WABL Wrap Week 8 – 11/06/23
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:
Tarvia Girma (U14 Girls) – Tarvia was outstanding in her controlled and team focussed approach at both ends of the court. She contributed defensively by getting multiple steals and forcing turnovers out of the trap. She also showed great control of the half-court offense by modulating her pace and by making smart decisions.
Kiarn Linaker (U20 Boys) – It’s rewarding to see players that are challenged stand up and accept it with both hands. The big man can rebound and wall up well on defence but this week he stood up and took on a more aggressive role. Attacking miss matches, creating them with good movement and absolutely laying someone out at the end of the game with a solid screen showed that he wanted to be there for the full 40 minutes.
U12 Girls Black (Lawrence West)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (39 – 74)
Coaches notes
This one hurt. We kept our heads held high, but with 3 players fouled out and nothing going our way we just couldn’t keep up. All of our wonderful girls did an incredible job to keep their composure in a very difficult situation.
Round 17 is circled on the calendar and I am looking forward to a re-match!
Player of the game
Taneika Lewis – It’s not about points it’s about hustle! T does the work every week and this was no exception. While she was the recipient of some very nice passing from her team mates to help her top score this week, she also led the team in rebounds, steals and blocks as well. T has been steadily adding tools to her basketball toolkit and I could not be prouder of her progress. Keep working hard and the sky is the limit!
U12 Girls Orange (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against Lakeside Lightning (36 – 12)
Coaches notes
Very impressed with our starting 5 – Rejoice, Eloise, Harper, Zoe and Oceana. They came out with great energy and in your face defence.
We had some illness in the team this week, however our bench players played well and all had improved immensely this week and played hard. We just need to focus on getting all of our players to keep their eyes up to pass. Our bench got a lot of court time especially in the 4th quarter and kept up the defence and held the game in their own right. We also managed to keep our foul count down.
Lakesides defence kicked in in the 2nd quarter and our girls were amazing and got up the court against them with aggressive drives and retreats.
Every players improvement is amazing since the start of the year.
Well done girls!
Player of the game
Harper – She shut down the inbound ball with intensity every time. Nobody could beat her on defence. She’s our little pocket rocket. Harper always plays with great team work, however, unfortunately being one of our smaller players, she doesn’t always get a shot in but her eyes are always up and ready to get the ball out to her team.
U12 Girls White (Bruno Kongawoin)
Won against Warwick Senators (45 – 24)
Coaches notes
Coming off a bye, we were a bit rusty to start the game this week as the girls missed some open shots that we would normally make. We were fortunate that our defence held up and made it difficult for Warwick to score, and took a 9-point lead into halftime.
After challenging the girls at halftime to improve their effort, I was really pleased with the way they responded. They played with an improved intensity on defence in the second half which opened up our offensive game, with our transition offence a highlight. There were a few too many fouls which we need to continue to work on, but we were able to pull away and win by 19.
For the first time this season all of our players hit the scoreboard, which is a testament to the hard work and improvement they have all made so far this season. Great work this week team!
Player of the game
Imogen Chambers – like most of her teammates, Imogen really found her rhythm after half-time. Her persistent effort on defence opened up scoring opportunities for not only herself but her teammates too, and she ended up as our leading scorer. Imogen is one of our most consistent players and it was great to see her step up like she did this week. Well done Imogen!
U12 Boys Black (Lizzie Falconbridge)
Won against Joondalup Wolves (50 – 41)
Coaches notes
With a full healthy roster this week the teams defensive intensity was what we wanted for the majority of the game and that’s what helped us get in front and maintain the lead. The boys on court were playing defense for each other, not only just looking after their own assignment but always looking to help when their man was off the ball.
Zayde McGough – Coming back after two weeks off illness, he was able to get involved the whole game even though his shot wasn’t falling. Instead of dropping his head, he fought for the ball and found his teammates on the fast break to set up easy baskets. His work ethic and effort is never in question, Zayde always puts 110% at training and games.
Hayden Taylor – His PlayHQ stats do not reflect the importance of Hayden’s impact on the team. Fantastic reader of the ball when setting up our defensive trap and ALWAYS hustles back on the fast break, even if he doesn’t get the block he still effects the shot to be missed (a stat that is not recorded but noticed by both Lizzie and Adrian). He’s the first one diving on the loose balls and fantastic teammate, never worried about his own stats.
Ram Chrysler Gloria – Fantastic to see him not drop his head after getting into early foul trouble and having to sit most of the first half. He kept involved in the game of the bench encouraging his team and keeping himself ready, made a big impact in the 2nd half by dominating the boards and running hard to get open offensively to get some easy open shots.
Player of the game
Alijah Acabado – After a couple weeks of not being 100% healthy it was great to see him back to playing and performing on both ends of the court. Apart from dropping 30 points with his consistent attack at the basket, he was dishing out assists when the Wolves started doubling him. Starting to show more leadership on and off the court which is really pleasing to see, keep working!!
U12 Boys Orange (Tim Hart)
Loss against Lakeside Lightning (38 – 69)
Coaches notes
The boys adapted their approach in the second half and were able to match Lakeside in that half. Increased patience in offence as well as movement through the keyway helped us pickup our scoring rate. The 4th quarter we saw improvement on the boards and better finding of team mates on the move.
We were able to match the rebound count this week (36 to 33). With Henry out this week, Cohen, Hunter, Darragh and Kade stepped up this week to help out on the boards. Hunter finished with 9 points (shooting 40%), Kade had top rebounds and assists, and Darragh picked up top-steals and deflections.
Player of the game
Zane, for showing increased patience with the ball this week, looking for safer passing options, and dribbling into space to find a team mate or attack and finish close to the ring.
U12 Boys White (Patrick Massam)
Loss against Rockingham Flames (18 – 59)
Coaches notes
With the Rockingham Flames the top team and gobbling up the opposition, like young Frankie Massam does a cupcake, the heat was on to keep pressure on the scoring.
Focus was on eye of the tiger defence, and ensuring that we kept the Flames score as low as possible. The boys did just that, and kept the Flames to their lowest score all season of 59.
With more “bounce to the ounce” than most teams in our division the Suns boys looked to run the opposition off their feet.
Was great to see a number of players showing continuous improvement with a special mention to Chase Williamson, who fuelled on his “magic toast” produced his best effort all season with a consistent all round game.
Offensively the team at times were in such a rush to get back to defence that we forgot to work the ball around, shake down the defenders and take better quality shots . Ultimately this saw us struggle to put up a good game score. This is very much part of our focus for the season, push the break, but work that ball around in the half court game and find our space.
It was great to see the team come together to celebrate Ayman’s Birthday at the end of the match smiles and icing all over their faces. Pleasure to coach this team of champs each week. Patrick, Ben and Nathan will keep working.
Player of the game
Orlando La Cava. All round performance in offence and defence.
U12 Boys Blue (Dave Yan)
Won against Hills Raiders (64 – 30)
Coaches notes
We knew heading into this game that we couldn’t drop our intensity just because of who we were playing, the boys were switched on and focus from the get go and it showed. The positive was we didn’t get complacent and we played 4 solid quarters.
This was great for our percentage and it was a great opportunity for some of the boys to get extended minutes and show us what they can do. Super proud of their efforts.
A shout out to Austin for having his best defensive game, a highlight was going up against a player twice his height in length and standing his ground with great body work. Amazing performance.
Player of the game
Brodie Sims had 31 points! and that’s with sitting majority of the second half. His efficiency was there and anytime a player scores 30+ sitting out majority of the last qrt deserves the player of the round!
U14 Girls Black (Andrew Herbert)
Won against Southwest Slammers (50 – 21)
Coaches notes
It was nice to get away and was a great road trip. With some of us staying before or after the game.
The ladies did really well this game with a lot of adjustments during the game on both ends of the floor.
We had a solid game on the defensive end, holding the Slammers to their lowest score this season.
All the ladies showed great improvement in both offence and defence. Our defence definitely creates our offence with solid contribution on the offensive end this week from Charli Hill 14pts, Holly Marsh 13pts & Carmen Woods with 11pts.
Player of the game
This week player of the round could have been sliced 🍕 many ways. POTR this week goes to Eunice Espanola. We focused a lot on defence at training. Eunice got to it from the get go on the defensive end. Eunice also crashed the boards hard and was able to execute in our offensive sets. Keep grinding Eunice! 💪🏻
U14 Girls Orange (Adam Brickwood)
Loss against Willetton Tigers (25 – 46)
U14 Girls White(Daniel Heyman)
Won against Mandurah Magic (43 – 38)
Coaches notes
Early in the game, the girls started flat, struggling to play with the required level of defensive intensity. By half time they’d only scored 16 points and trailed by 11 points. The challenge of clawing our way back into the game lay ahead, and fight their way back they did! In the 3rd quarter the Suns scored 20 points to Mandurah’s 7, giving us a narrow 2-point lead heading into the 4th quarter. All we had to do was mentally stay the course and the win would be ours. In the last term the girls locked down the opposition, limiting them to only 4 points, securing their third win in 4 games.
Ella Michalczuk was outstanding with 9 rebounds and 11 points, shooting a dead-eye 62% from the field. Lillian Tarai led the team with 4 assists and a whopping 9 steals. Jaeda Aliphon topped our scoring with 12 points and Gabriella McCullaugh had an all-round impactful game with 6 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Other notable performances included Ashlyn Shields, who played at high intensity and applied herself fully on both ends, and Vattalanie D’Sylva, who attacked the hoop with vigour, drawing multiple fouls by creating off her own dribble-drive attack.
Player of the game
Tarvia Girma. Tarvia was outstanding in her controlled and team focussed approach at both ends of the court. She contributed defensively by getting multiple steals and forcing turnovers out of the trap. She also showed great control of the half-court offense by modulating her pace and by making smart decisions.
U14 Girls Blue (Tamara Reeves)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (69 – 39)
Coaches notes
Redbacks were the much stronger and more physical team who were better on the day and took the win.
Our girls stuck together as a team and passed around to take the best shots. They also helped each other out on defense even if it was not their player or help. Their attitude and encouraging of each other on the court was nice to see. At training we will have to focus on finishing layups, free throws and being tougher. We will have the chance to vs this team again and hopefully come out with a better result.
Player of the game
Bianca Maldonado Reveggino- Bianca played great on ball defence and was always the first one back. She was stealing, intercepting and containing the ball. She gave the most effort on the court and didn’t give up or back down when the game got rough.
U14 Boys Black (Shannon Trew)
Won against East Perth Eagles (58 – 54)
Coaches notes
The boys jumped out to an early lead and were looking very good and were in full control of the game. After Qtr time the game changed the we lost our momentum and started to lower ourselves to our opponents abilities and let them back into the game.
Offence was good in most of the game but our defence let us down and we allowed too many easy points.
Lucky the boys know how to fight for wins.
Player of the game
Tanzeke Edgar was superb Upfront and lead our offence and defence. He worried the opposition all game and had an answer for everything they tried. He continues to play above his height and his abilities grow every game.
U14 Boys Orange (Adrian Mok)
Won against Willeton Tigers (59 – 47)
Coaches notes
Having a fully heathly squad for the 2nd week in row now is starting to show on the court. All the boys starred in their own roles to contribute to the overall result.
Our defence was back to the high intensity we are used to playing for the majority of the game but offensivley we are still too stagnant and not running through our sets to get better shots.
Dave Brar – After playing a couple weeks with illness/injuries it was great to see Dave back to his old self, most exciting aspect for me was his high level of effort on the defensive end – using his natural athletiscm and long arms to deflect the ball on multiple occasions.
Leyton Rooke – We have been working every week on controlling his emotions on court and using it in the right way. I was so happy to see him get through the whole game with only a small emotional breakdown in the 2nd quarter but he got over very quickly and was pivotal in yesterdays results.
Taye Gopolang and AJ Mok – Leading our defensive charge and kept up the intensity whilst on the court, our next step now is get more aggresive on the other end when the oppotunities are there. Both the boys are never worried about how much they score for themselves, only the final score at the end of the game. From a coaches prespective, its always pleasing to see kids not worrying about themselves and thinking about the whole team.
Player of the game
James Young – Week in week out he is always leaving everything on the court. His improvement since only starting playing basketball 2 years ago is amazing. Even though he was undersized yesterday he fought hard for every rebound and show great leadership on and off the court.
U14 Boys White (Joel Warner)
Won against Mandurah Magic (101 – 41)
Coaches notes
This week we executed offensively the best we have all season. We are getting into our sets far quicker, and the boys are learning what sets to runs given what is presented to them on the court. That is particularly important because we have made that key shift away from running in ‘patterns’ and following a set of instructions, to reading what we see on the court and reacting appropriately to give ourselves certain advantages. There is still a long way to go and some more development to come, but the foundations are being laid for some important basketball concepts that will help the boys in the future. Further, our Teamwork this week was outstanding. The ball has never moved so well. On Sunday, the ball moved through hands quickly and we found open Team-mates a lot of the time. The boys are making individual sacrifices for Team success and experiencing joy when things are working. From a coach’s perspective, that’s exciting to watch. As always we get the chance to get back to practice, review our performance and improve. We will put some energy into shot selection and off-ball movement this week, so it will be an animated practice session! As we approach the halfway mark of the season, I am motivated to see where the ceiling is for this Team, there is no shortage of spirit so I expect we will continue to improve with our basketball ability and our understanding of the game.
Player of the game
This week’s player of the round goes to Ethan. Ethan has been challenged with some very specific areas to improve on during practice and he has met those goals, improving rapidly over the last two weeks. Starting spots are earned in Suns White and Ethan has been pushing for a starting role for a few weeks now. This week, he put Coach James and I in a position where we had to select him to start. That is equally as important as his performance on Sunday, because he took the long-route to get his staring opportunity. On Sunday, Ethan brought his practice effort and discipline to the court, and I am so pleased to see him meet his potential. This week we saw Ethan exercising improved Teamwork, adhering to Team offence and defensive structures and playing unselfish basketball. Ethan is one of a couple of the guys that are incredibly passionate about their Club and Team-mates, and I couldn’t be happier for his individual performance within the Team structure. Well done Ethan, you are an important player on our Team and you’ve earned the award this round.
U14 Boys Blue (Hayden Bird)
Won against Rockingham Flames (57 – 50)
Coaches notes
What we will take away from this game is truly that if we put our hearts on the line and play tough basketball (our game) we rally are tough opponents to beat!
Highlight for this week:
The whole team putting in a massive amount of energy and effort! We play intense ball all through out the game, even out benched would be getting involved chanting and cheering there teammates on!
For big size difference the boys did a tremendous job playing tough defense and grabbing rebounds!
Player of the game
Sandrae Miguel Maesa: Sandrae put up 18pts in a tight game against Rockingham. Sandrae even though playing a smaller roll he really took on the big centres on defense forcing bad shots and bad passes for turnovers! Sandrae a stellar steals and defense lead to his fast break punts for him to lead the way!! Awesome work Sandrae really well deserved!
U16 Girls Black (Charlie Smart)
Won against Willetton Tigers (46 – 42)
U16 Girls Orange (Shannon Trew)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (48 – 57)
Coaches notes
We played a very tall and very strong Perry Lakes team who have beaten everyone by 20-30 points each week. We started well and were only down by 3 at qtr time. 2nd qtr was tough and we kept fighting but they were top tall and we struggled.
Half time all the girls were full of spirit and really wanted to go try our best to get as close as to them as possible, and they fought right to the end and their target was to get within 10 of them and they did. Super proud of all the girls energy and effort.
Player of the game
Mia Crofts was outstanding in defence and offence. Mia had 24 points and a bucket load of 2nd and 3rd efforts. She couldn’t have done any of it without her teammates great passes and spreading the court so she could find windows to attack.. Mia’s hard work at training has been paying off each week and her confidence keeps growing.
U16 Boys Black (Brad Dowd)
Loss against Hills Raiders (58 – 95)
Coaches notes
We went from nearly beating the top and 2nd top teams the previous 2 games, to our biggest loss this season. Not entirely sure what happened, but I think it came down to effort and desire. The other team just wanted the win more than we did.
We came out really strong after half time (well done for that), had a bit of a fight back and only lost the 3rd quarter by 1 point, but Raiders pulled away again in the 4th.
We shot at a lousy 29% from the field, which is just not good enough at this level. We were also the taller team, but were outrebounded.
Anyway, every loss is a lesson, so we now need to look forward and rectify things before our next game.
Player of the game
Lachlan Crosbie was the player of the round this week. Lachy has been grinding away all season and he continued doing what ever was asked of him in this game. His never give up attitude is commendable.
U16 Boys Orange (Rob Rees)
Won against Hills Raiders (88 – 48)
Coaches notes
The whole Team played very well, we basically had the game won within the first Quarter
Player of the game
Odin Amundsen when I asked all the boys if they felt like they had, had a good game he was the only player to say yes.
U16 Boys White (Jordon Macpherson)
Won against Lakeside Lightning (75 – 73)
Coaches notes
A great effort by the whole team on Sunday.
With a well coached Lakeside Lightning team that throughout the game continued to make adjustments to what ever we threw at them keeping the pressure on us. We really had to overcome challenges and strategise.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this game play out. I watched these young athletes using their Basketball IQ, making adjustments without any prompting. I saw layers of communication on the court. I had players bringing suggestions to our timeout discussions, ones that we implemented as a group and had success with.
I am so proud to see how this group is finding their feet and really maturing into great basket ball team mates.
Once again those playing off the bench gave everything they had and really focused on the details we have been working on in training. I have noticed groups turning point with this game and as a coach have been racking my brain as to how I can build on this energy.
Player of the game
This week “player of the week” goes to Ajang Gayo aka “AJ”! AJ brought the heat this week and took the defence by surprise. AJ was focused and determined, he grabbed rebounds and was aggressive off the catch, getting down hill at great speed. All things we have been working on at training. AJ displayed a much better understanding of our teams style of play, where we need him to be and the roll he will play within this group. I am so very proud of you AJ thank you for hanging in there. Let’s continue to strive for the next level mate. Well done AJ!
U16 Boys Blue (Luke Poyner)
Won against Rockingham Flames (60 – 58)
Coaches notes
It was a much needed and well deserved win today. The boys collectively stepped up and played much as a team, showing some fantastic hustle on both ends of the court. We showed much better movement offensively and had some great transition scoring with solid court awareness and incredible assists.
We improved across every aspect of the game, we dominated the inside rebounding and managed to significantly improve our turnover rate for the majority of the game. Our communication was much improved and we were working well to find the open players and gaps in defense
In all it was a big improvement to our gameplay and a great preview of the potential we have as a team. I am definitely looking towards us keeping up the improvments and finishing stronger towards the back half of the season.
Player of the game
So many players stepped up today and played some of their personal best games this season it was hard to select just one. Aiden Scott topped the list today with the sheer determination and hustle he brought to the court every time he stepped on. He came out hungry for the win in the first quarter with some big roubounding and great work offensively in the low post, getting the team fired up early. Two other worthy mentions are Ethan and Jackson with season-high stats for rebounds and steals respectively
U18 Girls Black (Travis Linaker)
Loss against Willeton Tigers (45 -82)
Coaches notes
Firstly I would like to mention the achievement of Dahney & Grace making it to 100 WABL Games, what a great effort you should be very proud of your commitment!
The team came out of the blocks hard and followed all of our processes and rules to find themselves up 18 – 8 at the first break, but as we moved into Q2 the game slipped away from us and we let Willeton take back control and dominate for the rest of the game.
As the coach I want to let the girls know that I believe in them 100% and I know they are so much better than the results we have been getting. Week after week we get glimpses and in the first quarter of this game they again proved just how good they can be when they work as one and play using the simple strategies we have put in place.
I am unsure as to what it is that I am missing that can bring out the fire for a whole game but I promise to keep trying to find it.
Player of the game
Jasmine Williams never stopped trying to execute and can be relied on to do her absolute best to run our actions and look to get two feet in the paint. She is being prepared to put her body on the line defensively and work her hardest every time she is on the court. Jas makes a positive contribution each and every week. Well done!
U18 Girls Orange (Ric Batista)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (31 – 84)
Coaches notes
This week we came up against the extremely strong ladder leading Perry Lakes team. The plan was to work on our team goals and play hard basketball for the full four quarters which the girls achieved. Some highlights was the great spirit displayed by the girls to keep their intensity high even when the score was one sided. The on-ball defence was excellent holding a talented offensive to 84 points. A special mention to Ella for taking on the defence and making good decisions to kick out when double teamed.
Player of the game
This week the player of the round goes to Hannah Willemse. After taking a little while to find her rhythm Hannah impacted the game at both ends with valuable offence and a bag of rebounds, while keeping the team energy high. Great job Hannah!
U18 Boys Black (Lachie Riley / Angus Hywood)
Loss against Willeton Tigers (44 – 97)
Coaches notes
Kept the top team under 100 points.
With a sickness stricken team I required a fill in this game, Lucas Chaplin worked hard and played well for our team.
Player of the game
Max Bucknell: It’s a privilege to have a national talent like Max to be part of the team. Playing 3 games in under 24 hours he was still able to make his presence know against the toughest team in the division, playing against some of his national and state teammates. Max’s defence is his rock, but I was impressed by his effect on offence this game, in the paint and especially behind the arc.
U18 Boys Orange (Brad Coutts)
Loss against Rockingham Flames (70 – 85)
Coaches notes
Getting a good start which hasn’t happened much this year. Unfortunately got bogged down against a Zone which slowed us down and also our inability to get out of a Trap on several occasions seen us lose control of the game. Won the last quarter which was a positive end.
U18 Boys White (Rae D’Sylva)
Won against Perth Redbacks (81 – 73)
Coaches notes
Our defence was strong the entire game, ball movement was also a standout and the boys stuck to the game plan from training.
Player of the game
Jayden Mcclure was the player of the round because of his hustle and rebounding which was a major factor towards the win this week.
U18 Boys Blue (Tyron Neill)
Loss against Perth Redbacks (75 – 82)
Coaches notes
Great turn around by the team compared to last time we played Redbacks Red and went down by 50. The boys showed grit, determination and heart to only go down by 7 points and at one stage took the lead by 2 points with 5 minutes left in the game. We know exactly what to do the next time we face them and look forward to the challenge!
Player of the game
Link West – 100 games at WABL level is an amazing feat not to be overlooked as the amount of hours that goes into reaching such an achievement takes pure grit, determination and love for the game. On Sunday Link showed all the traits that got him to that milestone with more great games to come.
U20 Boys Black (Lochy Brown)
Won against East Perth Eagles (110 – 85)
Coaches notes
With another devastating injury to one of the boys and with only 8, as a group we were worried we couldn’t keep the momentum up from the last 2 games. Luckily we were wrong.
It’s a great feeling when players after the game come up and tell you that “this is the most like a team we’ve played like all year”. It’s makes me excited for the rest pf the season to come.
Still some work on defence we need to improve on but another exciting win.
Player of the game
Kiarn Linaker – It’s rewarding to see players that are challenged stand up and accept it with both hands. The big man can rebound and wall up well on defence but this week he stood up and took on a more aggressive role. Attacking miss matches, creating them with good movement and absolutely laying someone out at the end of the game with a solid screen showed that he wanted to be there for the full 40 minutes.
U20 Boys Orange (Cooper Lowe)
Loss against Perry Lakes Hawks (81 – 84)