Ballan Brumbies Basketball

W/e Saturday 25 February

With the chance to jump back into the top four, Ballan Brumbies Under 14 D Boys faced a tough task against top of the table Drummo Dragons.

Ballan started red hot, racing out to an 8-0 lead through strong work inside from Lucas Cardona and a lovely floater from Kris Seketa.

Playing his first game since the Christmas break, centre Eamon Grigg was assigned the task of putting the clamps of Drummo star Shaurya Rathi which, with some help from the Excellent Isaac Healey, he did well.

After a sweet three pointer from Hunter Cooper and a pair of Healey jump shots, Ballan led comfortably 15-2, Brumbies looking well in control.

However, as is this team’s wont, Ballan’s intensity inexplicably collapsed as Drummo came roaring back into the match on the back of strong play from Rathi and tricky lefty Max Crough. Dragons cut the lead to just seven, Ballan leading 18-11 at the half.

After a brief resurgence saw Healey again connect and the unusually ineffective Foster Trinder get quick buckets, Drummo again surged, their nine unanswered points cutting Ballan’s lead to just two with 10 minutes to play.

At a timeout, the Brumbies boys were urged to rediscover their fire, especially at the defensive end. The five player unit of Grigg, Healey, Trinder, Khulan Morris and Zack Harrison stepped up, turning the match back in Ballan’s favour.

Harrison, who was seemingly everywhere defensively, started things rolling by creating turnovers on consecutive possessions; Healey and Morris scoring form the resulting fast breaks. Trinder then snapped out of his funk, slicing through the Dragons defense and skying for huge offensive rebounds to put more points on the board.

As it turned out, Brumbies held Drummo scoreless for the remainder of the match which saw them run out winners over the ladder leaders, 29-20. The match, though, was much closer than that.

The win sees Ballan move into the top four with just two rounds remaining before finals.

RESULTS
Under 10 Boys
Ballan D 18 lost Drummo Dragons 34
Under 12 Boys
Ballan E 25 def Wildcats 9
Ballan C 60 def Celtic Tigers 22
Under 12 Girls
Ballan 31 def Wildcats 8
Under 14 Boys
Ballan F White 25 drew Saints Taipans 25
Ballan F Blue 21 lost Drummo Dragons 30
Ballan D 29 def Drummo Dragons 20
Ballan C 53 def Excies Acmy 30
Under 14 Girls
Ballan D 21 def Excies Acmy 13
Ballan B 22 lost Excies Acmy 29
Under 16 Boys
Ballan G White 15 lost Phoenix Rush 42
Ballan G Blue 1 lost Sovereign Knights 64
Ballan E 41 lost Sovereign Knights 48
Ballan C 38 lost Drummo Dragons 56
Under 19 Boys
Ballan E 66 def Phoenix Chargers 36
Under 19 Girls
Ballan 39 def Saints Panthers 29