THE race for the Hamilton Basketball Association (HBA) Men’s Division One championship is heating up with Barber Boys leading the charge, despite a few uncharacteristic losses to start the season.
It is a tight competition with both St Mary’s Black and St Mary’s Orange sitting on four wins in second and third place respectively, while Minders White is just one win further back.
Nate Krause is no stranger to being on top of the scoring table dropping and has been lethal from beyond the arc as we’re used to, with the youngster dropping 104 points so far this season, leading Minders White’s Josh Miller (101 points).
Barber Boys
Position: First
Season record: 6-2
Top scorer: Nate Krause (104 points)
IN a similar fashion to last season, Barber Boys started the season a bit shaky, dropping a couple of early games to find itself sitting at a 1-2 record, but the reigning champs bounced back to find winning form.
Krause has again been a prominent scorer for the side, dropping 15 three-pointers across the eight games he has played, his season-high of 19 coming against St Mary’s Black.
Jakob Greaves has impressed this season in the white, with the big man scoring 99 points for the year and has consistently knocked down double figure scores - he has also made an impact from beyond the three-point line in every game.
Joel Le Roy (57 points) and Wade Macdonald (49 points) have played important supporting roles and both rank in the top eight scorers in the league.
Barber Boys has got its game right having brought home a win in its last five outings, the only teams to undo the side have been St Mary’s Orange (three points) and bottom-placed Minders Blue (two points).
They look well positioned to go all the way this season and since the round five bye, the ladder leaders have comfortably won all of their games with an impressive average winning margin of over 16 points.
St Mary’s Black
Position: Second
Season record: 4-3
Top scorer: Archie Porter and Edward Koch (55 points)
DESPITE having one of the youngest sides in the competition, St Mary’s Black has been performing well this season, picking up four wins to sit second during the break.
The Saints haven’t relied on one player this season, a strong reason for their impressive team performances throughout the season which sees them second on the ladder.
Archie Porter and Edward Koch have both found the ring, dropping 55 points each, but there has been a strong contingent of contributing players on the roster.
The side probably lacks a powerful big man that can get in the paint and hit the scoreboard in a big way, similar to the likes of a Jakob Greaves or Jacob Hill type player.
St Mary’s Black lost to Barber Boys by 12 and 28 points the two times the sides have met, and the challengers need to find something extra if they are to cause an upset and stamp themselves as real contenders.
St Mary’s Orange
Position: Third
Season record: 4-2
Top scorer: Deacon White (42 points)
THE Saints have had an up and down season and will take third spot knowing they can improve towards the back end of the season.
The last game they played and won (excluding forfeit and bye) was at the beginning of November, which was round four, with round 10 set for next week.
Deacon White has just played three games and still leads the scoring with 42 points, averaging 14 points per game.
The side is arguably fortunate about where it sits on the ladder, as its opening two wins of the season saw them on the right side of the result, but it could’ve gone either way - defeating Minders White (three points) and Barber Boys (three points).
Ethan Knight (41 points), Charlie Alexander (37 points) and Will Povey (32 points) are all strong across the court and know how to find an open lane to the basket, they will look to have some big games when they resume.
The likes of Ben Marti and Adam Manson will look to have a big presence under the ring and help them generate some greater scoring chances for the side’s guards.
Minders White
Position: Fourth
Season record: 3-4
Top scorer: Josh Miller (101 points)
MINDERS White is a danger side this season and after almost knocking off Barber Boys earlier in the season, it will look to jump a couple spots on the ladder and go deep into finals.
Josh Miller has starred for his side lighting up HILAC’s court one every week, dropping 101 points which included a 31-point game against the top side in round four.
Miller leads the competition in three-pointers and has shown sides they can’t leave him open beyond the perimeter with hot hands.
The side has the experience of Paul Churchill, who has scored 33 points this season, but also some young players that can turn it on such as Angus Hayden-Simpson (43 points).
After smashing St Mary’s Orange just a few weeks before the break and moving on from a couple narrow losses to top sides, Minders White will be looking to start fresh when the season resumes.
Led by Miller and Hayden-Simpson, this side could be any team in the competition on its day and is a side that you will not want to play come finals time.
Minders Blue
Position: Fifth
Season record: 1-5
Top scorer: Aaron Glare (64 points)
IT hasn’t quite gone right for Minders Blue this season with the side just putting a single win on the board, which surprisingly came against the top side by two points.
This was a huge win for the side, showing the side can match it with the best; however, they haven’t been able to get on the right side of the scoreboard since.
Aaron Glare tops the scoring with 64 points, supported by Marcus Rhook who has dropped 40 points.
A one-point loss to Minders White in a high-scoring affair, 52-51, cost the team back in round six, also falling six points short of St Mary’s Black.
Jake Donehue, Josh Soawyer and Bailey Mason have scored 67 points between them and will look to have a greater impact pulling down boards at the defensive and offensive ends of the court.
If a different player to on the team to Glare can cash in on a few big individual scoring games later in the season, they are always an outside chance to play finals.
