CABL Final Wrap

Congratulations to the Norwood Flames men and Forrestville Eagles women for their Grand Final victories in the CABL over the weekend.

In the men's final Todd Matthews notched 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists to lead the way as Norwood stopped the Sturt Sabres 94-84. Matthews received adequate support from Andrew Webber who scored 19 points in spite of an icy cold 4 of 14 shooting from three point land and Keith Krausse with 18 points. On the boards Dan Thompson with 15 and David Cooper with 10 rebounds helped to offset a massive effort by Sturt's Jacob Holmes who scored 21 points and grabbed 24 rebounds. Darren Ng with 18 and Thomas Daly with 16 were other double figure scorers for the Sabres.

In the ladies final, Forrestville was rarely troubled as they ran past Sturt by a 74-49 count. Jess Fergus scored 21 points to lead the way with Dee Ranford scoring 16 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists and Mia Newley scoring 15 points and snaring 11 rebounds for the Eagles. Caroline Burgess with 14 points and Brigid Bowley with 12 rebounds headed Sturt's effort.

Congratulations to the champions and well played to the runners up. Good luck next season.

Ballin Round Australia, the Catch-Up!!!

Ball fans here are some of the recent goings on in the Ballaverse as I've seen over the last week or so. Firstly various reports from league playoffs around the country, a bit of Boomers info and mare. Happy reading.

The Central Australia Basketball League update courtesy of :
http://news-review-messenger.whereilive.com.au

Basketball: Matthews lifts Flames

18 Aug 09 @ 09:36am by Dale Clarke

Todd Matthews played a crucial role for Norwood in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Picture: Luke Hemer

A TODD Matthews-inspired Norwood outfit is now one win away from the Grand Final after beating Forestville 92-81 in the qualifying final at Mars on Saturday night.

In a highly physical rematch of last year’s Grand Finalists, Norwood’s defence was too strong for Forestville in the second half, turning a nine-point half-time deficit into a four-point three quarter-time lead and holding the lead for the rest of the game.

While most of the last quarter was an arm wrestle, it was a two-minute purple patch from Matthews that tilted the game in Norwood’s favour.

Matthews was able to drive through the Eagles defence several times in the last quarter to either score, or drop the ball into the laps of Dan Thompson or David Cooper to finish off.

Andrew Webber top-scored with 23 points, and hit the last of his six three-pointers to kill the Eagles - the Flames taking a seven point lead inside the last two minutes.

Webber also had eight assists, Matthews had 18 points and seven assists, and Cooper had 13 points and 14 rebounds.

For Forestville, Peter Hoban seemed its best option all night with 23 points and 20 rebounds, and Brad Gerlach had 17 points, with 14 in the first half.

The Flames will now meet Sturt at Pasadena, with the winner going express to the Grand Final.

Forestville will host West at Wayville in an elimination semi-final.

Women: North v South, elimination final

NORTH Adelaide’s women have lived to fight another day after knocking off South Adelaide 74-55 in the elimination final at Hillcrest on Saturday night.

Led by Olympian Jo Hill, who scored 21 points with 15 rebounds and six assists in a match-winning effort, the Rockets iced the game in the fourth quarter after leading by three at three-quarter time.

``The first few minutes of the game was scrappy and South got a jump on us,’’ North coach Mike McKay said.

``To our credit we were able to knuckle down and get back into the game.’’

Lauren Mansfield had 13 points with seven rebounds and Bec Lock chipped in with 13, while Tania Dhu was crucial with her eight points, six rebounds and four steals.

For South, Kerrin Truslove only scored seven points but still managed 17 rebounds, Cassandra Carpenter had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Sarah Peddle and Claire Johnson each added 11.

``Tania Dhu and Jamie-Lee Peris did a great job on Kerrin Truslove to keep her to seven points,’’ McKay said.

Women: Forestville v Sturt (qualifying final)

STURT is one win away from the Grand Final in the men’s and women’s competitions, after the Sabres women beat Forestville 72-62 in the qualifying final on Saturday night.

Sturt will now meet minor premier West in the second semi-final at Port Adelaide, while the men will come off the bye to play Norwood. The winner of both matches goes straight through to the final.

Angela Marino and Monique Bowley proved a headache for Forestville to deal with, Marino scoring 22 points with six assists and Bowley scoring 14 and dominating the rebounds to finish with 18.

Mia Newley top-scored for the Eagles with 21 and six rebounds.

Men’s: West v North, elimination final

WEST Adelaide put an end to North’s shaky season in the elimination final on Saturday night, 81-73.

The Bearcats won the game in the last quarter, where North only scored two field goals for the quarter, Westies overturning a one-point deficit at the last break.

West had a handful of key contributors - Ryan Kersten with 21 points and four assists, Chris Molitor with 17 points and seven rebounds, Blake Truslove with 11 and 11, and Anthony Spadavecchia impressive all-round with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Nick Hambour was outstanding for North with 16 points and 16 rebounds, and Dallas Quigley stepped up for 16 and eight.

But the Rockets probably needed a big game from defending Woollacott Medallist Erik Burdon, who had 12 points on 4/20 from the field - a defensive win for the Bearcats.

Finals - week two, Saturday:

Wayville:
Forestville v North (women’s first semi-final, 6.30pm)
Forestville v West (men’s first semi-final, 8.15pm)

Port Adelaide:
West v Sturt (women’s second semi-final, 6.30pm)

Pasadena:
Sturt v Norwood (men’s second semi-final, 7.30pm)

SEABL Development League report: courtesy of Mark Quinn, League manager

D LEAGUE MEN GRAND FINAL RESULTS

SANDRINGHAM (44) 89
(Wilcher 23pts 9ass, Mueller 19pts 8rebs, Burum 18pts 9rebs 2blks)
def
KNOX (43) 81
(Gibcus 22pts 7rebs, Moult 19pts 7rebs 4stls, Bass 16pts 14rebs)

Sandringham Sabres were crowned 2009 CRAZY JOHN'S SEABL D LEAGUE Champions after defeating Knox Raiders 89-81 last night. Knox Raiders who defeated Minor Premiers Nunawading last week to earn the Grand Final berth started the game strongly behind the inside presence of Bass, Gibcus and Moult. Raiders started the game with a zone defence which caught the Sabres by surprise as dynamo guard Josh Wilcher was held and Sandringham were fored to find other avenues to score. Knox finished the quarter with a one point advantage. Sandringham were the better team in the second quarter as Burum and Mueller stepped up and provided the Sabres with a consistent scoring presence as the Raiders continued to do a stellar job on Wilcher
defensively. Sandringham produced three late baskets and went into the half time break with a one point advantage. Both teams shot the ball well, but the Sabres held on to the lead throughout the third term. In the fourth term Knox produced some costly errors late in the game and Sandringham Sabres Josh Wilcher was able to shrug off the constant defence and scored
11pts in the final term to guide his team to the Victory.

MVP – Neal Mueller (Sandringham)

D LEAGUE WOMEN GRAND FINAL RESULTS

NUNAWADING (34) 62
(Cole 14pts 2ass 5stls, Vanderzaag 13pts 3rebs 2ass, Yousef 12pts 5rebs)
def
DANDENONG (14) 34
(Appleton 6pts, Martin 5pts 11rebs, Dear 5pts)

Nunawading Spectres were crowned 2009 CRAZY JOHN'S SEABL D LEAGUE WOMEN Champions after defeating Dandenong Rangers 62-34 last night. The Spectres started the Grand Final strongly. In contrast the Rangers suffered with a number of costly turnovers and it was Nunawading by 15 points at quarter time. The Spectres extended their quarter-time lead to 20 points by half time in a low scoring game. The Rangers had a lot of work to do in the second half to be a threat to the Spectres. Accuracy and lack of scoring potential continued to plague the Rangers in the second half quarter although they were able to keep up with the Spectres in the third quarter. The Spectres however dominated at both ends of the court and capitalised on the Ranger's turnovers. By three-quarter time their lead was 22 points. At the 7 minute mark of the final quarter, the game was well and truly over. Nunawading were never headed and went on to record at 28 point championship win, 62-34.

MVP – Nardine Yousef (Nunawading)

Time to Catch up for tha week!!!

Ok, university studies have taken away a large amount of my blog time but here is my weekly update on the Hoops universe as I see it.

Down South Australia way here is the latest for the finals series from Basketball SA:

The Central ABL enters finals mode on Saturday August 16, with four standalone games guaranteed to attract large crowds.

At 7pm at Port Adelaide, West Adelaide and North Adelaide battle to stay alive in the mens elimination final. The Rockets left it until the final minor round to confirm a finals berth. Despite a solid month which started in late June with wins over the Bearcats and the Eagles, their last two weeks were less impressive, with a one-point loss to last-placed South Adelaide and a win over Centrals which was not as convincing as the 22 point margin indicated. Reigning Woollacott medallist Erik Burdon will need to recreate his early-season form to keep the Rockets in the hunt.

West Adelaide's finals lead-up has also been topsy turvy. Two weeks ago they upset league-leading Sturt, but last week lost to Southern. The Bearcats have a good mix of shooters (Ryan Kersten, Chris Molitor, Josh Bond and Kurtis Phillips can all light up on any given night), but it is more likely that the inside battle between Blake Truslove and North's Nick Hambour will determine the outcome of this game.

North Adelaide's women also face a do-or-die game, against South Adelaide at 6:30pm at Hillcrest. Little separates these teams as they finished tied on the ladder and split their two regular season games, so it was only Norths superior points spread that gives them the home court advantage. Look for another great battle of the giants between centres Kerrin Webber (South) and Jamie-Lee Peris (North) to have a big impact on the outcome but also watch out for big improvers Claire Johnson (South) and Kirsty Williams (North) to play a part.

In the women's qualifying final, traditional rivals Forestville and Sturt lock horns at 6:30pm at Wayville for the right to play West Adelaide next week. Given recent victories over West Adelaide, many predict these two teams might meet in the Grand Final, and either way, this weekends game will go along way to determining the likely Grand Final participants. With current and former WNBL talent on show including Sturt's Angela Marino, Caroline Burgess, Monique Bowley, Brigid Bowley, Katie Orr and Forestville's Jess Mahony, Dee Ranford and Mia Newley, any outcome is possible.

In what will no doubt be the loudest game of the night, Norwood host Forestville in the mens qualifying final at 7:30pm at Mars in a replay of last years grand final. Norwood enter the finals on a two game losing streak but still boast the best backcourt in the competition featuring 36er David Cooper, Keith Krause and Dan Thompson. Forestville dropped games to Woodville and Sturt in July but finished the season with a 69 point rout of Eastern and with Brenton Campbell returning from injury late in the season to join Matt Sutton, Brad Sullivan and Brad Gerlach, Forestville appears to have the edge in the backcourt. How well Forestville handles the vociferous Norwood crowd will go along way towards determining which team retains the double chance and the right to face Sturt.

Down South in the SEABL things are shaping up like this:

East Mens Semi Finals:
Kilsyth slammed Bendigo 100-79 while Brisbane got the best of Knox 113-100.
This week sees Knox and Kilsyth battle for the right to face Brisbane in the East Final
South Mens Semi Final:
Geelong ran past Sandringham 101-90 and Frankston held off Hobart 76-72.
Hobart meets Geelong this weekend to gain a berth in the conference final versus Frankston.

The East champions will meet the South champions for the SEABL Championship.

In Ladies action:
Bendigo blew out Nunawading by a score of 68-44 while Dandenong slipped by Albury/Wodonga 60-58.
This weeks action sees Bendigo square off against Dandenong with the loser eliminated while Brisbane faces Knox with the winner through to the Grand Final and the loser to face the Bendigo/Dandenong winner for the other Grand Final berth.

In Queensland:

QBL Playoffs XXIV
MEN

QF1 Rockhampton Rockets (93) def. Mackay Meteors (69)

QF2 Brisbane Capitals (108) def. Northside Wizards (94)

QF3 South West Metro Pirates (110) def. Gold Coast Goannas (100)

Note- Semi Final rankings based on end of regular season ladder

Semi Finals:
Cairns vs SW Metro
Brisbane vs Rockhampton

QBL Womens:
Gladstone 98- Rockhampton 68
Caboolture 74- Maroochydoore 66
SW Metro 55- Gold Coast 54

Semi Finals:
Townsville vs SW Metro
Gladstone vs Caboolture

Get out this weekend and catch the action in your area.

Central Australian Basketball League Report

courtesy of : http://guardian-messenger.whereilive.com.au

Lions defy the odds

04 Aug 09 @ 06:43pm by Dale Clarke

FOUR weeks after North seemed to have closed the door on finals and padlocked it shut, the Rockets are facing a do-or-die final round clash with Central Districts to earn their spot in the five.

The Lions have been the story of the season in recent weeks. Since parting ways with import Oliver Prince, they have won four games in a row, including upset wins against West Adelaide and, on Saturday, second-placed Norwood.

To beat West, the Lions were missing Daniel Cioffi. That was centre Daniel Carlin’s last game before going to the Australian Institute of Sport. Since losing him, they beat Eastern, then South, before stunning Norwood 122-103 - this time without three-point specialist Matt Atkins.

In this week’s decisive encounter, the Lions will again be without Cioffi - who scored 36 on Saturday - who has headed back to Italy.

For North, the past four weeks have been a nightmare. The Rockets looked to have booked their place in finals when Erik Burdon hit a three-pointer to beat top side Forestville, in a round where Central and Southern both lost.

That gave the Rockets a two-game gap on Southern, and a three-game gap on Central. At the time, North appeared to have the more favourable run home of the three teams.

But since then, the Rockets have suffered losses to Eastern (9th), Norwood (2nd), and South (10th), to leave the door open for the barnstorming Lions.

South v North

Saturday night’s loss to South came on a three-point buzzer beater by South guard Dan Kosmider.

Trailing by two with less than 10 seconds on the clock, the Panthers rushed the ball down court, leaving Kosmider little time to get the winning shot up for the 91-90 victory.

The shot sparked amazing scenes, as teammates and supporters chased Kosmider across the court and formed a pile-on near the baseline at Marion.

``I started running towards the door, but it was blocked, then everyone just jumped on me,’’ Kosmider said.

``Unfortunately the position I was in, my knees were going straight into the ground, it was the most pain I’ve ever been in.’’

The Panthers had trailed by 7 with less than two minutes left, before Adam Blight connected for a two and a three pointer on consecutive plays.

Earlier, they had been down as much as 19 in the third quarter.

The dramatic win brought up painful memories for North - the Rockets were knocked out of last year’s finals on a Kosmider buzzer-beater.

The end of the game was also strikingly similar to South’s win against Central at the same time last year. In that game, Kosmider also hit the game-winner, which was enough to carry the Panthers into the finals.

On Saturday, Kosmider finished with nine points and seven assists, while Matt Davies top-scored with 22.

For North, Erik Burdon had 19, despite going 1/9 from three-point land, and Luke Mapunda also had 19.

Nick Hambour was solid with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

In the women’s, North secured its place in finals with an 83-69 win against the Panthers.

The two teams are almost certain to meet in a knockout clash in the first week of finals.

Norwood v Central

Central coach Scott Whitmore was thrilled with his team’s win (Central 122 d Norwood 103), which was powered by Daniel Cioffi’s 36 points.

``Cioffi hit some of the biggest shots you will ever see,’’ Whitmore said.

``We always talked about getting to a position where we needed to win this last game against North.

``That’s the whole reason for recruiting (Cioffi), to get us to that game against North at Hillcrest.’’

The Lions added Cioffi to their roster with eight games remaining in the season, knowing he would be unable to play finals.

On Tuesday, Cioffi and his wife Yolanda flew back to Spain, the recently married couple set to celebrate their wedding, part two, with Yolanda’s family.

``I singled him out in front of the team before the game, saying `this is what we wanted you here for’,’’ Whitmore said.

``He just said `I’m ready for it’.’’

Cioffi went on to hit eight three-pointers, including the killer blow with two minutes left for an 11-point lead.

The Lions had trailed by six at three-quarter-time, before unleashing their best quarter of the season to outscore the defending champions by 25.

Cioffi also had seven rebounds, six steals and four assists in an all-round performance.

Other Lions contributors included Jacob Templeton with 22 points, eight assists and eight boards, Ben Todd with a season-high 20 points, Lachie Parker also with 20, and Matt Clarke with 13 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds.

Norwood’s Woollacott Medal frontrunners Todd Matthews and Andrew Webber again provided headaches for their opposition. Matthews had 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Webber had 23 points.

In the women’s, Norwood won 84-33, but due to other results on Saturday, the Flames will miss out on finals this year, regardless of this weekend’s results.

Forestville v Southern

THE Southern Tigers women pulled off a late-season upset by beating second-placed Forestville 66-60 on Saturday night.

The result ruined any hope Forestville had of finishing top, but won’t be enough for Southern to get a sniff at finals, with only one game remaining.

The Tigers came roaring home at Wayville, outscoring Forestville 21-11 in the last quarter, after coughing up their first half lead.

Stephanie Gates was the driving force behind the win, scoring 16 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks, while Ashleigh Spencer chipped in with eight points and eight rebounds.

Jess Fergus scored 23 points for Forestville, and Mia Newley had 16 points on 8/28 shooting, to go with 10 rebounds and five assists.

In the men’s, Forestville was in control all night to run out a winner, 112-88.

Brad Gerlach had another top game against his former club, scoring 30 points with 11 rebounds and six assists.

Brenton Campbell also rejoined the Eagles, with 24 points including four three-pointers, while Peter Hoban ripped in a round-high 20 rebounds.

For Southern, Tristan Braithwaite top-scored with 22 points, SHane Boal added 15, while Michael Florance (12 points and 11 rebounds) and Brad Bungey (10 and 12) recorded double-doubles.

West v Sturt

WEST Adelaide is not carrying the best form into finals, despite being the dominant women’s team all season.

The Bearcats have sealed top spot with a 14-3 record, but each of those three losses has come in the past five weeks to fellow top five sides in South, Forestville and, on Saturday, Sturt.

The Sabres toppled West 71-60 to seal their own place in finals, with Norwood now unable to qualify.

West will stay top regardless of this weekend’s result against the Southern Tigers.

Brigid Bowley, with 18 points and six rebounds, led the way for Sturt, while Angela Marino had 18 points and six assists, and Caroline Burgess added 13 points and eight boards.

For West, Nikita-Lee Martin had 21 points and seven rebounds, while Sam Woosnam had 15 and seven.

In the men’s, West caused a stir with its 104-89 upset against Sturt.

The Sabres were missing Jacob Holmes, but the Bearcats still had to contend with Darren Ng, who scored 26.

Ryan Kersten had a top night for West, scoring 27 with seven assists, and Blake Truslove had 25 and 13 rebounds.

The Bearcat men are guaranteed to finish fourth and host an elimination final against either North Adelaide or Central Districts.

Woodville v Eastern

WOODVILLE will be setting its sights on sending South home with the wooden spoon when the sides clash this Saturday.

The Warriors, on the back of a 90-70 win against Eastern, can ensure the Panthers take the spoon home, as they are sitting bottom, one win behind the Mavericks.

The Warriors had big games from Cameron Wilson (24 points, seven assists), Chris Furness (23 points, 22 rebounds) and Adam Miller (21 points, 14 rebounds) as they easily pushed aside a Mavericks line-up missing Brad Hill.

Shane Breheny was again the shining light for Eastern with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

In the women’s, the Mavs got home 82-70 for what is likely to be their last win of the season, as they face Forestville this week.

Jamie Fricker scored 20 points for Eastern, while Jodie Barratt had a huge night for the Warriors with 14 points and 17 rebounds. Ingrid Richards had 19 points.

Hold Up....got the wrong info, bad source!!!

Sorry for the previous post about there being a national ACC Championship this year. The Championships have been scrapped this year after the Central Australian Basketball Leagues withdrawal from the setup.

There will be coverage of the various leagues finals series though so stay tuned.

The Other ACC gets close to Finals series

Calm down people in the Mid-Atlantic, you are not missing out on the usual ACC action. it will be on the way in late November as usual. Today I am referring to the Australian Club Championships which will be underway shortly. The Championships match top teams from various conferences and associations throughout the country into one big basketball fest to determine a national championship. I guess you could call it "August Mayhem" as opposed to "March Madness"!!!

Ok, a look around the leagues finds:

In the Big V Conference, Ringwood led by Sam Belt holds a two game lead over Melbourne with Latrobe City and Diamond Valley rounding out the top four heading into the final week of the regular season.
In the Women's Competition, Hume City sits alone at the top with Waverley and Bulleen secure for the playoffs while Melbourne and Diamond Valley battle it out for the final berth in the playoffs.

The Central ABL the Sturt Sabres through the scoring prowess of Darren Ng and the Norwood Flames sit atop the ladder followed by Forrestville and West Adelaide with , the Southern Tigers and Central Districts battling for the final playoff spot.
West Adelaide sits atop the Women's ladder with Forrestville, Sturt and South Adelaide giving chase. The final spot for the playoffs is being hotly contested by North Adelaide and Norwood.

In the SEABL, Brisbane and the AIS top the East Division while Frankston and Hobart holding down the top two spots in the Souther Division.
On the Women's side, Knox leads Brisbane followed by Bendigo and Kilsyth.

Finally, in the QABL, Cairns leads the way followed by defending national champions Rockhampton and Mackay with Brisbane, Northside and the Gold Coast battling for position number four.
The Townsville Flames top the Ladies Ladder with Gladstone, Rockhampton in the next two spots and a logjam of teams vying for the last playoff spot.

Most conferences are winding down their seasons over the next week with conference playoffs to be followed by the national championships.

For more info on teams and leagues have a look at the following links:

http://www.ababasketball.net.au
http://www.bigv.com.au
http://www.centralabl.com.au
http://www.qabl.basketball.net.au
http://www.seabl.com.au
http://www.waratah.basketball.net.au