WABL Wrap Week 16 – 13/08/23
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:
Julien Richardson (U16 Boys) – Julien Richardson: with 30 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 rebounds and only 1 turnover.
Indigo Anderson (U12 Girls) – Indigo Anderson: Indigo played one of her best games of the year. Besides her usual ferocious defense, she was offensively deadly leading the team with scoring and assists. She orchestrated many fast break opportunities by getting her eyes up the court – an improvement in her game which had been long coming. Well done Bluey.
U12 Girls Black (Lawrence West)
Loss against Joondalup Wolves (37 – 65)
Coaches notes
After a couple of rough losses our confidence as a team has been pretty low, and seeing the size of the Wolves girls (did they all have growth spurts since last time!?) I was unsure how this one was going to go.
To my delight we came out firing and certainly gave them a push, but we just couldn’t keep up with rebounding. To say they were just bigger isn’t fair though, they are a very polished team who move the ball well and maintain great spacing.
Although we couldn’t come away with an upset there was a marked improvement from the last time we saw them. We took more shots, hit them at a much better %, made more 3s, shot a better FF % and actually got more rebounds! Our assist numbers were up and our foul count was down.
I’m happy with that progress and excited that we are feeling more positive as a team. Hopefully we can build on this momentum and finish out the season strong.
Player of the game
We had such an even contribution this week it was really hard to pick just one player to highlight, so I’m going to go with 2:
Eliza Eaton – Bob was challenged to be physical this week and played the toughest game of her season, crashing around under the basket to secure us precious extra possessions. She also made excellent passes that set her team mates up for success. Let’s keep this confidence on display for the rest of the season – Nice work Bob!
Steph Evans – Talk about tough, Steph was completely fearless when she took on the Wolves. She was aggressive on offense, set her team mates up with well timed passes and grabbed a bunch of rebounds over much taller opponents. Her defense was up to her usual excellent standard and her hustle was turned up to 11 – Keep up the good work Steph!
U12 Girls Orange (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against Perth Redbacks (39 – 23)
Coaches notes
We had a win against the top of the ladder this week. The girls played amazing defence against some strong players. The girls need to transfer their confident offence to the game.
Our game was strong, aggressive & clean and no-one was fouled out.
We have a huge appreciation for our parent and bench supporters, and thanks to the U12 white team who came along as well and fired us up!
Player of the game
Lailani Yates: Lani is great with her defence and has improved so much recently. She got the ball up the court on multiple occasions with strength & confidence. Well done!
U12 Girls White (Bruno Kongawoin)
Won against Perth Redbacks (56 – 16)
Coaches notes
Our team continued with their maturity as individual players and improvements as a team. Though our win was convincing yet we had to overcome a few team challenges feeding into the individual performances of recent times. This win was a major motivation and stimulant to see us to our last game of the regular season next week leading into the finals.
Everyone contributed valiantly at both ends of the court. Dani Simmons, Imogen Chambers and Cassidy Buckingham continued their development as team players creating spaces for easy scores. We are still experiencing a deficiency in our field goals successes. This is an area we need to work on feverishly in the next few days of competition.
Millie-Rose Ronan came off the bench to give us a boost to consolidate our lead throughout the game with her offensive rebound abilities. Defensively, Indigo Anderson and Sienna Raddock kept up with their usual defensive intensity. Though Hannah Fulton didn’t figure on the scoreboard, her contribution did not go unnoticed.
Player of the game
Indigo Anderson – Indigo played one of her best games of the year. Besides her usual ferocious defense, she was offensively deadly leading the team with scoring and assists. She orchestrated many fast break opportunities by getting her eyes up the court – an improvement in her game which had been long coming. Well done Bluey.
U12 Boys Black (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against Warwick Senators (66 – 40)
U12 Boys Orange (Tim Hart)
Loss against Warwick Senators (42 – 57)
Coaches notes
After reviewing our rebounding from the prior game the boys were more focused on competing for boards this game – Suns pulled down 15 rebounds to only 6 for Senators Green in the first qtr. Senators improved over the game, but Suns were still able to take the lead in rebounding (47 to 34).
The score was 23 to 27 at the start of Q3 – it was encouraging to see the team play effective defence against Senators Green for at least half the game (Senators Green are placed 2nd on the ladder).
For large portions of the game the boys showed patience in offence, looking for space to attack the basket or find a team mate moving into space to receive the ball. Senators were quick to pick off bad passes, and their on-ball pressure kept us on our toes.
We had 9 fouls to 17 for Senators, which provided relatively more shots from the foul line. The boys took advantage, shooting 12/21 from the foul line, vs 3/9 for Senators.
An area of the game where we didn’t perform well was our shooting, with only 20% for 2-point shots, and 12% from 3-point range. Senators shot @ 38% from 2-point range, which proved too much for us to counter.
Player of the game
Cohen wins player of the round, for his consistent hustle throughout the game, chasing down and diving for loose balls, spoiling the opposition fast break, using his quick footwork to stay in-front and apply on-ball pressure, and setting the example for how to box out. Cohen had 12 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 deflections and 2 jump balls. Cohen also top-scored with 11 points (shooting 7/11 from the foul line).
U12 Boys White (Patrick Massam)
Loss against South West Slammers (37 – 46)
U12 Boys Blue (Dave Yan)
Won against East Perth Eagles (56 – 50)
Coaches notes
We’ve had this match against East Perth marked a month or so back as the danger game. An away game to a team that has been in good form recently, it was something we couldn’t take lightly.
The start was a mixture of hot and cold on both ends. Offensively we had it going in spurts, defensively the press worked but we were giving easy baskets when they broke through most notably straight down the middle of the lane unchallenged.
After being up by 6, within a couple of minutes we found ourselves down 4 in a blink of an eye due to the lack of help and rotation from the wings into the middle the players were given a really hard and honest analysis during a time out.
How they came out from there onwards through to the 2nd qrt was magnificent. Defensive intensity lifted with 3 consecutive steals/forced turnovers. Chandler led the way both offensively, defensively, and rebounding duties, on a day where Preston had been hampered by a foot injury our rotation had to be changed a little during that 2nd qrt and Chandler put this team on his back offensively while the rest of the team backed him up, with hard defense and rebounds.
No lead ever felt safe with East Perth, the first time round we had a 10+ lead before holding on for a 7 point win, this was no different. Having held a 12 point advantage, East Perth never stopped chipping away before eventually getting the game to within 3 points.
We turned the momentum with Josh, Preston and Chandler pressing and holding strong pushing the lead back out to 9 points within a minute.
The boys played smart in the final 2 minutes keeping possession of the ball with calmness, awareness, control and poise. Something I’m sure will come again and is needed in the following weeks and finals.
Notable mentions – Brodie yet again for playing almost the entire game anchoring our rebounding, it’s no easy feat having to run up and down the court fighting against 2 tall players, as the season’s gone on, the scoring has been spread out and around which really takes the pressure off Brodie a bit and with the amount of minutes he played and physical work he does, I myself and I’m sure the other boys, are grateful for his hard work.
Kobe – more is being demanded of him as the season ends, not for his scoring but for his understanding of the game. Control of the pace of the game, making the right passes, and most importantly understanding when to foul. Like Brodie, extended minutes when needed and he will have a lot more ball handling duties come the finals.
Rylan, Austin & Declan – both tenacious on defense today, even though Rylan got fouled out, anytime he’s on the floor, we feel like there’s always a 50% chance on defense we will get the ball back without the other team getting a shot up. Austin kept his same defensive intensity up from last week and after a couple of tough weeks both Declan and Austin have found themselves being vital on the defensive end since the Cockburn game.
Player of the game
Chandler thoroughly deserves the player of the game, apart from a game high of 21 points, the most impressive part of his game today was how he led the game throughout on all ends of the court. We would not have won this game without Chandler’s performance today and he’s truly worthy of a superstar tag for today.
U14 Girls Black (Andrew Herbert)
Loss against Warwick Senators (47 – 69)
Coaches notes
I was really impressed with how the ladies responded this round after the previous two games.
Even though we didn’t get a lot from offense our defense kept on track.
I was really impressed how everyone executed on court. We will continue to work on being more aggressive when rebounding.
I look forward to seeing us continue strong as we prepare for the post season. ☀️ 🔥 🆙
Player of the game
This weeks POTR goes to Holly Marsh. Holly took the game on showing why she is one of the premier guards in the league. Holly’s all round game continues to improve game by game and is exciting to watch. Holly helped contribute on the scoreboard with a solid 20 points this game. Keep up the great work Holly!
U14 Girls Orange (Adam Brickwood)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (43 – 51)
Coaches notes
In our first matchup Perth really gave us a lesson on cutting to the basket and using the give and go so our focus was on player movement without the ball coming into this game.
Perth got off to a great start but after a few minutes we were able to get our game going and ramp up the defence. Our guards, led by Benwech, Neve and Amber, did a great job of one on one defence to ensure our forwards could hold great rebounding position and quite often keep Perth to one shot.
Offensively we were able to maintain poise and not rush, finding some great opportunities and make the most of them. With almost everyone hitting the scoreboard and some passing highlights in transition, it was a pleasing team effort to only go down by a few points to a quality opposition.
Filling in for Maddie who was unwell, a big thanks to Yas, fitting in seamlessly and playing a great game.
Player of the game
Amber Brickwood – Asking her to guard the oppositions best player she did an admirable job and then with ball in hand, setup her teammates with some great passing. She played a big contribution in keeping us in the game throughout.
U14 Girls White (Daniel Heyman)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawkes (30 – 39)
Coaches notes
In a tough and competitive game, we brought the energy on defence but failed to convert on the other end. This was one we really needed to win to stay in finals contention. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get over the line, despite a late push. On a positive note, we showed an improved focus to get up open 3-point shots, converting a season high 3 makes from deep. Our interior shot selection is what ultimately hurt us.
Gabriella McCullaugh was outstanding with 10 points and great effort at both ends. She brought the aggressive mindset we’ve been missing. Sonja Heyman had a solid outing offensively and defensively. Ella Michalczuk played a pivotal role dominating the paint and Tarvia Girma was electric with the ball in her hands, making great decisions off her dribble attack.
Player of the game
Tamzin Wilsmore. Tamzin was a defensive leader at the point of attack, pressuring the ball handler resulting in numerous opposition turnovers. She was one of the main reasons we came back and were a whisker away from a win. A major highlight was her off ball movement to then hit a dagger corner 3! Truly impressive.
U14 Girls Blue (Tamara Reeves)
Loss against East Perth Eagles (29 – 32)
Coaches notes
It was a low scoring close game where every point mattered. Last time we versed them we lost by 30 and this time only 3 points which is a great improvement. It was a very scrappy game that we were right in. We had some early foul trouble to start the game but ended up managing them throughout the rest. With only 2 on the bench it was a great effort to keep up with the game and keep on running. We had patches of the game where the other team really struggled to get the ball up the court due to our good defence. It was a bit unlucky in the end but I’m proud of the effort and huge improvement from the first time we versed.
Player of the game
Daphne Mullings- Daphne’s on ball defence positioning led the Eagles to struggle to get around her and to the basket. She also got open for the ball to help her teammates to pass to her and was fighting hard for rebounds. She contributed to fast breaks with good down the court passes to open teammates. She really turned up for the 1st half of this game.
U14 Boys Black (Shannon Trew)
Won against Mandurah Magic (58 – 55)
Coaches notes
Great start to the game and great finish to the game, everything else in-between was poor. First and last quarters we were full of run and played offence and defence as a team, running our offence very well and executing our press to our level of expectation.
2nd and 3rd quarter the boys stopped playing as a team and stopped playing with energy and effort which Mandurah took full advantage of.
The last quarter we played the 5 players that wanted to work together and run together. The energy was electrifying and the bench were bringing the energy and being loud and in the end it was enough to get the win.
Player of the game
Luqman Rais was outstanding today and really lifted his team when they needed it the most. He was a focus point in our offence and did everything the team asked of him. With his 15 points which also included setting up numerous scoring opportunities and locking down the paint in defence. Keep up the awesome development.
U14 Boys Orange (Adrian Mok)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (43 – 68)
U14 Boys White (Joel Warner)
Won against Perth Redbacks (75 – 44)
Coaches notes
This week we played the Redbacks, and were focused on backing up the good result from last week’s road-trip. Sunday’s win was excellent, with (again), a good scoring spread across all players who wore the Suns colours. Tuesday was largely a good practice and we executed well for the majority of the scrimmage at practice, which carried over to the game on Sunday. We have shown such promise this season and although we are stuck in the log-jam for finals spots, we have beaten every Team except the top 3. As we head into the bye round, I hope the boys can find five minutes to reflect a little on how much improvement there has been this year.
In preparation for Sunday, we had put a lot of work into the match-ups that hurt us last time we played the Redbacks. We beat the them by five points earlier in the season and we improved on that performance this week. Similarly to last time, in some positions we didn’t match-up too well on certain players, so the entirety of the defensive strategy was Team focused with lots of help and recover in action, as well as trap variations. We also forced some unusual match-ups on purpose, which was part of allowing some players an opportunity to see how they could perform on opponents who appear to outmatch them. Credit to Phoenix for accepting the challenge and forcing a dominant centre to have to play further away from the basket than usual. Credit also to Asten for knowing his role and helping Phoenix in the Team defensive structure. It was undoubtedly our defence that allowed us to open the game up in the first quarter. Our guards all had assignments and across the board, our guards performed very well, which was nice for that group who worked as a Team within a Team. Winning all four quarters and closing the game with a 25 – 9 fourth quarter was rewarding for the players. I’d like to acknowledge the Redbacks who were well coached and on Sunday were great sports.
Player of the game
This week’s player of the round goes to Reuben. Reuben is a such a fun little guy to coach! He’s energetic, listens to instructions, and always gives his best no matter the stage of the game. If I subbed him in with 10 seconds to go in the quarter, he’d smile and ask what his assignment was. He’s that sort of player. Coach James and I love his chatter on the bench and his desire to win is as high as any player on the Team… Oh, and he’s a tough little fella. Reuben continues to improve his basketball (systems) knowledge which really showed on Sunday. He was in the thick of every possession this week and was instrumental in our pressure defences. He can now fill spots in offence by reading the game and, most importantly, he continues to shoot the ball. Sounds easy, but sometimes it’s not. Playing the read-react offence that Suns White play, means shot selection is crucial. I am so pleased that he keeps shooting the ball and equally as importantly, he’s shooting from within our structures. Like a couple of other players, he doesn’t need to fill the stats sheet (even though he can do that) to have a big impact on the game. Great game Reuben, keep it up.
U14 Boys Blue (Hayden Bird)
Won against Mandurah Magic (87 – 45)
Coaches notes
We started the game with very high intensity, the boys rocked up to the game ready to take control and enjoy their time on the court.
From the first quarter to the 4th, control was in the boys hands. An all round terrific game of basketball with teamplay being displayed by the boys.
Player of the game
Thomas Wakeman, Tom celebrated his 100 games with the Suns, alongside this he played a very well and confident style of play with 13pts to back it up. Tom, even though scoring one of the highest amount of points for the game, was focused on passing first and getting his teammates involved. Great work Tom and well deserved!
U16 Girls Black (Charlie Smart)
Loss against East Perth Eagles (56 – 58)
Coaches notes
After a defensively poor start to the game the girls came back to take the lead late in the first quarter and held strong until the final few minutes. Despite best efforts and pulling back the deficit, the pressure to regain the lead and secure the win, saw some missed opportunities, resulting in a disappointing end to a hard fought contest at East Perth, seeing the team go down by 2 points. Overall their speed and great transition offence kept them in the game throughout.
Player of the game
Kaia – Battling through sickness Kaia never gave up and fought hard every minute she was on the court. Her lightening fast reflexes saw some fantastic mid court steals and her sense of knowing when to drive, saw her secure great numbers both in points and assists. Kaia dug deep especially in the last few minutes to pull back the score margin.
U16 Girls Orange (Shannon Trew)
Won against Hills Raiders (73 – 43)
Coaches notes
The girls got out to a great start with an 8-0 run with lots of defensive pressure which is exactly what we wanted to do. As the quarter went on the pressure eased and the Raiders scored some easy points.
The 2nd qtr started like the first quarter but this time we didn’t ease off the pressure and only allowed 6 points to be scored while we scored 22 points.
The 2nd half was a much more even score line because of a few changes and a more relaxed attitude. We won the 2nd half by 5 points which isn’t amazing but to win every quarter is an achievement within itself.
Special mentions to:
Katie with her full court defensive pressure and positive attitude- We have missed you.
Harper scored 23 points and kept up her defence pressure.
Chelsea with a ton of rebounds and was our starting point of our many transition points.
Annie with 7 very valuable first half points before going down injured.
Player of the game
Holly “She’s a shooter” Roulston was outstanding in defence and offence and today was clearly her best game this season. Because of Holly’s hard work at training she was also rewarded with a starting 5 spot. Holly was everywhere on the court, getting rebounds, intercepting passes and firing up some great shots and she was unlucky not to score more points. Her energy and effort lifted her team mates and she deserved every high 5 she got.
U16 Boys Black (Brad Dowd)
Loss against Rockingham Flames (60 – 75)
U16 Boys Orange (Rob Rees)
Won against Rockingham Flames (98 – 72)
Coaches notes
This week our offense worked very well with only a total of 7 turnovers, 2 point Field Goal Percentage of 53%,(3pt % was only 24% & Free Throws 47%)
Player of the game
Julien Richardson with 30 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 rebounds and only 1 turnover
U16 Boys White (Jordon Macpherson)
Won against Perry Lakes Hawks (66 – 62)
Coaches notes
What a great show of how far we have come as a group. Perry Lakes is a good team and they certainly pushed us outside of our comfort zone in this game. Having said that our boys all rose to the occasion and worked hard together to overcome the opposition.
Although there were moments during the game where we lost our way the determination to win was too strong.
This was a true group effort win and I love it!
Shoutouts to Keelan who was aggressive in defence with 5 steals and had confidence in the offensive end, also AJ was focused and gave 100% effort at both ends.
Player of the game
Player of the week goes to Daniel Sexton. Daniel has been progressing consistently throughout this season in all aspects of his game and is hungry for knowledge. Daniel is a tough defender with a strong presence in offence and this was his day. Putting up 16pts and 7 rebounds all while fulfilling his defensive assignment. Well done Daniel!
U16 Boys Blue (Luke Poyner)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (50 – 113)
Coaches notes
Despite the disappointing result the boys never gave up and kept pushing to the end. We had some good moments of basketball where the boys demonstrated some great teamwork.
Player of the game
Elliot Okwilagwe was player of the round showing great improvement with some solid hustle offensively and with some good work on the post and off the transition. Well done and keep up the hard work!
U18 Girls Black (Travis Linaker)
Won against Mandurah Magic (73 – 68)
Coaches notes
With only 7 players this was always going to require a solid effort against a team that we beat on the buzzer last time we met. I am so proud of the girls as we went into the second half 14 points up but Mandurah came at us hard and whilst they held us to only 7 in the 3rd, to go into the last quarter 3 points up, the girls rallied and did not quit to take the game by 5.
This was without doubt the best performance as a team that we have had all year and we now need to turn that intensity to next week which is another winnable game for us.
Player of the game
Another Tough week to pick this as when the team plays as a team singling out one person is almost counter intuitive, however this week saw Skye Thomas provide possibly her best performance for the year and is my choice for this round.
U18 Girls Orange (Ric Batista)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (28 – 115)
U18 Boys Black (Lachie Riley / Angus Hywood)
Loss against Lakeside Lightning (72 – 74)
U18 Boys Orange (Brad Coutts)
Loss against Perry lakes Hawks (76 – 79)
Coaches notes
Once again competing all day against the 2nd side on the ladder who had only lost 3 games all year. Held a 13-point lead at half time which was some of the best basketball we have played all year. Unfortunately, we went away from doing what we had done well in the second quarter to be tied up at the 3-quarter time break. Boys fought all the way to the end and should be proud of the effort given. It’s another team that we have improved our first-round result against which is very pleasing.
Player of the game
Sam Ryan & Zavier Pickersgill – Both these guys gave everything throughout the game including hitting some shots from outside which we haven’t been taking enough of through the season.
U18 Boys White (Rae D’Sylva)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (82 – 92)
Coaches notes
We went into this week’s game with 8 players, with 3 players out with injury and sickness, the boys stepped up in a big way. They’re on ball pressure and rebounding kept us in the game till the end. We also had some great offence from a few boys with Rajzhan being the standout.
Player of the game
Rajzhan D’Sylva. Raj was incredible in the first half hitting 5 threes and great passing helped set up his teammates.
U18 Boys Blue (Tyron Neill)
Won against South West Slammers (75 -64)
Coaches notes
Even with a high number of injuries we were able to get the job done through teamwork.
Player of the game
Deacon Matthews – He was always going to receive this award for going up in grade from U16’s to 18’s though his presence was immediately noticeable in the game. His willingness for boards and hunger for the ball was evident in his aggressive style of play, mixing it up with the big boys and scoring some points along the way. This was Deacons 2nd game of the day coming directly from Rockingham but with his high energy you wouldn’t have known the difference. Great game m8 and thanks for filling in and helping us win whilst we had injured players, you’re definitely an asset to have in any team as you have an awesome all round game which every team needs players like yourself. Thanks again Deacon
U20 Boys Black (Lochy Brown)
Won against Rockingham Flames (78 – 76)
U20 Boys Orange (Cooper Lowe)
Won against Perth Redbacks (88 – 59)
Coaches notes
A big thank you to Bailey Ferguson for helping me out and taking my boys this weekend. Another great win putting them in a great position heading into finals in two weeks and gives us lots of confidence that we can beat anyone when we play our best basketball.
Player of the game
This week it goes to Nate Darr, exploding with 34 points and 4 triples, was an outstanding offensive display that gave us a big buffer for a large portion of the game.