Saints scoop the pool in basketball grand finals

Millicent club secures SECBL double on home court

It’s been all about sporting talent in Millicent over the past fortnight with the Millicent-based Saints basketball teams adding to the swag of silverware the Millicent footballers and netballers claimed at the Western Border title deciders earlier this month.

The South East Coast Basketball League (SECBL) winter grand finals were played on the Saints home court – the Peter Seebohm Stadium – and there was a buzz of excitement and anticipation evident as a large and vocal crowd assembled to enjoy top regional basketball being played between Saints and Bulldogs, who have displayed a healthy rivalry and mutual respect over the seasons of competition.

The night opened with the Women’s final, a repeat of the second semi-final in which Bulldogs accounted for the home side by 10, 65-55. The return from long term injuries of State Junior squad members, Edie Easterby and Poppy Venn, however cast a different light on this game.

It took just a minute for Edie Easterby to announce her return for Saints (pictured above right) with a three pointer and then the game became a free flowing, even contest highlighted by a run of scores from beyond the arc. At half time Saints had 6, 4 from the hot hands of Easterby and four from Bulldogs. A point of interest to date is that Ava Collins and Tenielle Human, key players for Bulldogs this season, had just one point and 5 respectively at half time.

Saints knuckled down and played sustained defence to grab the edge over Bulldogs in the third quarter. Class trio Macca Burke, Easterby and Venn converted consistently to outscore Bulldogs 20-12.

With Saints having a strong grip on the flag at three quarter time, the game became an “end to end” contest in the final ten minutes of the season.

SA Country State squad member, Macca Burke, was named Most Valuable Player in this Grand Final.

Women: SAINTS 68 (Edie Easterby 26, Poppy Venn 21, Macca Burke 15) def BULLDOGS 50 (Tenielle Human 11, Kori Collins 10, Siobhan Adams 9)

It was nothing short of a masterclass performance by Saints Men (pictured below) in the first quarter of the final when they played with structure, based on team-work and composure to set the foundation for the 2023 SECBL Winter Premiership. Engineers of this scintillating basketball were “twin towers” Jackson Bowden with 11 points and Jack Haggett with 9.

Bulldogs players applied themselves defensively and managed to curb the Saints’ first quarter dominance. Simon Berkefeld, in his typical never beaten approach, led by example to score 8 points in the 25-23 points second quarter. On the other hand, Saints kept the score board ticking over through a spread of scorers.

The third quarter developed into a free scoring even contest in which Haggett and Bowden were the “go to” players for Saints. Meanwhile Bulldogs stuck at their tasks of playing “catch up” basketball, as talented Harry Wright finished off with 11 points in this period.

Bulldogs’ players, to their credit, continued to chip away at the formidable margin in the final quarter. With around 4 minutes left on the clock the margin was a mere 4 points and “game on” on the back of a scoring cameo from Bulldogs’ Coach Shaun Lock. Saints then regrouped and re-established their double figure margin, 103- 90 at the final siren. Jack Haggett scored consistently over the 40 minutes to compile 40 points as well as have an impact in the defensive keyway and hence was named MVP for the grand final.

Men: SAINTS 103 (Jack Haggett 40, Jackson Bowden 26, Aussie Fuller 20) def BULLDOGS 90 (Shaun Lock 23, Simon Berkefeld 20, Harry Wright 13, Duncan Reid 13).

2023 WINTER SECBL AWARDS:

Women:
Winner Tenielle Human (Bulldogs) 25 votes – pictured above top left) Runner-Up Cara Nulty (Roos) 17 votes.

Men:
Winner Simon Berkefeld (Bulldogs) 33 votes (20th Award after his first in 2005/2006 Summer Season) (pictured above top right) Runner Up Jack Haggett (Saints) 29 votes

JUNIOR PERPETUAL AWARDS:

Women: Tenielle Human (Bulldogs) 25 votes

Men: Jack Haggett (Saints) 29 votes (Third consecutive win)