WABL Wrap Week 17 – 21/8/22
Round 17 – Wow time sure does fly, I can’t believe it’s the last game of the season! A massive thank you to all of our Suns athletes, coaches, managers and of course our wonderful parents for making it all possible. Good luck to all of our Suns teams in the finals – GO SUNS!
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:
Elissa Bolton (U16 Girls) – Elissa had one of her best games of the season. Never giving up both ends of the court. Elissa showed tremendous determination throughout, especially under the basket taking on girls twice her size and coming away victorious. Often the first player back to take on the Eagles girls where she didn’t waiver regardless of who was charging towards her. Strong points in the board and brilliant teamwork as always.
Hayden Parker (U14 Boys) – Hayden Parker really got into this one and demonstrated some great work at the point. Both on and off the court, he is active in the game and proves to be a great team mate.
U12 Girls (Lawrence West)
Won against East Perth Eagles (48 – 7)
Coaches notes
This week our defense habits were really put to the test. We picked up several reaching fouls early and were in team foul trouble almost immediately. By the second quarter we adjusted well and found a good balance of pressure on the ball without reaching in. It’s great to see our confidence as a team grow, with everyone feeling more comfortable to take shots. We are consistently getting contributions from all players.
Player of the game
Amber Brickwood – This week Amber not only top scored, she shot 50% from the field and gave her team plenty of 2nd chance opportunities with her amazing rebounding effort – Nice work Amber!
Other highlights
Rebounds!! It feels like we have been working on this all season and this week we figured it out. Everyone got involved and it resulted in a lot of extra possessions. Well done team!
U12 Boys (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against Cockburn Cougars (50 – 41)
Coaches notes
One of the toughest teams we’ve faced, the boys played fantastic team basketball on both ends to get away with a narrow win.
Player of the game
Leyton Rooke – Week in week out Leyton can be relied on to work hard on the boards and always looking to setup his teammates. Unlucky this week to get into some foul trouble but he played through it and finished off the game strong.
Other highlights
Nate Miles – Leading the charge this week on defensive end and learning to use his on ball speed in different moments to break down the defence and find easy shots for his team mates.
Shane Quartermaine – Improving week by week one both ends of the court, learning to use his natural athleticism to his advantage. Next step is to keep it consistent the whole time on the court and not have lapses defensively.
U12 Boys (Joel Warner)
Loss against Rockingham Flames (29 – 70)
Coaches notes
The game was going to be won and lost this week by managing the tempo and slowing a great transition team. Playing such good opposition, it was critical to manage the tempo well from start to finish and we were only able to do that for a quarter. We won the first quarter and were out-thinking our opposition, but when we weren’t able hold up big, fast boys the game sped up, we were caught out of position in transition defence and were steam-rolled. That happens with inexperience – so there is some great learning in this game, and we banked some valuable experience. In patches, we were able to get the game on our terms, but not for long enough. The overall highlight is that the boys do believe they have it in them to be as good as anyone, we have shown than many times.
Player of the game
This week’s player of the round is awarded to Chad Firkins. Chad does everything he’s asked and puts in 100 percent every week. He had an outstanding first quarter, handing out assists and making his own shots. When we needed stability, Chad was the guy that stayed on court. I rotated nine players around him this week so that he could keep our team’s positivity high, which we needed against a team with so much talent. Chad always leads from the front; he takes on the opposition’s best player most weeks and he doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Chad loves his team-mates and he loves the Club. He is our team’s lion-heart. What more could a coach ask for.
Other highlights
After a tough first half, being thrown into several defensive roles it was good to see Sam bounce back in the second half and move our players into more effective defensive structures. Tala was the same, he was moved several times to try and stop the oppositions potent transition game and he played his role well. Adam provided great help on both ends of the court and Reed brought his natural energy. When Reed is on the court, you can be certain something exciting is going to happen. A lot was asked of the guards in this game so congratulations to Zac, Jeremy and Sam for playing their roles as best as they could against the best team in the league. Zac played well and helped us with his unselfish offensive game and Jeremy found some confidence with the ball. Asten was good in transition, as were Phoenix and Ethan who are reliable scorers. A couple of our guys found themselves in foul trouble, despite the challenges, our guys remained up-beat, closing the game well. Our final two games (including this one) are the toughest of the year. I am looking forward to seeing the improvement next week against good opposition and closing the season strongly.
U12 Boys (Tim Hart)
Won against Southwest Slammers (47 – 45)
Coaches notes
The past two weeks the boys have shown they can match it in most quarters with the top two teams. When we close-out and wall-up effectively in the keyway, we keep teams to lower shooting percentages. SouthWest #4 is quick on the dribble and accurate if left open, but we were able to keep him to 18 points. SouthWest were aggressive in their dribble-drive, tending to push their way through the top of the key. When the boys noticed this, they did their best to counter, with help stepping up and blocking entry. In H2 Southwest noticed their dribble entry wasn’t working so well, so they put more energy into O-Trans, dropping a player back for the long pass. This was somewhat countered by having our top two get back to cover and slow the ball so team mates could catch up. A back-court press gave us some quick steals and points in H2, which helped us make up for our lower rebounding rate (39 vs 49).
Player of the game
Callum made the biggest impact on our game this week (14 pts @ 41%, 10 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 deflection). In a game where we had to work so hard on rebounds, we may not have won without Callum’s 10 rebounds.
Other highlights
Angus put in a solid performance at both ends this week (equal top-assists with Callum), walling up in the key, chasing down and catching players on the fast break, generally making a big impact (8 pts @ 50%, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal). Sebastian helped us execute our press in the late game, keenly looking for interceptions (8 pts @ 44%, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 deflection). Mathew kept SouthWest defence busy by moving well with and without the ball (10 pts @ 35%, 4 rebounds, 1 assist).
Ram had top steals this week, he was a force in the key, helped control the ball up the court, and watched for driving and cutting opportunities well (4 pts, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block). Preston (2 pts, 1 rebound, 1 steal), Declan (1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 deflection), Christian and Dante contributed defensive intensity. One of our development players, Austin also suited up to help, making some well-timed passes to team mates (1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block).
U14 Girls (Andrew Herbert)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (24 – 30)
Coaches notes
A tough loss this week. We had decent start out of the gate but baskets were reluctant to fall for the next 2 quarters. A solid effort to keep grinding in the 4th.
The basket showed no home court advantage but Jessica Prior contributed with 10pts and Isla-Rose Gray with 7pts.
Player of the game
This week POTR was being selected by Blair. Our team focuses this round were talk in half-court defence and being willing to set screens to get team mates open. All players did both to varying degrees but he was really impresses with Harper’s never stop or give up attitude in transition defence. Congratulations Harper Ashbolt!
U14 Girls (Jemma & Jaymee)
Loss against Hills Raiders (36 – 41)
U14 Boys (Rob Rees)
Won against Rockingham Flames (59 – 29)
Coaches notes
The team played with intensity and determination
Player of the game
Bailey Ryan has showed continuing improvement since returning from a serious back injury he continues to get better each week and when challenged to take on a more prominent defensive role in this game he did so, he also improved his offensive game as well
Other highlights
A great win hopefully with this win we can beat the top team next week who haven’t lost game all season and we can then secure 2nd spot on the ladder.
U14 Boys (Thor Amundsen)
Loss against Cockburn Cougars (50 – 62)
Coaches notes
After staging a great second term fight back, we looked ready to take on this challenge. Some lapses in the third swung the momentum but we managed to stay in the hunt until the final minutes. Unfortunately we were unable to hold and despite some great basketball, we were outrun in the end.
Player of the game
Hayden Parker really got into this one and demonstrated some great work at the point. Both on and off the court, he is active in the game and proves to be a great team mate.
Other highlights
Some great work at both ends from Taj (14pts, 3ast) and Odin (15pts, 3blk, 4ast) to bring up their 100th and 200th respective season points.
U14 Boys (Luke Poyner)
Loss against Eastern Suns (45 – 57)
Coaches notes
The boys played a tough game against a strong Suns team. We had some great moments of teamwork, and both sides exhibited good sportsmanship. Suns Black had a very strong third quarter which has given us some areas of development that we need to work on heading into the finals.
Player of the game
Jensen Poyner – Had a stand out game today and demonstrated a big improvement in his confidence with post up moves. Backing up the team with some big offensive rebounds and scoring put-backs against a strong physical defense. A very respectable season high 24-point haul.
U14 Boys (Shannon Trew)
Won against Eastern Suns (57 – 45)
Coaches notes
The 1st Qtr we started slow and was out rebounded and was down by 4 pts at 1/4 time. After a team talk about wanting the ball more and getting 5 players looking to rebound we won the next 2 qtrs 36-17 to be up by 15 pts at 3/4 time. The last qtr we slowed the ball down and just worked on movement and getting through rotations.
Player of the game
Jarvis Warden – After missing last week’s game it was good having a tall rebounder back. Jarvis worked hard against the Suns bigs and got some handy defensive rebounds and offensive rebounds and put backs. Jarvis finished with 6 rebounds, 4 points and a couple blocks/steals..
Other highlights
** 23 team steals/interceptions **
Defense, defense and more defense! The boys have really been working hard on their full court pressure and transition basketball. Jack Craven and Oliver James finished with 16 and 18 points each but that came from hard work from their team mates.
U16 Girls (Matt Harding)
Loss against Southwest Slammers (58 – 54)
Coaches notes
Our Suns girls looked good on the weekend without 1 of our constant high scores. Our defensive pressure in the full court trap was solid and Our defence transition back into a zone from the trap was united as 1.
Player of the game
Hannah, her first year at this level and playing as 1 of our centres, Hannah was outstanding on the boards and with her meeting the opposition trailing into the paint to box out was at the highest level, it was really pleasing to see Hannah really finding what she is capable of.
Other highlights
Overall we played quite well, our first quarter was 1 to forget but after that we looked like a team. Lilly was outstanding at the point guard and Skye really showed once again great leadership. Our Suns girls really are a pleasure to coach.
U16 Girls (Charlie smart)
Loss against East Perth Eagles (61 – 74)
Coaches notes
The U16 girls travelled to Morley to face off against East Perth Eagles on Sunday. A slow start allowed Eagles to pull away with a good lead. The girls fought hard to claw back the margin and often managed to get within a few points. Moments of great teamwork kept them in the game throughout.
Player of the game
Elissa – Elissa had one of her best games of the season. Never giving up both ends of the court. Elissa showed tremendous determination throughout, especially under the basket taking on girls twice her size and coming away victorious. Often the first player back to take on the Eagles girls where she didn’t waiver regardless of who was charging towards her. Strong points in the board and brilliant teamwork as always.
U16 Boys (Bailey Ferguson)
Won against Southwest Slammers (70 – 41)
Player of the game
Cassius Hill – Cass played a brilliant game with full intensity and effort, being able to push the ball and control the game with his intensity. Well done Cass
U16 Boys (Lachie Riley)
Loss against Mandurah Magic (66 – 92)
Player of the game
Zakk Venetis. After only having 6 players this this game there was plenty of court time to go around. Zakk took this opportunity to his advantage and put in an impressive effort on the score card. Good job Zakk!
U16 Boys (Rae D’Sylva)
Loss against East Perth Eagles (50 – 77)
U16 Boys (Tyron Neill)
Won against Perth Redbacks (84 – 79)
Coaches notes
We played beautifully as a team for the whole 4 quarters of the game. We also trailed an awesome zone buster play that our assistant coach Aleksandar picked up from an U14’s opposition side a few weeks ago that worked a treat, the scary thing is we never implemented the play to its full affect and still come away with the win.
Player of the game
Isaiah Gray went into beast mode on Sunday dropping 28 points and was influential in setting up play’s, assist’s and was defensively solid. His ability to get his team involved and trust he showed in his team mates and share the workload was amazing to watch. There’s really is nothing better to watch when Isaiah plays with such determination & passion to win. Great game m8!
Other highlights
The way the team showed up to play on Sunday with one result on mind was the best highlight, they all knew what they wanted and every contribution was vital to the end result. Beautiful work team!
U18 Girls (Dyson Lowe)
Loss against Southwest Slammers (77 – 80)
Coaches notes
A tough overtime loss for the girls down in Bunbury. I was extremely happy with our effort for majority of the game. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game but unfortunately slammers were just the better team. Last time we lost by 15 or so, so to go down to Bunbury and force an overtime game shows the improvement we are making.
Player of the game
Tessa. Tessa was outstanding for us today scoring a team high 31 points, but also having an impact defensively as well as a presence on the boards. She has been amazing this year for us and is only getting better good job Tess!
U18 Boys (Cooper Lowe)
Won against Southwest Slammers (92 – 88)
Coaches notes
Another game where we dug ourselves a hole to fight out from, a sluggish first half saw us down 15 at half time and in some trouble down south. Some inspiring words from assistants Brock and Franko fired the boys up and playing as a team on both ends of the floor. Flying around on defence and everyone committed to doing their jobs, put ourselves in a position down the stretch to win and we came away with the win.
Player of the game
This could have gone to a number of players, but this week goes to Julian. He was really active on defence, read the lanes well and pushed the ball which got us a lot of opportunities to score in transition, which he scored 25. Congrats Julian!
Other highlights
Everyone in the second half was impactful, but a highlight for me was to see Harley at his best. He played his role well and kept on with the game right to the very end.
U18 Boys (Angus Hywood)
Loss against Rockingham Flames (71 – 104)
Coaches notes
Up against Rockingham who are fighting to remain in a finals contenders spot we knew they would come out firing!
The boys were solid early on in defence avoiding the dribble drives & forcing missed passes or turnovers. In transition we looked a lot more dangerous than earlier games with smooth passing & working to find the open man. A big focus for our team is to have every player contribute on the court today although the score line shows a loss we had big wins on court with every player hitting the scoreboard, No players fouling out, strong motive behind getting the assist clean, rebounding strong with commitment. The boys gave their best, unfortunately Rockingham 3Pt fire power was to accurate in later moments of the quarters.
We learn & grow, big final game next week to cap off our season strongly.
Be proud of yourselves boys, you all have become better players along this season & will continue to be better players the more you play the great game!
Be proud Suns! FIRE UP 🔥
Player of the game
Jayce Heal- Jayce played a strong game this week across all basketball fundamentals! Jayce Closed out shooters forcing them to their off side, got back first to stop the easy transition, made some really solid scores from work ethic & gave his team the energy he brings to the game. Jayce is an outstanding athlete proving that and winning a club sprint competition, this gives Jayce the highest of potentials with his future endeavours with Basketball & sport in general. Great work Jayce!!
U18 Boys (Hayden Bird)
Loss against East Perth Eagles (64 – 70)
Coaches notes
With our last game of this season done and completed, I’d say the boys put in a tremendous effort against East Perth. We really took it to them in the first second and fourth quarter, it was a great team game moving the ball around finding the right shot and not being selfish. Defense was a major reason why we came so close to winning Sunday’s game, the pressure effort and just basic defensive skills the boys showed really had East Perth wondering what to do next on the offense. Our final game really showed that we deserved to play in this league and to show other teams to not give up no matter what controversy happens against yourself and your team
Player of the game
Lucas Requiro, had 20pts and 5 threes for our team on the weekend. Why being able to score on demand he was still getting his teammates involved and feeding them the ball to knock down their shots. Lucas has definitely been a major engine to our team to help ignite his teammates and to keep continuously keep doing better and to match his energy and game play on and off the court.
Other highlights
Wayne Beier: 14pts – Dominic Puno: 12pts
U20 Boys (Dan Vlahov)
Won against Mandurah Magic (77 – 61)
Coaches notes
This was a game that had some big targets set and unfortunately, we just couldn’t get the job done, but a win is a win and we will always take that over a loss!
We found good scoring opportunities, and whilst we did put 77 points on the board, we could easily have had 120 points but could not get them to drop from inside or outside this week. Defensively, whilst containing 8 of their 10 players to just 16 points, we allowed the remaining two to score the balance between them and this is not what you want on a day your shots won’t drop.
The highlights were a number of players getting numerous good looks off some of the best ball movement and sacrificing in offense that we have seen this season. It was also pleasing to see players finally committing to playing off two and taking trips to the line and the occasional “and1”.
Overall, it was a tough and disappointing day at the office but it does lock us in for finals. We are now “one game at a time” it is a matter of character and how much we want to win and what we are prepared to give each week as a team that will see how far we go.
Fire Up Suns!!!
Player of the game
This week one of our Development Players has taken this award – Stephen “Phippsy” Phipps took Coach Dan’s words at the start of the season to heart and has been working each and every week to prove why he should have been in the team from day one. this week he got an opportunity to play and made the most of every minute he had. Phippsy’ s effort on Defense, Offense and at training is what it should look like from all players and we congratulate him for this.