Date: Tues, Nov 24, 2009
VJBL Report: Ballarat teams get better results in grading games
Friday the 20th of November saw the start of the grading phases begin for all of the Ballarat Representative Squads. Although three of the six teams played games last week, this week it was down to business as they started their campaigned for a chance to play in the VJBL’s Championship Division.
The Minerdome was host to the boys matches, with the Under 14’s, 16’s and 18’s showcasing their skills to a home crowd.
In the second game for both teams, the under 14’s and 16’s managed to turn around last week’s losing performances and records good wins.
The Under 14 boys started off slowly with Frankston applying good pressure on both the offensive and defensive ends. However, Sam Short’s best-on-court performance allowed Ballarat to lead by 15 points at the half time break. The team was able to maintain this lead until the dying minutes of the game, at which point Frankston piled on a quick 10 points. In the end it was Ballarat who finished with the win, 32 – 27. (Points: Kelsey Gannon, 12. Matt Geary, 5)
The under 16 boys also managed their first win with Coach Darren Thomas saying that “it was great to have 10 contributing players on the floor.” After beating the same Craigieburn team last weekend in a practice match, it was again Ballarat who came away with a convincing win. 46 – 16. (Mitch Gilbert, 14. Zac White, 10)
In their first game as a team together, the Under 18 boys set the bar high recording a 28 point win over the lower ranked Sunbury team. As seems to be the tone with all of the teams, it was a sluggish start to the game. However, after finding their feet as a group the boys managed to defeat Sunbury 29 – 57. Coach Daniel Sutton said that it was “a good comeback and a solid start to the grading phase”.
Without the luxury of a home game start to the season, the girls’ teams travelled to various parts of Melbourne to kick-off their grading campaigns.
The under 16 girls travelled to Knox to try and get a positive start to their season. In a very low scoring game Ballarat managed to defeat the always strong Knox squad by a slender three points. Coach Glenn White said that “it was a very ugly game to start off the season” with Ballarat only managing to score 4 points in the first half. After making some changes to their game plan Ballarat started their running game, outscoring their opposition by 9 points in the second half to win 23 – 20. (Points: Wehrung, 11. Hills, 9)
It was a different story for the under 16 and under 18 girls, with both teams recording huge wins over their respective oppositions.
The under 16 girls travelled to Altona, defeating them 44 – 8.
The under 18 girls travelled to Dandenong to defeat their number 2 team 33 – 60.
Pictured: Jesse Malone of the Under 16 boys
