Weekly WABL Wrap – Round 6 2021

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 6 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 Lakeside 54-36

Coach comments

Lakeside is easily the toughest defensive team we have played this season and they got out to a fast start. The girls settled, fought back, and early in the second quarter went to another gear and never looked back from there.
Once again the girls worked together and stayed true to our mantra “we don’t care about the scoreboard, we’re going to outwork you for 32 minutes”
I love seeing how Malia Williams is growing in confidence with every game she plays, and this game was no different. She used her athletic ability to great effect to chase down players, get a hand in passing lanes, and pull down rebounds. This growing confidence has led to more aggression, which had her diving on loose balls and securing possessions for the team.
I also appreciated Scarlett Hill, once again (and hopefully for the last time) coming down and supporting the team while not being able to play due to injury

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

Won against Kalamunda 35-10

Coach comments

Every single girl that I put on the court gave me 110% on Sunday and played incredibly unselfish basketball. Their understanding of the game is improving every week.
This win was a team effort, every single player did their part to get us in the best position to succeed this week. If I was to write individual highlights, I would be here all day writing about them all because they all played amazing basketball this weekend.

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

Won against Perry Lakes Hawks 41-29

Coach comments

In some respects, this was our toughest game yet. We started the second half all tied up 20-20 having just got back from being 4 down. The team’s mindset had to change and refocus. I was so impressed with the girls’ defensive decision-making in the second half – they kept Perry Lakes to just 9 points.
The improvement in offensive transition was due to heads coming up when dribbling and great team communication.
Jacinta Wladyka took great shot opportunities today and made great assists too.
Cara Hayes made huge efforts to show her hands and keep straight in defence. This was the same with Allegra Care and Gracie Dillon.
Lottie Ballantine, once again, and Nadya Slee chose great boundary pass ins.
Huge effort from Sally Dowling, who has been sick, and Mia Exeter in helping create turnarounds.

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

Won against Mandurah 54-33

Coach comments

Firstly, on Saturday we qualified for the U14 Club Championships which is really exciting for the group. It’s so pleasing to see the improvement the girls are making.
Miki Deshon played through sickness on Saturday to lead us to qualify and then backed up on Sunday with a solid performance. Her decision making continues to be excellent.
Millie Stancil played excellent defence on both Saturday and Sunday.
Leeshar Tuialii was really aggressive offensively.
Lailah Tasker continues to show her improvement at both ends of the floor.

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

Lost to Lakeside Lightning 62-47

Coach comments

The girls worked really well as a team, their communication was much improved. Effort and commitment was also improved. I was really proud of how they collectively played.

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

Won against Hills Raiders 44-30

Coach comments

We started the game off strongly and continued to fight, putting the game away.
The girls did a great job executing drawn-up plays.
Grace Almond did a great job attacking the basket and shooting the ball.
Sienna Duong had a solid shooting game.
Mila Reyes and Emily Livingstone showed aggressive defence which was fantastic to see.

U14 Division 4 Girls Grey – Lucy Dowling

Lost to Joondalup 59-26

Coach comments

The other team had a strong press that we had a lot of trouble breaking, but our team stayed strong and broke through, managing to bring back at least 10 points in the fourth.
Charlotte Dillon put in extraordinary effort on both offence and defence.
Salma Rahmadavi, Imogen Reiger-Ross and Ella Baxter were instrumental in breaking the other team’s press, with their excellent passing and ball control up the court.

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

Lost to East Peth 66-47

Coach comments

It was pleasing to see when individuals were challenged, they responded in a positive way and finished the game off strongly.
Charlotte Broadbent had her best game for the season, well done and keep it up.
Stella Gregory showed some positive signs with her aggressive drives to the hoop.
Sagal Elmi was strong in the first quarter when the team was challenged and finished as the leading scorer.

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

Lost to Slammers 50-30

Coach comments

We had a reduced bench this week due to illness and needed to adjust our rotations and approach to ensure we played at a tempo we could sustain for the entire game. So, it was very pleasing to see how much more controlled we were in offense with better spacing, passing and timing in our movement. As a result, we got our fair share of good shot opportunities and limited the opposition’s fast break. It was a great and evenly balanced contest for most of the game but the Slammers executed better when it counted.
Ellen Brieffies showed great defensive intensity and grabbed a couple of nice intercepts in the midcourt and forced a few other turnovers.
Matilda Thomson showed a great desire for the ball, ran hard all day and attacked the paint with no fear.
Ainsleigh Passi was strong in the post and was the game leading scorer with 15 points.
Overall it was a much more composed and controlled game on our part and all the girls showed me they were trying to apply things we had covered at training.

U16 Division 4 Girls – Geoff Alger

Lost to Lakeside 71-54

Coach comments

All our players demonstrated improved composure and execution of team and individual plans. This, with their unquestionable commitment and effort, enabled them to play basketball our way and push a top team down to the final few minutes. Players coming off the bench brought energy and slipped seamlessly into their assigned roles.
Jasmin Ford showed her versatility playing through all roles and doing everything we asked of her in offence and defence. Her second half was almost faultless.
Special mention to Harriet Woods who filled in from the U14 Champs and showed why that team is such a powerhouse. Her energy and her defensive and ball-handling skills were impressive.

U18 Division 2 Girls White – Brayden Cook

Won against Perth Redbacks Grey 98-45

Coach comments

It was nice to see our whole cohort of U18s playing well against each other. The club spirit was strong, and everyone played with great sportsmanship.
As a whole, everyone contributed to the scoresheet.
It was great to see some elite shooting from the 3 point line. Chloe Hind, Caitlin Lea, Mickayla Little, Kerry Hayden and Rosie Leeder all made a shot from behind the arc.

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

Lost to Redbacks White 98-45

Coach comments

Our defence was fairly effective, forcing a lot of outside shots. We also managed to give a couple of new defensive strategies a go, which the girls adjusted well to.
With three players out with injury, Leanna Fernando really stepped up and was rewarded with a lot of court time.
Kirsty Slinger continued to protect the keyway with 9 defensive rebounds and 2 blocks.
Jayda Corunna had her best game so far this season with 6 points.
A massive thank you to Sagal Elmi from U16’s who rushed straight from her game to fill in at ours. Sagal played well grabbing rebounds and handing out assists.

U12 Champs Boys – Dylan Vilardi

Postponed

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

Won against Warwick Senators Green 61-42

Coach comments

Today was our best effort at running our systems for all four quarters. Our opposition rallied back to 1 point down in the 3rd, but the boys did a great job to dig deep and pull away in the 4th.
This was Oskar Wang’s day. He had a game-high 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 steals. With three of those steals in the 4th he single-handedly disrupted any chance that our opposition could make a final run.
Once again, we dominated the boards 47-18. Louis Daniel, with 13 rebounds, nearly outrebounded the opposition all by himself!
While Oskar was amazing today, we once again got a good spread of scoring from the whole team. We are the epitome of team basketball. It’s a pleasure to coach.

U12 Division 4 Boys White – Jordan Hands

Won against Hills Raiders 95-23

Coach comments

One of the main focuses of this game was to limit our turnovers compared to previous games. The fact we were able to do this was really pleasing.
Luka Delic had a great game with 12 points and 18 rebounds

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

Lost to Joondalup Wolves 46-41

Coach comments

This was a tough game in which we experimented with a few different lineups which didn’t go as planned. The boys kept their energy up and kept fighting all game only falling away in the last two mins to lose a close one.
Tate Mucjanko was a workhorse for us all game! He has been super consistent over the last month.
Ethan Cooper backed up his solid performance last week with another great game this week. His energy and effort on the floor were impressive.
Max Woods was the quiet achiever again, making very few errors and playing solid team basketball. His ball-handling and passing is becoming a real weapon.

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

Lost to East Perth 71-60

Coach comments

The team showed amazing resilience to fight back to within 2 points after being down by 20. Nik and I are very proud of the team’s maturity, dedication and belief in the program. The positivity at training and games will set the development curve with a huge upside.
Ben Galvin continues his game BEAST MODE, hunting rebounds, deflections and banging in the paint for yet another double-double.
Mason Clark’s ability to create pressure on ‘D’, break lines in transition with explosive attack to the ring continues to be great.
I loved Jack Saliacus’s dedicated help ‘D’ and boxing out
I also loved Cleon Ryder’s paint pressure, Jerry Davies’ and Jaxon Kowal’s massive ball pressure, work rate and energy.

U14 Division 2 Boys – Mitchell Jesson

Lost to Slammers 46-31

Coach comments

This was a game that we started and finished well, however, we struggled to score in the 3rd quarter and that was the game.
Going into the fourth quarter down 15 and feeling very frustrated with ourselves, it would have been easy to let things blow out. I was proud that the boys fought back hard in the opening minutes to initially narrow the margin and in the end hold it at 15.
Also very grateful to Kade Mendes and Hamish Gibson who were unable to play but still came all the way to Bunbury to support us.
Jay Hazell with 14 boards was huge for us. Jay was playing against a boy who matched him for size and pace.
After we started the game down two guards and then lost another during play, Cuba Brian set the standard on defence for us and gave his all.

U14 Division 3 Boys – Ron Flores (sponsored by Euroz Hartleys)

Lost to East Perth Red 77-59

Coach comments

This was a very physical game and the team played hard through it.
Anthony Flores led the way for us on both the defensive and offensive end. He took 2 massive charges which sparked the team.
Zak Magdy played a good team game contributing on both ends of the floor and making some good reads.
Jack Dowd played with great energy on both ends and fought hard on the boards all game.
The whole team battled hard in what was a very physical game and all kept their composure really well.

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

Won against Kalamunda 53-36

Coach comments

I was pleased to see the players’ ability to:
- Keep their heads up when things weren’t going our way
- Rebound with great intent and boxing out
- Move the ball down the floor quickly
- Deliver full-court pressure that resulted in steals and scores
Tom Jakimowiez was sensational on the boards, boxing out the tallest opposition and showing aggression offensively when given a mismatch
Tyler Murphy was great bringing the ball up the court, driving and scoring, or passing to the open teammate
Kobe Kalebic and Lenoxx Lyszkowicz both led on the defensive end, forcing turnovers, getting steals and pushing on transition

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

Lost to Lakeside 83-71

Coach comments

We unexpectedly and unfortunately suffered our first loss of the season and our defensive rotations were challenged throughout the game. After looking like we were going to break the game open when leading by 10 points, several controllable factors impacted our ability to close out the second half. The players are to be congratulated on staying together as a team, despite being legitimately challenged.
Andrew Chilufya deserves a special mention for continuing to score in the paint, regardless of the defensive pressure that we felt.
He was ably supported by Cooper Deshon in placing pressure back onto Lakeside.
After being missed last week, Hamish Elder contributed strongly in being disruptive to our opposition defensively and taking opportunities when they presented themselves offensively.

U16 Division 3 Boys White – Luke Simonette

Won against Slammers 58-39

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

This was a really solid defensive effort from the team. Everyone played their role and kept persisting even though the ball wasn’t going in the basket at first.
Lachlan Steele and Samuel Burnett showed good poise on offence to get the best shot possible.
Bas Allegre worked to get really good shots.
Kalan Tran was positive on offence, using his dribble to get good looks

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

Won against Mandurah 87-59

Coach comments

We had a slow start in a very tight contest with the game very close in the first half. We challenged ourselves to significantly ‘up the energy’ in the second half and every player worked harder and we rotated the bench faster.
This was an outstanding team effort from a positive and energetic team who are enjoying winning as a team.
Every player scored and every player contributed positively on court and showed great energy on the bench.
The second half pressure from the guards on quick rotation was simply outstanding.
The support from the bigs in adding second line pressure changed the game.
Jordan Yum and Benji Beradis continued to show great aggression at the basket. It was great to see Josh Richards get into double figures with some strong rebounds and put backs.
But this was a true team effort with every player deserving recognition.

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

Won against Mandurah Magic 77-59

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

After a disappointing game the week before, the boys were challenged to take an aggressive mindset into the game.
The guards were challenged to put maximum trap pressure and the whole team to get after the rebounds.
It helped that boys were very aware that CJ was on the bench for the game with his expert coaching and support!
The team lifted, applied pressure, kept attacking with aggression in rebounds and at the basket and thoroughly deserved the win.
Every player improved significantly and contributed to the win.
Riley Panizza was a standout with his aggressive mindset and 26 points including 4 x 3pts.
Naoki Walker and Josh Welsh worked hard to keep up the pressure on the press and then attacked the basket on offence.
Oliver Graham and Romain Suraweera both stood up and played with aggression and had their best games so far.
Huge thanks to CJ and Mitch Nixon for their support to coach the game.

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

Lost to Slammers 80-74

Coach comments

This team always gives great effort – as a smaller team, we battle hard every week. We have been playing outstanding basketball in the 2nd and 3rd quarters but have struggled with slow starts and have lost 2 games now having a lead and not being able to close it out. This is frustrating but we are working to fix that.
Riley Lenzo had his best game for the season. He shot well played great full-court defence and as a playmaker is making the right reads. As captain, he always leads from the front and the right way.
Ethan Port-Louis was outstanding for us on defence – as a little fella he’s all heart.
Connor Wilson also had a great game was very aggressive and rewarded with his play.

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

Won against Willetton 79-69

Coach comments

In the 4th quarter, when we needed to, we played some really great defence and took some great shots and opportunities to score.
Lachlan Taylor had his best game yet, playing aggressively, crashing the boards and getting some great putbacks under the bucket.

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

Won against Redbacks Silver 87-58

Coach comments

The overall contribution from the whole group was really pleasing as we have had a few players in and out recently with injury. Especially having two games this week with our game from Round 5 being postponed to Thursday.
Jake Ashworth was a beast in our Thursday game.
Ethan Saliacus is continuing to impress me more each game.

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

Lost to Perth Redbacks Grey 87-58

Coach comments

We went up against the top team in our division and had a game plan of applying pressure at both ends of the court: be super disruptive on D and push the ball hard in O. I particularly liked how we corrected a passive start in the first three minutes and turned it around to be up midway through the second quarter. We battled back again after a tough period in the third and tied the game up. Though we ran out of steam in the fourth and a lot of shots went in and out, we fought hard all the way through. We had a particularly good rebounding game, and this is a key area of focus for us. I was very happy with some in-game adjustments made by players.
Danny Ryan made a great adjustment and started attacking the rim hard in transition. His defensive intensity was up from last week and he was precise with his passing.
Aiden Cannington responded to coaching and brought extra intensity to his defence, leading to a number of steals and turnovers. He also had his best rebounding game so far.
Akira Rowe-Fox dealt very well with full-court pressure and half-court doubles, consistently executing our team offense and ensuring great ball movement. He also had a number of steals leading to transition points.
Oakley Fung did a fantastic job of cutting against the 2-3 zone and being dangerous in the middle. He shot the ball with confidence from deep and had a great attitude whether on the floor or on the bench.

U20 Men White – Michael Clarke

Lost to Cockburn 89-74

Coach comments

We competed well, all game long, against one of the best teams in the league.

U20 Men Grey – Rob Gordon

Lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 105-57

Coach comments

This was always going to be a tough game with our team of U20 bottom-agers going up against a top-four team in this league but we battled hard
Once again Kaden Morcombe worked tirelessly as our centre
Diego Silva brought great energy from the point