Sunday 9th July 2017
GAME NIGHT PROGRAM SUNDAY 9th July 2017 Printed by
14 Hepner Place North Geelong 3215 Ph: 52722558
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TRIPLE HEADERS Big V YL1M – 10:00AM SEABL WOMEN – 12:00PM SEABL MEN – 2:00PM TONIGHT’S GAME IS SPONSORED BY
FROM THE FRONT OFFICE We are now heading into the home stretch of the season for 2017, the Men run into the finals with 5 out of 6 games at home and the Women have 4 out of 6. We need to take full advantage of the home court to cement our place in the finals. Both of todays games against Kilsyth will play a vital piece to the finals position for each team, for the Women a win could secure top position in the East and for the Men it could be enough to make a 20th consecutive playoff appearance. Today sees our first and only Sunday home game of the season which is our Family Day, there will be heaps of activities for the kids and parents alike. This round is proudly supported by Vicinity Centres. Corio Central, Belmont Village and Leopold Gateway all support the Supercats School program which sees our Supercat players taking their knowledge of the game in to schools and sharing with thousands of kids. The last 2 weeks have been a tough stretch for the Men, having to play ladder leaders Mt Gambier twice in 6 days, first at home then in Mt Gambier, going down both times. To follow this then our guys had the always tough road trip to Tassie, first up was Hobart Chargers which saw another close loss going down by 5. After taking the trip up the highway to take on NW Tasmania our Men put on a dominate performance by gaining a 20 point buffer by half time., this was eroded during the 3rd term but the Men got the win by 7 in the end. For the Women they looked to continue their winning streak as they headed to Tassie, still without Sara Blicavs and Alex Bunton away at Opals camp and Alex Duct also overseas, the young Supercats stepped up with a hard fought loss over Hobart, also going down by 5. Trailing by 16 point with just over four minutes in the game, the Women went on a 15-4 run but just couldn’t close out the game. The game on Saturday against Launeston showed the future is looking bright for Geelong with Eve Braslis finishing with 25 points on an impressive 73% shooting from the field, the win by the Luina Lady Supercats leaves them needing just one more victory to sew up a sixth consecutive playoff berth. Finally our next home game will be headlined by the return of Shane Heal & Cal Brunton to the Geelong Arena. A Sportsmans Dinner, followed by the SEABL Men’s clash with the Melbourne Tigers is a great way to take in all the action of the night. Tickets for the dinner will be on-sale NOW, with the dinner concluding in time for tip off. We hope that you will join us to hear from these two former greats of the Supercats and support the club at our major function of the season. Enjoy the night #SeeRed #SupercatsFamily Regards, Dean Anglin CEO
STANDARD SEATING $100 TICKETS PREMIUM SEATING $200 TICKETS
MATCH DAY PREVIEWS MEN Luina Geelong Supercats (3rd East Conference 11-7) vs. Ballarat (2nd South Conference 11-6) @ Minderdome, Friday, 8:00pm & Kilsyth (6 th East Conference 8-10) @ Geelong Arena, Sunday, 2:00pm A CHANCE to all but confirm a 20th consecutive playoff presents itself to the Luina Geelong Supercats in Round 14. Two wins will leave fifth-placed Albury-Wodonga needing to go undefeated for the rest of the season – and have Geelong fail to register another victory – to bump the Supercats out. Having ended a three-game losing streak, of which two of the losses were to East Conference pacesetter and championship favourites Mt Gambier, with a win over North West Tasmania on Saturday night, Geelong will enter the clash with country rivals Ballarat with renewed confidence. When they last met back in Round 2 at the Arena, the Supercats used a 32-17 second period as the foundation for a 100-76 victory. However, the Miners are now in the frame for the South Conference title and own one of the best home records in the SEABL, having lost just once at the Minerdome. An even spread of scorers has been key to Ballarat’s success, with four players scoring 14 points per game or more, led by former US College star Peter Hooley (18.9ppg) and NBLbound former Fremantle AFL-listed player Craig Moller (18.7ppg). Imports Davon Usher (15.1ppg) and Marvin KingDavis (14.4ppg) have also played a role, with the Miners equal on wins with conference leader Hobart. Geelong will return to the Arena on Sunday hoping to conquer Kilsyth for a second time in 2017. In the previous meeting in Round 10, the Supercats overcame the Cobras 82-77 thanks to 25 points from DeMarcus Gatlin (25 points) and Nathan Herbert (21). However, Kilsyth is one of the form teams of the competition, stringing together three consecutive wins since that June 4 loss to Geelong. The run has coincided with the addition of Daniel Dillon. The former NBL guard is averaging 24.3 points per game, including 32 points on 65 per cent shooting against Albury-Wodonga last week. He also had nine assists and six rebounds for good measure. Kris Blicavs is likely to be given the job of guarding Dillon, who has most recently played in Europe with Polish club Turow Zgorzelec.
WOMEN Luina Geelong Lady Supercats (2nd East Conference 12-4) vs. Kilsyth (1st East Conference 14-2) @ Geelong Arena, Sunday, 2:00pm THE return of star duo Sara Blicavs and Alex Bunton from an Opals camp in the United States couldn’t be more perfectly timed for the Luina Geelong Lady Supercats. The clash with Kilsyth is a chance for Geelong to move to within a game of Kilsyth, who sit atop the East Conference two games clear of the Lady Supercats with six matches remaining for both teams. If Geelong can end the Cobras’ impressive 10-game winning streak it will be hoping to do it by 16 points or more to snatch head-to-head, having suffered a 79-64 loss in Round 2. The Lady Supercats line-up will take on a different look to that night three months ago. Bunton didn’t play that night, however Alex Duck, who had 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds, remains overseas. Bunton, who has signed to play in Poland during the Australian summer, is averaging a double-double of 13 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. Bunton and Blicavs have missed three games, allowing the likes of Eve Braslis and Charlotte Brancatisano to get more court time. Braslis, in particular has thrived on more responsibility. The teenager posted 14 points in the win over Sydney Uni on June 24, before exploding for a career-high 25 against Launceston. Kilsyth was boosted last week by the return of Rosie Moult from a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered on the eve of last year’s playoffs. She scored 13 points in last week’s nine-point win over Albury-Wodonga. The Cobras have plenty of scoring threats, with import Angela Beadle (21.1ppg) and Maddie Garrick (18.8ppg) the keys. However, Garrick has been sidelined for the past couple of weeks. If she does play, her match-up with Blicavs will be worth the price of admission of lone.
CLUB NEWS MY RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE
Teen sensation emerges for Lady Supercats 4th
July 2017 | Geelong Advertiser | WES CUSWORTH
David Herbert’s belief in the adage ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ was rewarded on Saturday night with the backend of a gruelling weekend double-header unearthing yet another scoring weapon for the Geelong Lady Supercats’ coach. Minus star trio Sara Blicavs, Alex Bunton and Alex Duck, the women’s mentor looked to 17-year-old prodigy Eve Braslis to step into the void and she didn’t disappoint scorching the Tornadoes for 25 points in Saturday’s 19 point, 84-65 win in Launceston. The sharp-shooting teenager connected on 11 of 15 shots from the field, hitting at the enviable clip of 73 percent as the Lady Supercats emerged from the sluggish first half to smash the host beyond the main break. “It was tremendous to see her confidence grow, I probably should have played her more,” coach David Herbert conceded post game. “We needed something to happen and she was the one to step up; for a 17-year old kid it was pretty awesome.” “She’s a fantastic finisher around the basket and when we were struggling to score we threw her in early and she just got us going. “We went to her, we were running players for her, then they struggled to defend her left hand.” The win came a day after Chantel Horvat’s stunning 33-point solo effort fell short of guiding Geelong to success over Hobart, with the visitors ultimately going down by five points. The 19-point success over Launceston looked unlikely early as Herbert’s roster struggled to break from the defensive malaise that characterised it’s defensive effort a night earlier. Former Lady Supercat Tayla Roberts had clocked a double-double by mid-game, finishing with 23 points and 20 rebounds, as the Tornadoes edged ahead by nine at the break. However, a stunning transformation saw Geelong take control beyond half-time outscoring the host 48 to 20 on the back of Braslis’ break-out game, accompanied by cameos from Ebony Rolf (16 points) Chantel Horvat (15) and Ellen Kett (13). “We had to find ourselves again,” Herbert said. “We were horrible to half-time, letting in 45 points, but after a bit of soul searching we stepped up massively. “Fortunately the light-bulb came on and girls responded tremendously.” Despite salvaging the win over Launceston, Herbert’s high expectations left him feeling that an opportunity has been missed. “I believe we let ourselves down in Hobart,” he said. “We definitely could have swept the weekend, so I’m pretty disappointed coming away from a loss considering the standards we have been expecting from our group.”
CLUB NEWS MY RUSSIAN EXPERIENCE
Former Supercat Cal Bruton reflects on his time at Geelong DAMIEN RACTLIFFE, Geelong Advertiser June 29, 2017 IT was a rumour that basketball star Cal Bruton had “many” kids that saw the 25-year-old leave the Brisbane Bullets for the Geelong Supercats in 1980 and lead one of the great teams of the era. The NBL Hall of Famer has only fond memories of his five-year stint in Geelong, in which the Cats — later the Great Shape Cats and now the Supercats — won everything bar an NBL title. Bruton was a bona fide star before he arrived in Geelong in 1980 as a player and director of junior coaching. In his first year in Australia, in 1979 as an American import for the Brisbane Bullets in the inaugural NBL season, Bruton led the league scoring, averaging 33.2 points a game (and it would have been more had there been a three-point line). But after Bruton had his request to the Bullets to fly his family out to Australia denied, it was late Geelong chairman Rex Stewart, who had seen Bruton star in the NBL, who came to the 25-year-old’s aid and launch one of the great club rises. “They (Geelong) asked me how many kids did I have because they heard I had many,” Bruton recalled. “That’s the reason Brisbane didn’t want to bring me back. I was like, ‘No, I only have two that I can count.’” So the deal was done — Geelong flew out Bruton’s family as well as two of his good basketball mates, John Revels and Steve Kalocinski, and the Cats quickly became a force in Australia. “We had a lot of success, starting in 1980 — we won all the little preseason tournaments like the Warrnambool Classic and the Wangaratta. We came runners up in the Victorian title that year,” Bruton said. “In 1981 we won the SEBL competition and the Converse Super Challenge, which was the first time they had pitted the SA champion, the NBL champion, St Kilda — who was representing Australia for the World Cup championship — and ourselves as the SEBL champions, and we won it. “That launched us in the national league and we went straight to the grand final; but never winning the big prize, that was the only downfall of that illustrious run we had.” Bruton was named NBL coach of the year in 1982, taking Geelong to the grand final in the club’s first NBL year, and in his second and third seasons he made back-to-back NBL All-Star teams. “We came in and set the standards for the foundations of success for the Supercats. It was a great, great time,” he said. “We used to raise money doing bingo nights every Wednesday and car washes on Saturdays. I used to do a little tour with the Three Wise Monkeys — Bob Davis, Lou Richards (and Jack Dyer) — and they used to send me on tour so I could talk basketball.” Bruton said it was also Geelong who established some of the early professionalism standards. “We used to wear suits to the games; now you see them in shorts and T-shirts, I think they’ve regressed,” he laughed. “I ran the first camps back in 1981, where we had kids come from as far away as Perth and Brisbane to come to our camps. “We used to play at the Corio Leisuretime Centre; back then we couldn’t fit another person in with a shoe horn. “We had Steve Jackson, he had a company called Vivid Video. We used to tape all our games; in fact, I’ve still got some in my garage somewhere. “In a lot of respects, Geelong was the trendsetter for basketball. We were ahead of the game.” He returned to Brisbane in 1985, where he finally won an elusive NBL title with the Bullets, and was one of the first inductees into the NBL Hall of Fame when it opened in 1998. Bruton, who now lives in Canberra and runs Bruton Basketball, a basketball clinic company, will return to Geelong on July 15 for a Legends Dinner sportsman’s night, also featuring Shane Heal. “I have some good friends there still and I often visit, and I’m looking forward to bringing my family to show them where it all started,” he said. Tickets start at $100. For more information, visit Supercats.com.au.
SEABL LADDERS EAST CONFERENCE UP TO ROUND 13
SEABL MEN
SEABL WOMEN
LUINA GEELONG SUPERCATS SEABL WOMEN Number
Full Name
Position
Player Sponsor
Age
2
Ellen Kett
Guard
23
5
Alex Duck
Guard
26
8
Agnes Emma-Nnopu
Guard/Forward
16
9
Chantel Horvat
Forward
18
13
Alex Bunton
Centre
23
15
Sara Blicavs
Forward
24
20
Ebony Rolph
Forward
22
24
Isabella Brancatisano
Guard
22
19
Georgia Tauschke
Guard
21
30
Charlotte Brancatisano Guard
20
44
Eve Braslis
17
Head Coach Assistant Coaches Team Manager & Assistant Team Managers Strength & Conditioning Coach Physio
Forward
David Herbert Glenn Sharp & Darren Busuttil Beth Davis, Marcus Lovell & Malik Davis Chelsey Cameron provided by Corio Bay Health Group
KILSYTH COBRAS SEABL WOMEN Number
Full Name
Position
Age
5
Genna Ogier
Forward
18
7
Emily van Poppel
Guard
25
9
Sarah Parsons
Forward
30
10
Jordyn O’Shea
Guard
24
12
Chantella Perera
Guard
30
13
Jenna Verhoef-Jenkins
Guard
24
14
Caragh Spicer
Guard
25
20
Angela Beadle
Centre
23
25
Rosie Moult
Guard
27
Head Coach
Samantha Woosnam
Assistant Coach
Tony Smyth
Team Manager
Creina Spicer
NEXT HOME GAME SATURDAY 15th JULY vs MELBOURNE TIGERS MEN 8pm
LUINA GEELONG SUPERCATS SEABL MEN Number
Full Name
Position
Player Sponsor
Age
5
DeMarcus Gatlin
Combo Guard
24
8
Kris Blicavs
Combo Guard
28
9
Nick Owusu
Point Guard
32
11
Nathan Herbert
Shooting Guard
32
15
Ma'alo Hicks
Power Forward
29
17
Nathan Freind
Guard
26
21
Kristian Rocci
Shooting Guard
23
24
Liam McInerney
Power Forward
26
42
Eric Gaff
Centre
30
52
Jamie Medved
Shooting Guard
34
54
Ash Cannan
Power Forward
35
Head Coach Assistant Coach Team Manager & Assistant Team Managers Physio
Leon O’Neill Luke Beauglehall Jesse Drever, Nathan Scarlett & Marcus Lovell provided by Corio Bay Health Group
KILSYTH COBRAS SEABL MEN Number
Full Name
Position
Age
5
Josh Kunen
Forward
22
6
David Schaffert
Guard
25
7
Christopher Patton
Centre
24
8
Kieran Murphy
Forward
22
9
Tariq Naqqash
Guard
19
10
Jamie Ahale
Guard
18
11
Daniel Dillon
Guard
31
12
Owen Odigie
Forward
26
13
Ben Ursich
Guard
20
15
Desmond O’Wili
Centre
30
42
Auryn MacMillan
Forward
22
Justin Schueller Ian Stacker Cody Potter
Head Coach Assistant Coach Physio
NEXT HOME GAME SATURDAY 15th JULY vs MELBOURNE TIGERS MEN 8pm
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