Preliminary Final Preview

On Friday the 27^th of November the Millicent Basketball association held there junior Semi-Finals that saw players from under 12’s through to under 14’s compete to either advance straight through to the Grand Final or stay alive in the competition. This Tuesday, the 1^st of December, the Preliminary finals will be played to determine which other teams will compete in this seasons Grand Finals. There will be some fantastic quality basketball on display and everyone is welcome to come and watch.

The night will begin with both the under 12 boys and girls Preliminary Finals being played at the same time. In the Girls game the Roos, who went down in a narrow lost to the Devils last week, will take on the Pumas, who continued their winning streak last week by crushing their opponent. Keely Stuart will be looking to bounce back after the tough loss last week so expect to see her put on a display to get her team across the line. Lacey Haines will look to continue her red hot form from last week where she top scored on 10 points and was a vital factor in her teams win. Although Roos sat atop the ladder for the most part of the season, expect this game to be a thriller as the Pumas will hope to keep their winning streak and season alive.

In the under 12 boys, it will be a matchup between the Tigers and Pumas to see who will advance to the championship match. The Tigers suffered a rather easy defeat last week and with Austin Fuller playing a quiet game (by his standards) watch him closely as it is expected that he will run the court hard and do everything he can to win his team the match. The Pumas, though, will be no easy match as they made light work of the Rebels last week and showed so much depth in getting the job done. Kynan Dunn and Jack Haggett had great games last week but expect Tallan Dunn to have a big impact this week if the game is tight. If the Tigers can bounce back strongly, then they still look like the team to beat but don’t write off the class and depth of the Pumas.

The under 14 girl’s game between the Tigers and Eagles looks set to be another exciting game as there are many town team and state players involved. The Tigers lost easily last week to a strong Devils team but will be hoping to play with much more energy in this week’s final. Georgia Winter finished with 11 last week and is always expected to contribute greatly to her team whilst Kate Walker seemed to start slowly last week and will hope to score highly in this week’s elimination final as she has done for most of the season. The Eagles powered home against the Roos last week, Maddi Haggett was instrumental as always with 18 points and Lucy Denton also found her way to the basket well. Expect these two to have a massive impact on this week’s game. This game could go either way and with both teams being very tall, the rebounding compartment may be the small battle that needs to be won to edge out the other team.

In the under 14 boys the Eagles will take on the Tigers to see who will advance to the division 1 Grand Final, while the Pumas will play the Rebels to determine who makes the division 2 Grand Final.

The Division 1 Preliminary Final is expected be a sensational match with the Eagles, who finished top, losing last week by 16 points to a very committed Devils team. The Tigers won easily against the Saints and would have only gained confidence from the win. Whilst there were few positives from last week’s game, Kade Varcoe and Harry Willis were solid with 8 points apiece but will be pleased to see Conall Schultz come back and hopefully apply more scoreboard pressure and bring a presence on the defensive end. The Tigers were led by Frazer Bradley last week who scored in double figures whilst Billy Shanks did what had to be done scoring 7 points to go along with a mass of rebounds and assists. This match should be very exciting as it was between the teams all season long and the team that can contain their emotions better will have a greater chance of winning the game if the score is tight late in the match.     

In the Division 2 Preliminary Final the Pumas will take on the Rebels who looked very good last week against an average Roos team. The Pumas will be led into battle by Josh Werchon who scored double figures in points and in assists last week, which just wasn’t enough against a strong Demons team. The Rebels were strong across the board last week but Kaleb Messenger will be looking to back up his 19 point game with another strong outing. This game, though, may be determined by whether Dylan Shanks of the Pumas or Harry Tunkin of the Rebels can produce the points needed late in the game.

These Preliminary Finals are sure to be great entertainment and not to be missed. The Millicent Basketball Association encourages everyone in the community to come down and get around the young stars. For teams that advance to Grand Finals, these will be played on Friday the 11^th of December.  The junior committee is very keen to hear from any player that is interested in playing Basketball in any age group and for more information please call Peter on 0438388073.

Aidan Schultz, Millicent Basketball.