The undefeated U16 Boys C took to the court on Friday night against a dangerous Saints Bullets outfit.<\/p>\n
A sloppy opening few minutes from both sides finally gave way to baskets from Christian Young for Saints and Tom Connally for Ballan, quickly followed by a Barney Batiste layup and a Noah Pace runner as Ballan opened up a small lead. Ballan was looking the more dangerous, generating a slew of good lucks that they were unfortunately unable to convert. Luckily big Joe Bunnage was on hand, colleting numerous offensive boards, creating problems for the Saints bigs.<\/p>\n
The introduction of Koby Robertson for Saints changed the flow of the match. <\/p>\n
With Saints quickly opening up a nine point lead, Ballan needed a reaction and got it from the Pace brothers. Noah hit a deep three pointer and another cute floater whilst James bustled his way to the basket, getting to the free throw line.<\/p>\n
At the half, Brumbies trailed 20-25.<\/p>\n
They came out of the break with a renewed focus on defense, Harrison Clark, James Pace and Connally all moving their feet well to stymie Saints dangerous guard rotation. Bunnage and defensive ace James Prosser were getting the job done inside, contesting shots and cleaning up on the boards.
\nNoah Pace continued to be a thorn in Saints side, repeatedly penetrating the key, either finding cutters or scoring himself. He made a pair of great passes leading to a Prosser layup and free throws for younger brother James.<\/p>\n
With Ballan trailing by two points and only a few minutes to play, the Brumbies coach decided to hold back on a bench rotation and roll with the five he had on the floor. It turned out to be a wise decision as the two players that were due to come to the bench, Connally and Batiste, both made telling contributions to the Brumbies late game heroics.<\/p>\n
Connally poked the ball away from Jerger to create a turnover from which Prosser scored, quickly answered by Robertson. On Saints next possession, Batiste snared a huge rebound in traffic with Connally swishing a huge three in the ensuing possession, handing the Brumbies the lead. Batiste again controlled a tough miss in traffic as Ballan\u2019s defense continued to shine. The big man finally sealed the game with a lovely scoop shot off the window with just under 10 seconds remaining.<\/p>\n
Saints hared down the court with one chance to launch a potentially game tying three, but again Ballan held firm as the combination of Connally and Noah Pace forced Robertson to fumble the ball, Saints never getting their final shot away as Ballan came from behind to snatch a 42-39 win.<\/p>\n