Week 1 - Semi Finals (16/3/2013)

 

Week one started on Tuesday (25/3) night with three teams hitting the courts for their elimination semi-finals. With 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, all teams were on a high to win and advance to the grand finals next week.

U18/20 Div 2 Tigers - After finishing the season as minor premiers and dropping just 1 regular season game the boys went into this game as red hot favourites and they did not disappoint. The boys played well all round hitting shots from the 3 point arch, dominating the boards and keeping their composure when the opposition got frustrated. Hoppers Tigers 63 defeated St Peters Flash 46. Good luck to the boys in their Grand Final against Cambridge Crew.

U18/20 Div 3 Ballers – Finishing fourth after a struggling season with limited players. The boys went out hard early to lead the Devils until the closing end of the game, were the opposition came from behind to defeat our boys in the dying minutes. Hoppers Ballers 28 lost to Iramoo Devils. Great effort boys, look forward to a promising new season with a few new players.

YW Div 2 Tigers – An up and down season for the team who are mainly U16 girls. They came up against the top team St Andrews and maintained their composure to produce a nail biter, after being 9 points down and 2 minutes to ago. A couple of three points gave them hope and in the dying seconds another attempt was just short of sending the game into overtime. Hoppers Tigers 21 lost to St Andrews Pearls 24. Great season girls, look forward to a rebuilt team for the new season.

Bring on Saturday (29/3) with 14 teams taking on the competition. To our teams efforts we only lost three teams throughout the day, with another two teams advancing through to their Grand Final to make it three. So with nine teams remaining and taking on the preliminary finals next Saturday morning; who’s going to be the lucky ones to make it through to the Grand Final.

BOYS

U10 Div 2 Tigers – Facing the possibility of elimination, the boys came out and gave it their best shot with St Andrews getting the upper hand towards the end of the first half. The second half saw the boys close the gap but lost their composure playing catch up and when down by three points. Hoppers Tigers 7 lost to St Andrews 10. Good luck next season boys.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Joel Croswell

U10 Div 4 Giants – Facing the possibility of elimination, the boys when in hard from the start to take an early lead and maintained it right to the end in a lower scoring game. Hoppers Giants 8 defeated Flames Fireballs 4. Good luck in your preliminary against St Andrews Giants

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Jayden Crawford

U12 Div 3 Tigers – Facing the possibility of elimination, the boys had a hard fought battle to defeat the third place team. Hoppers Tigers 22 defeated St Andrews Pirates 19. Good luck in your preliminary against Cambridge Crickets.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Matt Burke

U12 Div 4 Titans – After securing top spot after the regular season, the boys when into the game focus with only one thing on their mind. With plenty of players contributing to both the scoreboard and the on court pressure, they managed to hold off a fast finishing Flames team to win by six points. Hoppers Titans 27 defeated Flames Blazes 21. Congratulations on making the Grand Final and good luck boys.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Alex Milanov

U14 Div 1 Tigers – Facing the possibility of elimination after finishing 3^rd, the boys were determine not to make the same mistake as last season. They bounded together to control the game from the start and finish with the win. Hoppers Tigers 28 defeated Healthdale Hornets Blue 20. Good luck in your preliminary against Woodville Vipers.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Mitchell Jerkovic

U14 Div 3 Giants – With a dominating season from the boys finishing on top with a 12 – 0 record, it had them as the red hot favourites. After a slow start the boys gathered momentum and applied what they had learnt to their actions out on the court. With their strong defence and disruption of the opposition game flow, they took control and ran out winners by 25 points. Hoppers Giants 39 defeated Iramoo Heat 14. Congratulations on making the Grand Final and good luck boys.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Blake Ellis

U14 Div 4 Tigers – With a great first season together the boys came up against a bigger and stronger Iramoo team. However they worked hard to fight back towards the end to only fall short by four points in a low scoring game. Hoppers Titans 12 lost to Iramoo Bulls 16. Good luck in your preliminary against Flames Thunderstorm.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Jester Casimiro

U16 Div 1 Tigers – Facing the possibility of elimination from a team they didn’t believe in themselves. Firstly it was a great season to finish 3^rd with 10 wins; unfortunately Corpus Christi had the better of us during the finals. Even though they didn’t give up, the opposition appeared hungrier on the day to win by six points in a 3 point shoot-out. Hoppers Tigers 37 Lost to Corpus Christi Bulls 43. Great season by all, good luck for the new season.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Billy Snee

U16 Div 2 Giants – Firstly great season by a team of six players all bottom age, who manager to finish second with nine wins. They were up against a bigger and stronger Heathdale team, which simply had the upper hand from the start and never gave Hoppers an opportunity. Hoppers Giants 16 defeated by Heathdale Hornets Red 33. Good luck in your preliminary final against Heathdale Hornets White.

U16 Div 3 Titans – Facing the possibilities of elimination and up against the first of three Woodville teams. The boys maintain a strong defence through-out the game, keeping the opposition to just 16 points (the lowest in our three meetings this season) while maintaining our own great offensive run. Hoppers Titans 23 defeated Woodville Tornadoes 16. Good luck in your preliminary against Woodville Bandits.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Jackson Puli

U16 Div 4 Grizzlies – Facing the possibilities of elimination against the new Manor Lakes boys. It was gallant effort by the boys to take on a bigger and stronger team and run out winners by seven points. Hoppers Grizzlies 30 defeated Manor Lakes Storm 23. Good luck in your preliminary against Good News Power Lightning.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Corey Potter

GIRLS

U12 Div 3 Angels vs Tigers – It’s not the best feeling knowing when you have two Hoppers teams up against each other in an elimination semi-final, as you it will be the end for some of our members. Firstly it was a great game by all the girls, who have come a long way since the start of the season. But as there can only be one winner, it was the Hoppers Angels taking control in the last half to run out winners by six points. Hoppers Angels 20 defeated Hoppers Tigers.

Good luck to Hoppers Angels in the preliminary against Good News Power Thunder and good luck to the Hoppers Tigers as they take on the U14s next season.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Chloe McConville (Angels)

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Bianca Wolski (Tigers)

U16 Div 1 Tigers – Facing the possibilities of elimination with only four players, the girls had a fantastic outing taking control from the first tap and never looking back. It was an emphatic win being underman, but all four girls put in a gallant effort to win by 12 points. Hoppers Tigers 34 defeated Iramoo Dragonflies 22. Good luck in your preliminary against Heathdale Hornets Blue.

Grill’d Awesome Effort Award – Tiffany Draghiciu