This Weekly WABL Wrap is brought to you by Baskin Robbins East Victoria Park (828a Albany Highway, East Victoria Park). Why not take the opportunity to show them your support? Head into the store for some cool and yummy ice-cream action after your game!
Here’s how our Round 10 WABL games went.
Women’s results and coach comments
12 RED – Emma Ormond
Won against Perry Lakes 47-43
Emma loved seeing:
- I was impressed with all the girls stepping up to the plate when necessary, especially with two of our tallest players out leaving us with only 7 against the team fourth on the ladder.
- Sasha Nona’s effort to pull in the boards and be aggressive on defence was impressive. Was also great to see her confidence ranging to the three-point line with two threes, while making sure her shot selection was appropriate.
- Sienna Duong really stepped up as we had two of our taller players out, grabbing in rebounds where possible and wanting the ball at every opportunity.
12 WHITE – John Care
Won against Rockingham 30-17
John loved seeing:
- We managed to keep Rockingham’s top scorer to just 4 points and as a team exhibited great hustle in defence and better vision on the court creating smarter passing opportunities in offence and better spacing on the court.
- All players played a great game.
- Ava Wolfenden played well in offence with 8 points.
- Scarlett Sim, Georgina Wyatt, Remy Sumich and Sienna Care provided great hustle
- Great passing from Imogen Reiger-Ross to open players.
- Olivia Weddikkara and Mila Reyes ran the floor at both ends really well at both ends and never gave up.
14 RED – Bri Bailey
Lost to Cockburn Cougars 36-24
Bri loved seeing:
- The girls fixed their focus after making mistakes and stuck together as a team.
- Jenna Jackson and Abbey Macham for great control with bringing the ball up the floor and attacking the rim.
- Isabella Wolfenden for her defensive intensity.
- Ashlyn Steers for her efforts on boards.
14 WHITE – Haylee Smyth
Won against Hills Raiders 65-18
Hayley loved seeing:
- We took some good steps in our transition offence today making good passes up the court.
- Ebony Cox had another great game; she just keeps getting better and better. She always does the right thing for the team. Today she had 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals to go with her 10 points.
- Miki Deshon continues to show how strong she is. This week I was really proud of how she stepped up as a leader being able to give instructions on the court. She had 6 assists and 7 steals to go with her 19 points.
14 BLACK – Lucy Dowling
Lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 61-46 (OT)
Lucy loved seeing:
- The girls did a fantastic job in the second half applying pressure and causing turnovers. Because of this, we were able to come back from 17 points down to go into OT.
- Keira Tran had a stellar shooting performance and hit the game-tying shot.
- Olivia Mirco for playing a more relaxed role and really excelled at getting the ball into spots where we could score.
- Gabby Manalo for another solid scoring performance and again another week of terrific defence.
16 RED – Adrian Warner
Lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 63-61
Adrian loved seeing:
- It was a tight game throughout 4 quarters and we had a nice lead with a few minutes to go but the Hawks picked up their intensity and forced a few turnovers that ultimately cost us. We showed in parts that we could play a nice, controlled half court offence with good spacing, ball movement and attacking the paint that gave us good shot options but we got into foul trouble early and it hurt us late in the game.
- Jasmin Wynn was super strong on the boards at both ends and Tyra Moody gave us energy and results at the offensive end. Joia Kowaleski stayed focused and gave 100% for the entire game and stuck to the team principles well. Chloe Hind attacked the paint with more confidence and looked threatening every time. Grace Dalton had her best game with good spacing and better decision making as a ball distributor and was very active in help D.
16 WHITE – Anne-Marie and Bryn Arnold
Lost to Perry Lakes 82-65 (2OT)
Anne-Marie and Bryn loved seeing:
- The character of the team is outstanding. We got down late in the game but never gave up. We tied the game up with five seconds left to take the game into OT. We then got down six early in OT but kept fighting and took the lead with 10 seconds left only to have the game tied up again with two seconds to go and a second period of OT to play. The team fought hard in that second overtime but ran out of legs and players in the end.
- Megan Taylor was good all game including hitting two clutch free throws to give us the lead in OT.
- Ainsleigh Passi hitting the little jump shot to tie the game up in regulation.
18 RED – Brayden Cook
Lost to Lakeside Lightning 68-49
Brayden loved seeing:
- Porscha Barnes finished with 11 points and 5 steals.
- Sydney Midgley was strong on the boards with 10 rebounds.
- A big congratulations to Mia Pronk for playing her 100th game for the club.
Men’s results and coach comments
12 RED – Brad Dowd
Won against Rockingham 50-48
Brad loved seeing:
- With one of our leading scorers out for the rest of the season with an injury, we were looking for everyone to step up and they did. It was a real ‘team’ win, with everyone contributing on the stats sheet.
- Ewan Maclean continued his excellent recent form contributing 8 points, 5 rebounds and zero turnovers
- Jaxon Kowal, Lionel Chitiyo and Anthony Flores forced lots of turnovers for Rockingham with their hectic defence.
12 BLACK – Ron Flores
Lost to Warwick Senators Blue 85-34
Ron loved seeing:
- The score didn’t reflect the true nature of the game. All players worked tirelessly throughout the game and didn’t give up.
- Jackson Doyle led the team with his effort and work rate.
12 WHITE – Dylan Vilardi
Lost to Rockingham Flames 55-26
12 GREY – Jacob Kelly
Lost to Cockburn Cougars 62-57
14 RED – Colin Driscoll
Lost to Cockburn Cougars 62-49
Colin loved seeing:
- This team beat us 50 points in the first round to take them so close in this game, is a wonderful testament to the development and trust our group is starting to have with one another
- Noah Rees-Turner showed great toughness and work on the boards
- Sasha Zugic delivered excellent defensive stops
- Everyone in the team got on the scoresheet
14 BLACK – Ash Brian
Lost to Cockburn 61-53
Ash loved seeing:
- As it has been all season, our Achilles heel is our ability to beat the press. While we still have a long way to go, I feel we stuck to our press breaker plan for longer patches today which resulted in fewer backcourt turnovers.
- A great even spread of scoring today with everyone getting on the scoresheet.
- Andrew Cook had a fantastic all-round game. While he’s pretty new to representative basketball, his in-game IQ and decision making are rapidly improving. From an effort point of view, Andrew can never be faulted. Today he pulled down 14 boards, plus a handy 10 points.
- Caden Kelemanis also had a great offensive game today with some genuine, solid attacks at the basket and he was rewarded with the points for his effort.
14 WHITE – Al Lackovic
Won against Hills Raiders 73-43
Al loved seeing:
- The team’s ability to be competitors, deliver voice pressure and execute the ever-evolving offensive and defensive schemes for all four quarters. The boys together won the voice battle and ensured we pressured the ball/recovered to protect the paint and won the rebound count yet again versus another taller team. Together they played positionless basketball and supported each other at both ends off the floor.
- Paint beast squad: Ben Galvin’s 15 rebounds, 4 steals, Jack Saliacus’ 13 rebounds, 2 Steals, Romeo Lyszkowicz and Samuel Peirce constantly hunting for steals, deflections, tips and screens.
- Zac Anfuso celebrated his 50th game leading the team yet again with voice pressure, hustle and three consecutive 3 pointers.
- Maksim Lackovic’s ability to control tempo, create options, make efficient reads and find and support his teammates before an unfortunate 3rd quarter injury.
- Hamish Gibson, Jeremiah Davies, James Bowen and Kade Mendes’ constant hustle, bullet assists and all willing to sacrifice for the team.
14 GREY – Alex Maude
Lost to Perry Lakes Hawks Blue 46-42
Alex loved seeing:
- Our full-court pressure was the best all season. The boys created turnovers within our three point line which resulted in scores.
- Help defence was also great, as the boys trusted each other that if they got beaten, there was help defence there to stop the drive.
- We utilised our bigs a lot more in the pick and rolls, and our shot selection was good.
- As much as it was a hard loss to take, the boys are all playing well as a team, and now know each other’s strengths and use them to their advantage
- Cleon Ryder’s defence when in the trap was excellent – forcing the opposition to the sideline resulted in double teams and steals
- Nikola Burza’s work inside the paint on offence and defence didn’t go unnoticed, creating space and cutting at the right time on offence, and great help defence
- Jamie Wilson’s non-stop effort on both ends of the court was another standout
16 RED – Luke Notley
Won against Mandurah 83-67
Luke loved seeing:
- Our defensive intensity in the first half was fantastic. We kept Mandurah to 17 points in the first half whilst scoring 45 ourselves. Unfortunately, we relaxed in the second half whilst Mandurah fought back and made the win tougher on ourselves than it needed to be.
16 BLACK – Bevan Rankin
Lost to Perry Lakes 76-70
Bevan loved seeing:
- The way we fought back in the second half and put ourselves in a position to win
- Our backcourt led by Kade McMillan and Benji Plewright were solid and productive at both ends.
- Ethan Saliacus was again dominant in the middle and provided a great target inside.
16 WHITE – Mark Edman
Won against Kalamunda 91-77
Mark loved seeing:
- We spent a lot of time at training on passing and fast-break transition, so it was great to see the boys put four quarters of this into action
- Everyone in the team contributed to this win
16 GREY – Michael Riley
Lost to Cockburn Cougars 89-58
18 RED – Gavin Burnett
Won against Rockingham 83-81
Gavin loved seeing:
- Every player made a contribution to the win. We were able to rotate all nine players onto the court throughout the game. While we had some standout performances individually a win cannot be achieved without contributions across the board. The team had a season-low turnover count of 15, we won the boards by 54/51 against taller opposition and went to the free-throw line more times than our opponents and thankfully converted 10/17. The team bought into our game plan and executed well, coming from behind at the final change to secure a rewarding win. Six individual players had a VPS greater than 1.0, which was an outstanding effort.
- Mitch Nixon, Joshua Draper and Connor Rothman were stand out performers for the team on Sunday. Mitch and Joshua both produced double-doubles with Mitch pulling down 16 boards to go with 13 points, 3 assists and 3 blocks and an impressive VPS of 2.0. Joshua contributed 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Connor Rothman broke the game open offensively in the last quarter with three consecutive 3 pointers to take his tally to 15 points on 64% eFG, to go with his 3 assists and 3 rebounds and outstanding defence (VPS 1.81). Owen Pang was again one of our best defensively, while adding 9 points of his own and contributing 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Vic Komaiya (9) and Riley Burnett (6) were again solid on the boards while contributing 6 points and 8 points respectively. Adam Stanley hit a couple of clutch 3s and continued his improvement at both ends of the floor. Cooper Mason was +1 with his time on the floor, making sure we kept momentum when he got his opportunity. Ryan Duke Yong again kept a clean sheet on turnovers with 0 for the game. Ryan is averaging only 1.1 turnovers per game for the season on an average of 15 minutes of court time and he continues to be a safe set of hands.
18 WHITE – Simon Daff
Won against Willetton Tigers 84 to 83
Simon loved seeing:
- Down 12 points with 5 mins to go, we managed to stay positive and increase the intensity down the stretch with some great defence and hustle plays to pull out the close win.
- Rory Charles had a wonderful game – his rebounding and hustle and all round energy is first class. He hit some high pressure free throws in the last few minutes to get us over the line.
- Carson Healey also had a solid game, especially in the fourth quarter where he really helped get us back in the game by being physical and hitting some crucial buckets.
18 GREY – Carlos Uribe
Won against Perry Lakes 72-56
Carlos loved seeing:
- As the season progresses it is great to see the team playing together much better than before and overcoming difficulties we faced in the past. Today was a great team effort against a tall and strong team that pressed us for a good part of the game.
- Everyone contributed with great defence, scores and passes. Best rebounders for today were Abdullahi Mohamedhashi and Luis Uribe with 16 and 15 respectively.
20 RED – David Swaby
Won against U20 Redbacks 2 118-62
Dave loved seeing:
- The teamwork and togetherness we showed this game.
- The league’s leading scorer Lachie Bertram had a season-high 51 points which is incredible. I thought Magloire was great in just his second game scoring 23 points and also Angus Price with a career-high 20 points.
20 BLACK – Luke Simonette
Lost to Redbacks 1 118-62
Luke loved seeing:
- Sense of team and community despite the lopsided score line. Boys did a really good job denying the catch defensively
- Tyler Hardy – Worked hard to get better shots
- Caleb Kingston – Played his role over a prolonged period
- Edward Farquarson – Very good on-ball defense