12-1 Girls – Olivia Weddikara (sponsored by Visa4You Migration Agency)
Lost against Warwick Senators 56-39
Coach comments
- The girls played so well! They worked really well as a team in defence, using traps to pressure the opposition, and in offence they moved the ball around well, using screens and handoffs.
- Our speed was also very present in this game and we used it to our advantage to get a lot of fast breaks and blocks on D.
- Immy was our MVP on Sunday. She did everything I asked her to do, and even better than I was expecting! Immy was vital in our trap defence, and I hope she knows how much of an impact she made.
- Cairee was a speedy rocket today. She helped out when the team’s offensive pace dropped and brought great energy both on and off the court.
- Amelia and Mabel gave it everything from start to finish. They both dive for every loose ball and fight hard for rebounds. Combined with their hustle on defence and their speed offensively, those two were unstoppable.
12-2 Girls – Dave Power (sponsored by RocketDNA)
Won against East Perth Eagles 47-17
Coach comments
- Defensively the girls were working well as a unit the whole game. It allowed us to run out and get early offence.
- Execution of our inbounds plays was very efficient, and in the half court we were able to work the ball around and get paint touches.
- Each player played quality minutes with their time. Great way to end the regular season.
- Wanda Power’s defence was excellent inspiring the team to be more active.
- Iris Gething was relentless attacking the basket and caused a lot of havoc for their defence.
- Daisy Robertson’s defence and passing game created lots of space for the team to play in.
12-3 Girls – Paul Philpott (sponsored byInternational Commissioning Solutions Group Pty Ltd)
Won against Eastern Suns 70-18
Coach comments
- Whoop whoop & whoop! What an outstanding game for our girls today. The Eastern Suns Warriors, whilst a small team, brought so much energy, speed and fight. While they provided us with plenty of challenges throughout the game, our wonderful and determined girls showed no mercy and put on a beautiful clinic for their teammates, spectators and coaching team.
- Our girls, demonstrating their season learnings, were strong in every aspect of their game. They were on point with their player-on-player defence, creating turnovers at every chance and from every position on court, while also significantly reducing our usually high foul count. It just goes to show that where there is hard work, there is opportunity.
- Offensively, it was raining opportunities and dimes, with our scoring ratios high. As a team, we placed the team above the individual by creating space and looking for our teammates’ availability. We showed that as individuals we are drops of water, but together, we are a mighty ocean of success, and that teamwork is where the sum of our efforts always exceeds our individual abilities!
- Shining bright again today was Jean Grayson, who was literally as hot as a scoring streak with a massive 27 points.
- Matilda Marsland was as tricky as a behind the back pass as she continues to create space, sneaking through the back door and scoring a couple of points.
- Zara Wong was guarding like a shadow today as she brought her “A-Game” to dominate in both the offensive and defensive spaces.
- Ava Horsten was dribbling like a musical beat, facilitating many transitions towards the favourable end of the court.
- Ruby Rath was as exciting to watch as a game winning shot, with passes like whispers through the wind, along with some tidy free throw points.
- Tliyah Gordon was jumping like a kangaroo as she owned the space under both rings, slotting an impressive 11 points.
- Cerah Boucher’s defence was as tight as a locked door.
- Shanaya Siva was out and about guarding like a chess master today with hard up defence. Despite one too many fouls in the third, she still made an impressive impact on the game outcome.
- Ada Gliddon was as graceful as a layup, seeming to be everywhere and involved in everything, putting a big 12 points in our bank.
- A magical display of what you know, girls, and an awesome way to finish the Redbacks regular season. Be proud of yourselves, as we ALL are of your continued efforts. The spirit of teamwork has turned ordinary players into extraordinary champions! Finals here we come!
12-4 Girls – Indiana Ballantine (sponsored by Bruining Partners and John Hughes Ford)
Lost against East Perth Eagles 57-6
12-1 Boys – Wayne Dropulich (sponsored by SLS Advisory)
Lost to Willetton Tigers 94-19
12-2 Boys – Adam Gunnis (sponsored by KPS BUILDING GROUP and PlanWA)
Lost against Cockburn Cougars 65-58
12-3 Boys – Mason Wigmore (sponsored by Victory Technologies Pty Ltd and Stanley Ag WA)
Won against Joondalup Wolves 54-49
12-4 Boys – Charlize Nicolaou (sponsored by Float Docks)
Lost against Eastern Suns 63-74
12-5 Boys – Craig Dropulich (sponsored by Ganjing World)
Lost against Eastern Suns 26-66
Coach comments
- A fantastic way to finish the season against a team that has not lost a game and who is clearly much older and bigger.
- We played our best defense of the year, putting our bodies on the line and taking chest contact to protect our basket.
- We brought the ball up past traps with high efficiency, played the extra passes ahead, and found easy buckets in playing team basketball, and the boys’ ability to pressure the ball carrier is elite as they figure out how to outread and outplay their opposition.
- Regis Qi Ye Luong was super courageous and disciplined as he was first to get back on defense, defending the basket with intensity and creating turnovers from putting off their offense. When Regis defends with his body on the line instead of his hands no player can find a way past. Keep up the good work Regis.
- Archibald Pohla played a great team game, making the passes which were needed in transition and finding the last player out behind the final defender, he wasn’t intimidated by the size of the opposition and defensive awareness was spectacular to cover on transition defense to stop about 5+ certain baskets.
14-1 Girls – Rori Roberts (sponsored by National Geotech)
Won against Willetton Tigers 54-38
Coach comments
- A slow first half saw us super flat from the jump. However, the second half was amazing. The way the girls moved the ball and continued to give up a good shot for a great shot was so much fun to watch. A great win heading into finals.
- Lily Butler was great offensively, playing with lots of confidence and energy. She finished with 13 points.
- Olive Bird once again stood out with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 6 deflections.
- We welcomed Eireann Foley back after being injured since Round 4. She slotted straight back in and played her role perfectly.
- Massive shout out to all the parents for all the cheering and encouragement they have given the girls throughout the season. The real MVPs!
14-2 Girls – Whitney Perret (sponsored by Accelerate Blue)
Won against East Perth Eagles 48-43
Coach comments
- The game was close from start to finish. Our defensive pressure was great throughout, with a couple of fantastic help defence wall-ups from Maddy and Bella, while our guards did a great job slowing the ball down.
- The game became quite hectic in the last quarter, but the girls did a great job staying calm and composed on offence. A really solid team effort!
- Anya and Zoe both had great ball pressure all game. Their calmness on offence, especially in the last quarter, was brilliant.
- Elly played really well at both ends of the floor, giving 100% effort every time she’s on court.
14-3 Girls – Matt Bailey (sponsored by Crothers Pty Ltd)
Won against Hills Raiders officially 89-25
Coach comments
- A comfortable win, which served as a good chance to begin prepping some tactics and rotations for finals.
- Mina Bajin did a really good job of executing our defensive strategy.
- Alex Trilling-Kirkwood did a great job of attacking the basket on her weak hand.
14-4 Girls – Bryn Arnold (sponsored by Mount Hawthorn Clinical Psychology)
Won against Rockingham Flames 37-30
Coach comments
- Another great team performance to finish the regular season. After a sluggish first quarter, the girls locked in defensively and completely took control of the game, holding the opposition to just eight points across the second and third quarters.
- The most pleasing part of the season has been the improvement across the entire group. Everyone has grown, everyone has bought in, and it was fantastic to see all ten players contribute to the win.
- The energy from Maddie Duffield and Caitlin Lim after they entered the game was excellent and really gave the team a real boost. Maddie also led the team in scoring which is a great reward for her hard work throughout the season.
- Peyton Pohla had a great game and excellent on the boards and with her hustle on the defensive end.
14-1 Boys – Dave Ogden (sponsored by Global Cabling)
Lost against Lakeside Lightning 70-58
Coach comments
- Tough loss against a well drilled Lakeside team. The opposition were just too good in the first half and shot very well.
- The boys got stuck into their work in the second half and came back into the game and have had a good series of games leading into the finals, playing the top 3 sides.
- Harrison P top scored with 13. He has been a steady improver in his first WABL season and has been shooting the ball really well at training. It was good to see it carry over on the weekend.
- Eli D shot an elite 3 from 4 from 3, with the miss being a tough shot late when we were chasing the game that looked good all the way. He has battled against bigger bodies all season without complaint as a bottom ager and finished with the second highest number of 3s made in the grade.
- The boys collectively fought out the game and hopefully we can show our best form on the weekend.
14-2 Boys – Craig Dropulich (sponsored by M & T Gomm Pty Ltd ATF Gomm Family Trust T/As Customised Metal Works)
Lost against Mandurah Magic 83-88
Coach comments
- A scrappy and physical game saw us trailing for the majority of the contest. We were caught out early with poor defensive positioning, which led to us giving up three corner three-pointers in the first quarter and putting us on the back foot early.
- Our transition offense and calmness on the ball shined this game, as the other team simply could not keep up with the pace we moved the ball and our patience to find the easy score out in the weakside of their defense.
- It was unlucky for the boys not to end the season off with a win as a buzzer beater 3-pointer secured overtime for Mandurah as we ran out of man-power with 4 fouled out on the bench to lose by 5.
- Still many positives to take from this game as we just need to work on our open finishes and rebounding as for maybe the first time this season we lost the rebounding contest by a decent amount, giving the opposition too many second chance baskets.
- Elijah Angelo Mancini was perfect to his offensive style of play, being able to weave through defenders to draw the foul and finish the score to end up with what is a remarkable 33 points for the day.
- Rintaro Haginiwa had great defense all day without giving up too many fouls throughout the game. 16 points from him was great, but there is still so much room for improvement when he is fully awake and alert.
14-3 Boys – Dom Pitchen (sponsored by Candy Verse)
Lost against Joondalup Wolves 43 – 74
Coach comments
- Despite the tough result on paper, the boys put together a genuinely impressive effort through the first half, setting the tone early with relentless hustle, active defense, and unselfish ball movement.
- Offensively, the execution was right where you want it to be, the team consistently worked the ball to find high-quality, wide-open looks, but it was simply one of those games where the shots refused to fall.
- While the inability to convert those buckets eventually allowed the opposition to pull away in the second half, the core game plan, heart, and effort were undeniably solid foundations to build on moving forward.
- Andre’s spacing and shot selection were excellent, allowing him to find some easy baskets while also creating opportunities for his teammates. He did a great job of staying active and making smart decisions offensively, which helped the team maintain good spacing and flow. Defensively, Andre showed great hustle and effort, working hard at both ends of the court and consistently competing for his team. His energy and willingness to do the little things made a real impact on the game.
- Frankie was a strong defensive match-up in that game, battling hard and competing consistently no matter who he was matched up against. He showed great determination defensively and worked hard to make things difficult for his opponent. Offensively, Frankie did really well to create opportunities for others off the dribble, showing good court vision and composure when attacking the defence. His willingness to drive and make plays for his teammates was a real positive and helped create good scoring opportunities for the team.
14-4 Boys – Caitlin Rawes (sponsored by Crothers Pty Ltd)
Won against Eastern Suns 70-57
16-1 Girls – Nigel Esau (sponsored by Xceed Real Estate)
Lost against Joondalup Wolves 54-55
16-2 Girls – Reid Ballantine (sponsored by Access Hire)
Lost against South West Slammers 55-66
Coach comments
- I was pleased our full squad showed up today with an improved team spirit and took a good step back in the right direction.
- Slammers were annoyingly good on defence, and we helped their cause with transition turnovers.
- Slammers were also an offensive force inside the keyway and seemed to be the team to beat, but we weren’t far off the mark. It was a good battle.
- Our absolute priority this week was overall team-manship, and the full team united today so let’s keep that momentum this week.
16-3 Girls – Geoff Alger (sponsored by Habitat Finance)
Lost against Warwick Senators 47 – 64
Coach comments
- Very similar to our earlier matchups against this side, Senators’ pressure defense allowed them to get on top early through turnovers and extra pressure affecting our finishing. Some uncharacteristic lapses early on the defensive end certainly didn’t help.
- To our girls’ credit, they responded by lifting to match the intensity of the opposition and settling more offensively, which allowed us to create a much more even contest across the final two-and-a-bit quarters.
- Ultimately, the turnovers and a rebound count that went strongly in favour of our opposition meant we didn’t get anywhere near enough shots up to put ourselves into a winning position.
- Eloise Clince is consistently among our best players with incredible composure and decision making in offense and unquestionable grit and fight in defense and on the boards. Her dives on loose balls and fight for position on rebounds inspires her teammates every week.
- Iris Mairs had an impact whenever she was on the court, using her speed and athleticism to be disruptive defensively and flying in for some impressive rebounds. A couple of chase-down blocks and a pull-up 3 just added to the excitement.
- Sally Dowling’s minutes were cut short in an extraordinarily unlucky foul out but the minutes she played were full of intensity. She was one player who matched our opponents’ defensive intensity and rebounding commitment early on and was her creative self in offense, creating buckets for teammates in a game where we found it hard to score. Her ability to shrug off the foul count and transfer her energy to loudly supporting her teammates is a testament to the mature team player she is.
16-4 Girls – Ashley Brian (sponsored by Realth Property Group)
Lost against Rockingham Flames 50-54
Coach comments
- In our final game of the season we took on Rockingham, who sat second on the ladder, and pushed them all the way in a four-point loss. We were in the game from start to finish against a much bigger team, but really struggled to contain them on the offensive boards.
- For the first time this season we switched to a zone, but added a little of our own high-pressure defensive style to it, and it worked really well. Unfortunately, we made the adjustment a little too late and, despite fighting our way back into the game, couldn’t quite close the gap in time.
- A disappointing result, but a fantastic effort against one of the competition’s top teams and a great way to show just how far this group has come.
- Bella was instrumental offensively and was able to put her newly developed floater on full display. She finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 deflections and 7 steals.
- Darcy made an immediate impact, knocking down two huge threes early in the game. She finished with 10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, a deflection and 3 steals.
- Ava Kemp was instrumental defensively and played an incredibly selfless game. She consistently boxed out Rockingham’s bigger players, allowing our guards to fly in and secure the rebound. She finished with 3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 deflections, but the stats don’t come close to showing the impact she had on the game.
16-1 Boys – Cameron Redhead (sponsored by Geist Consulting)
Lost against Joondalup Wolves 60-103
16-2 Boys – Francis Crawshaw (sponsored by F45 Victoria Park)
Won against Lakeside Lightning 82-59
16-3 Boys –Vance Karimi (sponsored by School Bus Logistics Pty Ltd)
Won against Lakeside Lightning 90-75
Coach comments
- Last game of the regular season was tight and another exciting one. Both teams matched up well with nothing in it in the first half. We had a great run in the third and finished very strong in the fourth.
- Our big yet simple goal was to ‘touch ball’ today in D any way possible. We had to adjust with team help D to protect backdoor cuts in the second half and the boys lifted their defensive intensity. We moved the ball well in transition and the boys lifted their confidence in the second half to hit their 3s.
- Kai ran a good game, picked up players early in transition and had clean open and early paint shots.
- Elijah rebounded over much taller players, boxed out hard, chased back in transition and moved the ball up court quickly.
- Tom had touches on the ball to cause turnovers in our defensive paint, was all over the boards and pushed the ball in our transition for early advantages.
- Kruz was smooth and confident with the ball, leading our transition with pace through mid-court press and had good touches on ball to disturb the play.
16-4 Boys – Oliver March (sponsored by Rangecon)
Lost against Rockingham Flames 76-88
18-1 Girls – Shaun Bennison (sponsored by Strike Drilling)
Lost against Joondalup Wolves 37-69
18-2 Girls – Simon Daff (sponsored by West Coast Reinforcing)
Won against Joondalup Wolves 82-33
Coach comments
- Having the extra training this week and training with the 1s team really helped us prepare. This week was all about us building momentum and confidence going into finals.
- We led from start to finish. It was a complete game both offensively and defensively. The girls really locked in and played for each other. The talk and trust was important this week and it gives me so much confidence in these girls going into next week.
- Alice Lawrence was back to her best scoring 15 points. As captain she led by example playing aggressive and with a positive mindset. She consistently applied pressure on defence and was aggressive on offensive getting to the basket.
- It was nice seeing Salma Rahmadavi get extra minutes this week and she didn’t disappoint. She grew in confidence as the game went on playing some great defence and knocking down some big 3s. It was also her 100th game so congrats Salma.
- It was a great team effort with everyone getting on the score sheet this week.
18-3 Girls – Marcia Dowling (sponsored by PWS Group and John Hughes Ford)
Lost against Rockingham Flames 46-77
Coach comments
- The team played hard for the whole game, pressing heavily for most of the contest and making it difficult for the Flames to get clean looks.
- However, their shots were well executed and very solid, which was an area we just didn’t match up in.
- Paige Wigmore fought hard at both ends, rebounding well and getting the ball out and back up the floor.
- Mac Tugwell has continued to develop her defensive footwork in transition and was a definite menace for the Flames.
- Nadia Slee’s defence was, as usual, vital in transition. Along with Mel Cotte, she managed to create steals and then get the ball back to her teammates.
- Trinity Doulis ran more minutes than ever, consistently outrunning her opponents and making great shot choices.
18-4 Girls – Mark Wigmore (sponsored by PWS Group and John Hughes Ford)
BYE
18-1 Boys – Adam Gunnis (sponsored by IML Group and John Hughes Ford)
Lost against Joondalup 119-123
18-2 Boys – Dan Cartwright (sponsored by Aviso WA Insurance Brokers and Signifi Media Pty Ltd)
Lost against Rockingham Flames 83-114
18-3 Boys – Helen Pardini (sponsored by OCR Projects)
Lost against Willetton Tigers 90-119
18-4 Boys – Jess Tiwade (sponsored by Retriever Sound Events Dj.)
Lost against Lakeside Lightning 80-103
21 Girls – Shaun Bennison (sponsored by Freeman Chiropractic)
Won against Binar Maali 83 – 71
Coach comments
- Last home game of the season and the girls played well against a gritty Binar team. We matched their physicality, hit some big 3s, and continued to shoot with no hesitation. Defence was disciplined with what we needed to do, which resulted in some easy transition buckets.
- Theory played well, and Kate proved she can hit some big shots.
- Olivia and Hannah controlled the paint well and made great contributions off the bench.
- Matilda Thompson, although a train-on, gave the team a lift with her tenacity.
20-1 Boys – John Foley (sponsored by Bodytune Massage and Sports Therapies)
Lost against Perth Redbacks 98-103
20-2 Boys – Ofir Ben Dror (sponsored by Meyer Shircore Architects)
Won against Perth Redbacks 103-98
Coach comments
- The Perth Redbacks 20.1’s are older, bigger and stronger than us, and in our previous two encounters, I think it’s fair to say they gave us old fashion hidings.
- To get a win against them was a monumental result for us and all credit must go to the 10 boys who executed our game plan magnificently.
- At one point we were 20 points up, but like all great teams, the 1’s came back at us (like we knew they would). The boys could have folded, but we changed things up, weathered the storm and got an amazing 5-point victory.
- Our starters were all instrumental in the win, executing the game plan we devised together and all scoring over 15 points.
- The real credit goes to our bench, who were loud and positive at all times when supporting the on court players. When they came on, they all performed their individual roles to help keep the pressure on, be that playing tight man D, sinking the vital three pointers when open, playing to the team philosophy.
- Special mention must be made of Hamish Gibson, playing his 100th game for the Redbacks, he ran the offense as directed, scored 19 points, including 5 treys and as always was a defensive pest. Congratulations Hamish, hard work always pays off.
