extra bit harder and kept their heads level throughout which is to be commended.
Player of the game
Asha – Asha worked incredibly hard throughout the entire game. Her determination under the basket saw her secure more individual rebounds than almost everyone else on the court, combined. Everything we had been working during training, so far, seemed to fall into place and Asha became a powerful threat both ends of the court. Asha’s back door cuts, confident drives, put backs and non give up attitude in the key also saw her come away top points scorer. Massive congratulations Asha!
U16 Girls Orange (Shannon Trew)
Won against East Perth Eagles (66 – 47)
Coaches notes
We started the game with a different starting line up and we asked them to bring the Energy from the tip off and show why they were starting and they kept East Perth to 7 first qtr points and slowly ticking it over in offence.
2nd qtr was a bit of a tussle with both teams finding it hard to score and missing some easy points but we went into half time with a 5 point lead.
The girls all banded together and demanded from each other that they lift their defensive pressure as they knew they could play better than the first half. 20 to 14 third term was filled with highs and lows but their energy and effort was there which was pleasing. We started getting more rebounds which created more opportunities in offence while denying Eagles 2nd chances.
4th qtr was much like the 3rd qtr and we kept up the defensive pressure while having lots of shots in offence which unfortunately didn’t drop but we still finished with a 22-14 fourth qtr.
Lots of work to be done with defensive pressure, having a body on our opponent and making better decisions in offence.
Special mentions to Shelby, Chelsea and Harper for their defensive efforts in the 3rd and 4th qtrs.
Player of the game
Heidi Lucassen gave us 4 qtrs of energy and effort at both ends which is what we ask from all the players. Heidi’s defensive pressure was outstanding and her defence setup her team mates with lots of scoring opportunities and played team first basketball. Heidi finished with 7 points but could have had double that if some of her great open shots had dropped. Heidi’s defence probably helped the scoreline by 20 points which was almost the winning margin.
U16 Boys Black (Brad Dowd)
Loss against Willetton Tigers (58 – 88)
Coaches notes
We always knew facing the top undefeated team in Tigers was going to be a tough ask and we were right, they turned up VERY prepared. It was the toughest 1st quarter in basketball I have ever coached and the boys have probably ever played, with the team not even managing double digits.
This could have quickly turned into one of the worst games of our careers, but luckily it didn’t. At the break, we refocused and looked to the next 3 terms and planned how we were going to stop the game from blowing out any further.
The boys showed great poise and worked hard to mount a major comeback. We managed to slow Tigers’ game and we scored 21 points in the 2nd to steady the ship. The 2nd half was fairly evenly matched and had Tigers not got the jump on us, the outcome could have been very different.
Player of the game
Player of the Round goes to Zakk Venetis. Like the rest of the team, Zakk struggled in the 1st, but he settled in and turned it into one of his best games so far this season. Zakk was aggressive in both offence and defense and made some big plays including 3 x 3 pointers in 1 quarter.
U16 Boys Orange (Rob Rees)
Won against Warwick Senators (63 – 52)
Coaches notes
Boys all played with energy, endurance and effort which produced excellence.
Player of the game
Jackson McClure, with a total of 15 rebounds, 9 points, 2 assists, 5 steals, closely followed by Josh Mahama and Reif Dabbs.
U16 Boys White (Jordon Macpherson)
Won against Hills Raiders (84 – 48)
Coaches notes
A very good game by all this week. I’m really impressed with the work rate in defence. Along with our communication and defensive rotations, all were on point. Given our opponent was an offensive team, to hold them to 48pts was quite an accomplishment! This was backed up with poise and IQ on the offensive end nearly doubling our opponents score (84pts) showing great development amongst the group.
I can feel this group of young men becoming more synergetic every week. Trusting one another and understanding each team mates strengths and weaknesses has really grown our cohesiveness.
Special mentions go out to Riley Bolton who brings a special kind of energy every week and was dominant in offence and made great reads in defence.
Ryan Eva has delivered a little more each time he steps onto the floor and is now working at a much higher rate. I am loving watching Ryan playing with that passion I knew was there.
Daniel, Caedan and Jaxon who all executed their defensive assignments with precision.
Keelan playing with more confidence makes me smile inside!
I give kudos to AJ who plays with courage and is learning a great deal in the process.
Logan and Lionel certainly don’t go unnoticed with their hard work, doing all the 1 percenters that make our team tick.
Player of the game
Our player of the game this week goes to Milan Dimitrijevic who I know has been working on his shooting skills and it paid off this week dropping 25pts. Milan also brought a lot more energy to his game this week with 4 steals, 2 blocks and 20 rebounds!! Well done Milan let’s keep it going all the way to the finish line.
U16 Boys Blue (Luke Poyner)
Won against Rockingham Flames (62 – 58)
Coaches notes
What a fantastic effort by the boys! A much deserved win with one of our best performances this season. We came out hungry for the win on Alex D’Ascenzos 100th game, and had a great start. We started strong and grabbed an early lead, but Flames rallied and came back strong to finish the first quarter 5 points up. The second quarter saw a much more defensive game evolve with both teams putting in some hard work and the scoring rate reduced significantly. Half time saw us only 9 points down on the Flames.
The boys dug deep in the third and put in a stellar defensive effort to control the game and bring back to even scores after holding the Flames to only 6 points in the quarter. We continued the momentum in the final period to gain an early lead. The Flames rallied late in the period and brought the game back to 2 points, but the boys not only showed great control under pressure but forced some good turnovers in the final minutes to stop the Flames momentum and secure the win.
Today the boys showed some of their best basketball and demonstrated that all their hard work this season is paying off. Well Done!
Player of the game
Jackson Nicolaou put in some great work today and adjusted his game to the defensive pressure. Jackson showed that creating scoring opportunities for teammates can be very effective even when under pressure. Jackson finished the game with 8 points, 7 assists and 4 steals showing hard work gets it done.
U18 Girls Black (Travis Linaker)
Loss against Southwest Slammers (51 – 62)
Coaches notes
The U18 Championship Girls Division is very competitive amongst the top 6 and the bottom 4 teams and this game clearly showed that we can be competitive and there is no doubt that we were the better team on the day in all areas apart from finishing.
Our defensive efforts forced multiple turnovers in the mid court and the number of steals and interceptions was as high as it has been all year. This combined with significant improvement in our ability to help in the paint and keep our hands up meant we kept the Slammers to 25 points less than the last time we met.
We moved the ball and ran our actions well for most of the game resulting in some excellent looks both in and outside the arc, unfortunately we could just not get it to go through the net and whilst we got within 4 points of the lead we could not capitalize and push through to take the win.
Overall I am very pleased with the effort shown in this game and it shows again that these girls can play they just need to give themselves permission to win.
Player of the game
This is a tough one this week with all of the girls potentially being able to receive this award for different reasons. However at the end of the day it can only go to one and for me that is Fearne Van Beek who played more minutes than she has all year and worked tirelessly and without complaint whilst defending brilliantly against much bigger opposition.
U18 Girls Orange (Ric Batista)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawkes (36 – 100)
Coaches notes
Tough game against a seriously seasoned top of the table tough team. We started really well which is pleasing compared to our usually nervous starts. First time we played this team we only scored 18 and with our season progress, we’ve doubled our offensive output. I couldn’t be happier with the direction of the team and in particular the closeness and unity of this team despite these sorts of losses. Every player has improved significantly, well done girls.
Player of the game
Jorja Maccarone was great in the back up centre role this week pulling down board and being really composed under the ring. Her 11 points led the way for us against some girls that were a lot taller than her. Congratulations Jorja Mac!!!
U18 Boys Black (Lachie Riley / Angus Hywood)
Loss against Southwest Slammers (68 – 78)
U18 Boys Orange (Brad Coutts)
Won against Cockburn Cougars (69 – 57)
Coaches notes
Turning a first round 11 point loss into a second round 12 point win against the 3rd of the table Cockburn Cougars. When this team lock into the process and doing what works best as a team on both ends of the court, they have the potential to beat all teams on the day. We are still in the fight for Finals so while that is still there we will have to keep putting in the work to get the rewards. As a group we have achieved so much every week and the boys should be super proud of their performance this year however it finishes.
Player of the game
Team Effort.
U18 Boys White (Rae D’Sylva)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (83 – 86)
Coaches notes
We had great moments in the game where we came back from double digits from our defence.
Player of the game
Aiden Rosario – Aiden had a strong performance defensively and was strong on the boards
U18 Boys Blue (Tyron Neill)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (66 -88)
U20 Boys Black (Lochy Brown)
Won against Southwest Slammers (105 – 83)
Coaches notes
The score doesn’t represent the adjustments we had to make as team. Slammers started off strong but the team committed to our adjustments defensively and it translated on to the scoreboard.
I’ve challenged the boys with consistency throughout this season and we still need to work on it. However the way that this team makes adjustments and gets better throughout a single game is truly special.
Player of the game
Ryan Coutts – Only big man against a team with 3 bigs. Took their best player out defensively in the first half. 50 points.
U20 Boys Orange (Cooper Lowe)
Won against Mandurah Magic (63 – 55)