Ulverstone women and Burnie men have claimed the 2016 U22 titles.

Both teams were defeated in the second-semi, but managed to turn the tables. Burnie men have now won an outstanding four titles in a row.

In front of a full crowd at the Penguin Stadium, the women’s game started off as a very close affair, with both teams shooting poorly. At Quarter time Ulverstone had a slender 2 point lead. Somerset were leading the rebound count, mainly through the efforts of Jayde Brazendale with 5 rebounds for the quarter.

During the second quarter Somerset managed to hit the lead, however, foul trouble enabled Ulverstone to gain a 6 point lead at half-time. The Hoppers were beginning to do a better job on the boards.

Sami Phillips was the leading scorer with 10 points while Sarah O’Neill had 9 points. Olivia Crawford was working hard to pull in 6 rebounds.

A frantic start by Ulverstone in the third quarter saw them jump out to a 12 point lead. Molly Synott was doing a good job trying to nullify Sami Phillips dominance in the game, while Sarah O’Neill started to break loose amassing 15 points and 7 rebounds. Ulverstone led by 12 at three quarter time and looked to be in control.

Somerset began the last quarter pressing Ulverstone and suddenly the lead was reduced to 4 points. After a time-out the Hoppers they were able to regroup and hit some timely 3 point shots. Abbey Payne had a huge last quarter with 9 points. Ulverstone won 71 – 59.

Sami Phillips top scored with 20 points, Sarah O’Neill had a great game with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Shelby Rayner played well with 16 points and Abbey Payne finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds.

The Most Valuable Player for the Women’s U22 roster went to a very well deserved winner in Sami Phillips, who also won the title last year.

Penguin went into the game as favourites against Burnie after their great win in the second-semi. For the Blues to win they needed to again score well beyond the arc and restrict the Tigers from scoring inside the paint. Unfortunately for the Blues this did not happen. Burnie completely dominated inside offensively and defensively while Penguin’s shooting percentage was woeful.

At quarter time Burnie led 16 – 9 and the rebound count 14 – 6. Isaac Plant started the game well with 6 points.

The second quarter saw the Tigers completely dominate the contest with a 29 – 11 quarter. Burnie had scored 20 points inside the paint to Penguin’s nil. The Blues were shooting at only 19%.

The Tigers continued their good form in the third quarter leading 51 – 22 at three-quarter time. Tre Armstrong was causing many headaches for the Blues with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Tyler Kelly was Penguin’s best with 10 points.

Penguin ran a full court press at the start of the last and went on a 7 – 0 run. A time-out by Burnie, saw them regroup and take out the game comfortably 66 – 46.

Isaac Plant in his last U22 game was instrumental in setting up Burnie’s big win. He scored 15 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Tre Armstrong finished with an outstanding 19 points and 13 rebounds for the game. Ryan Cook and Tyler Kelly gave it their all to finish with 19 and 18 points respectively.

The Most Valuable Player for the Men’s roster were joint winners in Ulverstone’s Harry O’Neill and Burnie’s Emmitt Smith.

Results Grand Final

Women

Ulverstone 71 d Somerset 59

Best Players – Ulverstone: S. O’Neill, S. Rayner, O. Crawford. Somerset: S. Phillips, A. Payne, S. Freeman.

Scorers – Ulverstone: S. O’Neill 19, S. Rayner 16, C. O’Neill 10. Somerset: S. Phillips 20, A. Payne 13, J. Brazendale 11.

 

Men

Burnie 66 d Penguin 46

Best Players – Burnie: I. Plant, Tr. Armstrong, K. Paul. Penguin: T. Kelly, R. Cook, F. Eaton.

Scorers – Burnie: Tr. Armstrong 19, I. Plant 15, Ta. Armstrong 8, K. Paul 8, E. Smith 8. Penguin: R. Cook 19, T. Kelly 15, F. Eaton 7.