Weekly WABL Wrap – Round 13

The Weekly WABL Wrap is proudly sponsored by Woods Insurance Brokers.

Congrats to all our WABL players, coaches, managers and parents for bringing great energy to Round 13 of the 2021 WABL season. Here’s the wrap up of how all our teams went including comments from coaches:

U12 Champs Girls – Josh Wallace (sponsored by Welsh Real Estate)

Won against Willetton Blue 53-35

Coach comments:

The girls were faced with a tough ask in this game with two teammates out sick and taking on the second-placed Tigers team. They attacked this challenge head on and I could not be more proud of the effort they displayed.
The girls’ ability to execute our defensive game plan was a close to flawless as you can get at U12s level and was amazing to watch.
They really exposed the Tigers’ defensive transition through sprinting the wings and passing the ball up the court for easy transition baskets.
This was a total team effort win with everyone making a significant contribution on court.

U12 Division 3 Girls – Emma Ormond (sponsored by DLA Piper)

Won against Kalamunda 42-15

Coach comments:

The girls followed our team rule “pass up good shots for great shots” perfectly which in turn led to many open shot opportunities. Both on defence and offence they hustled and put their bodies on the line on numerous occasions.
Soniya Karimi had her best game of the season shutting down ball carrier after ball carrier. Her ability to get her teammates shots never fails to impress me and she showed this skill on Sunday once again.
Sasha Kuan did a really great job at attacking the basket which made the defence collapse which led to many open jump shots from her teammates. Sash always hustles whenever she’s on the court and this was something I saw once again on Sunday.

U12 Division 4 Girls – Marcia Dowling (sponsored by One for Women)

Won against Joondalup Wolves White 46-25

Coach comments:

Help defence is such an essential part of this team’s success and in this game the girls really returned to their best form with this. Their commitment to our “pass is fast” philosophy in offence also contributes to their success.
Cara Hayes presents every week with such a big overall contribution in both offence and defence and this week she really committed.
Jacinta and Alessia Wladyka also both contributed well to our points tally.
Gracie Dillon keeps blowing my mind with her consistent improvement – her transition defence was incredible.
Both Allegra Care and Charlotte Davey had their highest number of assists at both ends of the court with good passes and really working on boxing out.
Nadia Slee worked so hard in defence that the Wolves coaches were very frustrated and Mia Exeter’s defensive footwork resulted in some essential turnovers.
Both Sally Dowling and Lottie Ballantine did excellent offensive rebounding with Lottie’s choices in offensive transition showing her consolidated game IQ.

U14 Champs Girls – Haylee Smyth (sponsored by Mount Lawley Orthodontics)

Lost to Kalamunda Suns 40-36

Coach comments:

After a really poor start I was happy with the way the girls fought back into the game.
Madi Makavilitoga had her best game and really owned the keyway on the defensive end in the third quarter

U14 Division 2 Girls – Shannon Ball (sponsored by Active Discovery)

Lost to Cockburn Cougars 37-36

Coach comments:

I was ever so proud of the entire team. For me, this felt like a win regardless of going down by 1 point. Every girl did their part when they were on the court and when they were on the bench. The girls played as a team, their effort was exceptional and the camaraderie was exciting to see.
Our training sessions have intensified and it was great to see certain aspects of that transition to game day. I have great hopes for the last 5 games of the season.

U14 Division 4 Girls White – Zac Belton (sponsored by Redink Homes)

Won against Lakeside Lightning 52-17

Coach comments:

Our defensive intensity has improved so much of late! It has been great to see.
Mila Reyes’ aggressive defence really upped the team’s energy. They really rallied behind her to go on a 15-point run in the second half.

U14 Division 4 Girls Grey – Lucy Dowling

Lost to Perry Lakes 47-33

Coach comments:

Everyone on the court stayed composed when pressure was applied leading to much better decision making, which was great as it’s what we have been working on. I was very impressed with the maturity of the girls to play their own game and not get scrappy just because the other team did.
Week after week Charlotte Dillon continues to impress with her improvement. This week she showed us her ball handling under pressure is among those improvements
Arabella Kahl delivered good lockdown defence on the other team’s top scorer, stopped them getting many possessions
Salma Rahmadavi has her usual great all-round game. She did well to keep everyone composed by staying so herself, making good passes, good shot choices and had good ball handling

U16 Division 2 Girls – Bryn Arnold (sponsored by Smart Capital)

Won against Joondalup 55-51

Coach comments:

We started with great energy on the defensive end which resulted in stops and an early lead. While foul trouble let the opposition back into the game, our response and composure in a tight finish were outstanding.
Our defence has been exceptional over the last month and this was another fantastic team performance.
Blaise Stancil was excellent on both ends of the floor knocking down a couple of big threes and holding the opposition’s best player to well below their season average.
Jenna Jackson’s decision-making has really improved over the last few games. Jenna also knocked down two free throws in the last minute to give us the lead back.

U16 Division 3 Girls – Adrian Warner (sponsored by MSP Electrical)

Lost to Perry Lakes Hawks White 62-48

Coach comments:

We played with much-improved composure and control as a team, executed well against the zone D, and applied very effective mid-court pressure D for most of the game. It was a great contest all game in the half-court. We fought hard to get back to within 2 points but Hawks shot well and punished us with good transition baskets which in the end was the key to the result.
Lily Leeder made good reads in transition to get to the basket.
Hannah Saliacus and Tegan Wilkinson had great energy in ‘hunting’ the offensive rebounds.
Last week’s birthday girl Abby Macham was a great on-court general and controlled the tempo nicely when we needed it. Matilda Thomson sets the standard for her desire for the loose ball and ran hard at both ends but it was pleasing to see her showing more confidence and attacking focus and making a dent on the scoreboard as a result.
Isabella Wolfenden continued to earn regular trips to the FT line where she has become a very reliable scorer – leading the league in FT made so far.
Many thanks to our CEO Lyndon who took the girls through some fundamentals of a zone offense at training this week, which they applied pretty well against the Hawks.

U16 Division 4 Girls – Geoff Alger

Lost to Senators 54-45

Coach comments:

We started out really well with great passing and spacing which created good opportunities to score while our disciplined defence made it really hard for the Senators. In the fourth quarter we again demonstrated our resilience and commitment to play out the game and challenge Senators once again after letting the third quarter get away from us.
It was great to have Taijah Babich back – her vision and passing created good opportunities and her on-ball defence was a constant worry for the Senators.
Swara Pathare’s passing was very good.
Casey Meyer and Aaliyah Nunes provided composed finishing with Casey adding excellent energy and speed to the team.
Tiana Alger provided a good inside presence.
The biggest highlight for me was Amelia Weber’s outstanding commitment and hustle for any loose ball, rebound and defensive play.

U18 Division 2 Girls White – Brayden Cook

Won against Lakeside Lightning 80-51

Coach comments:

I was happy with the girls’ effort throughout the game. We stayed focused and did our best to execute our offense despite Lakeside’s attempts to disrupt us. I was happy that we were able to control the game right from the get-go and the girls stayed calm under pressure.
Tyra-Lee Moody was fantastic in an aggressive scoring mindset. She scored a game-high 18 points and was a threat whenever she had the ball.

U18 Division 2 Girls Grey – Brad Dowd (sponsored by Protek)

Lost to Kalamunda 114-26

From a team effort point of view, what pleased you most about this game?

As expected, this was always going to be a tough game for the team. We had moments of really good basketball, the few points we did score didn’t come easily. We had a few good runs throughout the game where we broke their press and scored thanks to 4-5 quick passes. We lost by 112 points last time we met, so to lose by 88 is obviously an improvement. I used this game to play players out of their traditional role in the team, which was great for development.
Emma Jones fought hard the entire game, shooting accurately and grabbing steals.
Meg Capewell and Kirsty Slinger both managed to grab rebounds despite Suns have two girls taller than 6 foot.

U12 Champs Boys – Dylan Vilardi

Lost to East Perth 55-50

Coach comments:

The way we played, we should’ve won this game. The boys took care of the ball throughout the whole game, they fought for every single rebound and they didn’t give up. In the end, there were just a couple of shots in it. Well done to East Perth.
Xavier Allison came out and played with all his heart. He hurt himself halfway through the second, fought through it and played one of the best games I have ever seen him play.

U12 Division 2 Boys – Ash Brian (sponsored by Drafting Now)

Lost to Kalamunda 42-34

Coach comments:

While we did not have a great start, we stepped up the pressure in the second half and played some great defence, which limited our opposition’s final score.
From a scoring point of view, we had a good spread of contributors this week.
Cooper Roskell and Zeke Brian were given the job of tagging the league’s top scorer and both were disciplined and relentless for the entire game.
Well done to Aiden Little and Louis Daniel who both pulled down another double-digit rebound game and while Oliver Flower was just short of double-digit rebounds, he was well above his season average showing his boxing out skills.

U12 Division 4 Boys White – Tyler Cusworth

Won against Willetton Tigers White 53-52

Coach comments:

Every single one of the boys rocked up ready to play on Sunday. The energy even when we were just waiting to go on to warm up was electric. We executed everything that we didn’t manage to execute in our previous game and everyone just simply played their role.
Big shout out to our two clutch free-throw shooters: Mitch Thompson stepping up to even out the game and then Jake Chew stepping up to close it with 1 second on the clock.
Miles Byrne had an outstanding game and really was our secret weapon coming off the bench.
Liam Shelhot stepped up and really played his role to perfection – I love when he is aggressive towards the basket.
I thought Vincent Ryder’s pressure was outstanding on defence also.
I could say something for all of the boys to be honest, they all played their roles to perfection.

U12 Division 4 Boys Grey – Andrew Logan (sponsored by MD Building Maintenance)

Lost to Perry Lakes 59-40

Coach comments:

After losing one of our starters before the game I thought we gave great effort against tough opposition. We will be ready for the style of game they play next time.
Travis Hunt’s work rate was next level – his ability to play big minutes and give a consistent performance through four quarters kept us in the hunt until the 4th quarter.
Ethan Kingsbury and Ethan Cooper both took on board feedback this week and were aggressive on both ends of the floor.

U14 Champs Boys – Aleks Lackovic (sponsored by Sto WA)

Won against Cockburn Cougars 45-35

Coach comments:

I was proud of our team’s outstanding defensive containment, efficient execution and the constant effort and energy they brought on every play.
Romeo Lyszkowicz and Ben Galvin hunted rebounds, created transition opportunities and created constant paint pressure.
Jack Saliacus, Levi Hewett and Cleon Ryder screened constantly, boxed out and banged against much bigger five-men.
Mason Clarke had yet another monster game dominating at both ends of the floor, scoring at will, creating pressure and leading the effort areas.
Our guards Maksim Lackovic, Zac Anfuso, Jaxon Kowal and Jerry Davies executed efficiently and did what the team needed, they were facilitators and controlled the game tempo for four quarters.

U14 Division 2 Boys – Mitchell Jesson

Won against Senators Green 51-39

Coach comments:

This has been a season where the boys have played three solid quarters in many games but never four. On Sunday, against the second-placed Warwick side, we managed to play four consistent quarters.
We had our second-lowest number of turnovers for the season and our transition defence had them relying on outside jump shots. Very proud of the ‘whole team’ effort that went into winning this game.
Jay Hazell is our big man and pulled in 16 boards (9 offensive) and equal top-scored with 10 points. The other team put a lot of effort into stopping Jay, but his work rate was simply a level above.
I encourage the boys to think for themselves and react to the opposition. Hamish Gibson and James Bowen showed great leadership to make on the run changes to our press breaker that were very effective in this game.
Kade Mendes provided a highlight to me after being called for an offensive foul that was on the harsh side. Kade did not complain to the ref, make any excuses or show any negative energy – he simply played on. Proud of that reaction.

U14 Division 3 Boys – Adam Kudray (sponsored by Euroz Hartleys)

Lost to Perry Lakes White 70-49

Coach comments:

I loved seeing every player come off the court gassed from working hard the whole game.
We agreed we would bring the triples in the third term and Lionel Chitiyo and Anthony Flores made it rain.

U14 Division 4 Boys – Alex Maude (sponsored by Masterwall)

Won against Kalamunda 77-44

Coach comments:

In this game I loved our team’s full-court pressure, great shot selection, perimeter ball movement and running in transition both offensively and defensively
This game was won by the team playing together. All the boys played for each other, trusted each other and worked together to play their best game of the season. Overall a great team effort.

U16 Division 2 Boys – Paul Cassir (sponsored by Infuse Life)

Won against Cockburn Cougars 97-87

Coach comments:

The players were able to take advantage of opportunities in transition to place a high offensive score on the scoreboard.
It was pleasing to see our desperation at different stages in the game to be the first to loose balls and offensive rebounds.
Andrew Chilufya and Cooper Deshon contributed 20+ points each. This allowed us to maintain momentum when our opposition was starting to make runs.
Hamish Elder and Emmanuel Ngugi both took on the challenge of roles outside of their usual ones and ably contributed in all areas of the game.

U16 Division 3 Boys White – Luke Simonette

Lost to Joondalup Wolves 82-61

Coach comments:

Played good solid defence, especially in the first half where we allowed only 39 points against a much bigger and offensively adept team.
We offset a poor shooting performance by doing a good job getting to the free-throw line and making 22 free throws.
Had a great third quarter only allowing the opposition one made field goal with great defensive pressure which turned into transition offence
Harrison Clarke took care of the ball throughout our third-quarter run.
Alistair Hartman may not have shot well as well as he’d like from the field, but got to the free-throw line consistently
Basile Allegre had a great offensive and defensive post performance, playing against guys much taller

U16 Division 3 Boys Grey – Anthony Nixon (sponsored by Auto Control Systems)

Won against Perry Lake 96-80

Coach comments:

With two players out to injury and other players in very early foul trouble, the team had to work hard for this win.
We returned to our aggressive best to have 84 points at three-quarter-time which showed how strong we can be offensively. That scoring output also allowed us to limp home in the fourth with barely five players left on the court.
This was an outstanding team effort with a few lessons in there for future games.
Josh Richards set an aggressive tone early with some outstanding rebounding and big man court positioning and produced his best game for the season.
Max Millard went hard at the basket all game to also have his best game of the season and 18 points.
Ethan Harders and Ethan Logan put their bodies on the line in a physical game to get the ball up the court.
Jordan Yum returned to his attacking ways with 14 pts
Despite only being able to be on the court for a half of basketball due to foul trouble, Benji Berardis still managed to put up 18 points.

U16 Division 4 Boys – Anthony Nixon (sponsored by TECC and Insight)

Lost to Rockingham 81-68

Coach comments:

Despite being without our two main point guards (Naoki Walker and Riley Panizza) the boys played well and fought hard.
Rockingham is a strong team that plays a tight zone and are second on the ladder.
The main difference, in the end, was Rockingham’s 8 three-pointers that we couldn’t match and being a few guards short, we struggled to defend.
Being two point guards down, Josh Welsh and Ollie Graham stepped up to both have their best games of the season. They were aggressive and strong and had to play a lot of minutes.
Ollie finished with a game-high 24 points with outstanding attacking from the wing.
Josh controlled the point and team in his best game for the season and 10 points.
A great effort from a team that continues to improve every week.
Thanks to Mitch and Andrew for running training and Mitch who was head coach for the game (sending dad to the bench) and did an outstanding job.
And a special shout out to Flames coach Lee who confessed to being a big fan of my weekly team updates … ha ha.

U18 Champs Boys – Simon Daff (sponsored by Della Franca Farms)

Lost to Willetton 85-75

Coach comments:

We got back to making good adjustments in this game. Our second quarter was great in terms of doing the little things: our transition D was excellent, we got stops and we boxed out well. When we focus on the defensive end first, we look really good. Just need to do those things for longer.
Rory Charles had an outstanding game both offensively and defensively – his energy and speed were a highlight.
Ash Haemori had a great game off the bench – he shot well, made the right reads off the dribble and is a great on ball defender. This was easily his best game this season.
It was also nice having Josh Draper back in the fold now that his footy season has finished.

U18 Division 3 Men White – Luke Notley (sponsored by McDonalds Karratha)

Won against the Slammers 83-63

Coach comments:

Bunbury is always a tough road trip to play after a long drive down. Defensively we did enough to get the win but we are still not at the same level was before the lockdown and break.
It was great to see everyone get on the scoreboard again. This was Ethan McIntosh’s first game of the season after an injury at the start of the season and it was great to see the team rally around him to support him.
Luis Uribe, Finn Warner, Oliver Pedley and Lachlan Taylor were all great on the boards for us. We did OK to keep Slammers to our 60 point mark but I feel defensively we could have done a lot better and kept them to 40 points with better intensity. We missed quite a large number of easy buckets under the basket but Ethan was able to come back in this game and hit some great open shots.

U18 Division 3 Men Grey – Brandon Riley (sponsored by Inspirations Paint)

Won against Rockingham 86-74

Coach comments:

After experiencing our first loss of the season last week, we responded well in this game with a fantastic first half – great focus and energy. Rockingham made a strong run in the second half and we learnt a lot about what we need to be better at.
It’s great to see Harper Mitchell-Oehlers really starting to understand his role.
I also loved the defence played by Jonah Muparutsa and Jake Ashworth on the best scorer in the league, to keep him to one made field goal.

U18 Division 3 Men Silver – Sam Fox (sponsored by Strut Specialists)

Won against Cockburn Cougars 75-58

Coach comments:

This was a statement win for us. For the second week in a row, we held a strong team to under 60 points. Our team effort and attention on D is really excellent. There were some amazing passages of defensive rotation. In this game, we responded very well in offense to a lot of physical pressure from the opposition. We had another excellent rebounding game and this is a difference-maker.
Mackenzie Tanner had another double-double (22/10) and shot the ball very well from deep in the process. His work rate and attitude are both fantastic. His game is taking off.
Aiden Cannington had one of his best games of the season, attacking in straight lines to the basket, creating assists and playing great D from start to finish.
Akira Rowe-Fox made a couple of uncharacteristic errors in the first but managed to make the adjustment and have a great game; running the ball, scoring effectively, dishing assists and grabbing 7 boards.

U20 Men White – Michael Clarke

Lost to East Perth Blue 73-63

Coach comments:

It was pleasing in this game that we never gave up and got within a couple of possessions of a very good opponent.

U20 Men Grey – Rob Gordon

Lost to Lakeside 114-66

Coach comments

It pleased me no end as a coach to see the players execute the press we’ve been practising at training since I came on board. From an inbound pass/baseline – it was awesome to see us make scores made from the opposition’s forced errors.
Our game intensity in the second half was where it needed to be. We were far more assertive in transition at both ends with Lakeside scoring 53 to our 41. A big improvement considering the first half score was 61-25.
Our ball movement at times was excellent in combination with our inside game working well with our biggest man Kaden Morecombe scoring 17 and Will Sykes scoring 11. Our PG Ashwin Creswell chimed in with 12, SG Cooper Mason scored 15 and Riley Burnett also contributed with 8pts.
If we can get better at defending the perimeter and reduce turnovers, this will go a long way to securing our first win as Lakeside knocked down 27 three-pointers – even against man defence. To Ashwin Creswell’s credit, he shut down their chief scorer in the third quarter to bring about a resurgence in our team.