Basketball

Opens Richard Ellis

BBSSSA Tournament The Broken Bay tournament had us compete in seven games across the day. This proved to be a gruelling challenge and we used every player in a large squad to share the load. The team started slowly and recorded a close win against St Leo’s Catholic College. However, we were not so lucky in our second game, going down to St Brigid’s Catholic College in a very sluggish performance. The team rallied after this and won the next 5 games straight. The boys brushed aside teams from St Paul’s Catholic College, MacKillop Catholic College, to set up a tournament final against Mater Maria Catholic College, who we had just previously played and beaten. The boys ran away with the game to record a powerful 23 point victory.

Results

Win St Edward’s vs St Leo’s 40-35 Loss St Edward’s vs St Brigid’s 29-35 Win St Edward’s vs St Peter’s 38-27 Win St Edward’s vs St Paul’s 46-19 Win St Edward’s vs MacKillop 62-16 Win St Edward’s vs Mater Maria 32-17 Win St Edward’s vs Mater Maria (Final) 43-20

NSWCCC Tournament

The team travelled to Penrith for the NSWCCC State tournament, held at the Penrith basketball stadium. We knew that this would be a rigorous test and that there would be no easy games. First up we faced a spirited Mater Dei Catholic College from Wagga Wagga. The group started the game strongly, however, Mater Dei did not back off and pushed us all the way to a 4035 victory. A much stronger outfit in St John Paul College, Coffs Harbour jumped out to an early lead against us in the second game with some strong finishing and tough defence. We found ourselves down at half time, but rallied in the final quarter to win the game 44-38. In our last game of the day, we were pitched against St Clare’s College, Plumpton. The bench players took over this contest and we ran out comfortable 66-22 winners. A new day and our toughest opponent by far took the court against us, in what proved to be one of our flatter performances. Marcelin College, Randwick were outstanding at both ends of the floor, in an excellent display of schoolboy basketball. Despite the loss, the team progressed to the tournament quarter-finals,

where we faced Marist Brothers College, Kogarah. Our opponents took the lead in what proved to be a low scoring contest. However, our strong defence and transition scoring ensured we would progress to the semi-finals. A strong 40-28 victory ensured we entered the top four. Holy Spirit College, Belambi raced away to a strong lead and we weren’t able to recover. Their style of play, along with some extremely talented players were too much to handle and we bowed out of the competition to the eventual champions 23-41. Cody Wells, Matthew Marsters and Parker Robinson were outstanding throughout the tournament. Cody and Parker’s skill and desire to win were unparalleled when they took the court. Matthew Marsters was our biggest presence in the keyway and our top rebounder for the tournament. Credit also to our young players, Luke Marsters, Harry Bates and Jack Roberts, who were unphased by the bigger and older opposition. Every member of the squad played a pivotal role in both tournaments and should be congratulated on finishing as BBSSSA Champions and NSWCCC 3rd Place. Cody Wells was also selected in the NSWCCC Team to play in the State Titles against CIS and CHS.

Results

Win St Edward’s vs Mater Dei, Wagga Wagga 40-35 Win St Edward’s vs St John Paul’s, Coffs Harbour 44-38 Win St Edward’s vs St Clare’s, Plumpton 66-22 Loss St Edward’s vs Marcelin College, Randwick 32 -63 QF Win St Edward’s vs Marist Brothers, Kogarah 40-28 SF Loss St Edward’s vs Holy Spirit, Belambi 23-41

The Opens Basketball Team

Team Members Harry Bates, Otis Farrugia, Ulysses Fotofili, Tyler Francis, Ronan Grattan, Wilheim Hieber, Samuel James, Luke Marsters, Matthew Marsters, Harrison Martin, Cooper Richardson, Jack Roberts, Parker Robinson, Cody Wells