A competitive effort for three quarters was not enough for the Eastern Mavericks men, going down 109-89 to Forestville after giving up 36 points in the first quarter.

Shooting percentages were up and the points were flowing, sadly for the Mavericks the majority of those were for Forestville. Eastern did everything they could on the offensive end with 8 individual scorers in the first term, but their defence was caught out as Forestville’s Adam Doyle scored 13, including 2 of 2 from behind the arc, Jake Rios hit 3 from downtown on his way to 13 and Bradley Haydon added 8 points. With 2 from Brad Gerlach making up their huge 36 point quarter they hit the first break with a 16 point lead off 8 assists.

Eastern picked up their shooting in the second, their 49 per cent field goal percentage almost matching the Eagles’ 50, yet they still hadn’t registered a 3 pointer by the half, while Forestville were shooting superbly from outside with 9 of 14 giving them 64% efficiency.

With 6 second-term points to Shane and Stuart Breheny as well as Daniel Lean, the Mavericks put together a few runs and finished strong with 8 unanswered points. After winning the quarter by 4 points they still found themselves down 12 due to the blowout in the first. Shane Breheny led the scoring for Eastern with 10 while Doyle’s 100 per cent from behind the arc contributed to his 18 at half time.

While the Mavericks needed to make inroads into the deficit to have any chance at a comeback, the third term was hotly contested and very even. Shane Breheny got Eastern started with their first from the three point line (he added 7 in the quarter), while Haydn Barns and Curtis Scipio each made a three pointer and totalled 6 points for the term.

The Eagles seemed to have an easier time getting their points - they tacked on another 9 assists while Gerlach scored 8 points, Rios and Haydon got 5 each and Charles Newland had a handy 6.

The Mavericks challenged Forestville all the way, drawing the margin back to 9 points on 3 occasions, but were rebuffed each time. Doyle made his 4th from downtown off an effective screen and Gerlach and Rios’ points to end the quarter gave them a 13 point margin going into the last period.

The last term was all Doyle’s as he took control with 14 points including another two from 3 point land (going 6/8 for the night) to keep the Mavericks at bay. Scipio, Shane Breheny and Nicholas Heim shot well in the final period but it wasn’t enough to counter the Eagles’ unselfish play; they finished with a whopping 29 assists to the Mavs’ 17.

With 3 minutes to play the two teams ran their second strings, getting some experience for their younger players

Doyle top scored and reached a double-double with 35 points 14 rebounds, while Gerlach made it with 19 points 10 assists. Shane Breheny made another double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Forestville Eagles 109 (Adam Doyle 35, Jake Rios 23, Brad Gerlach 19)
Eastern Mavericks 89 (Shane Breheny 20, Curtis Scipio 16, Stuart Breheny 12)

Stats Webcast

By Lachlan Eggers

(also published in the Courier)