ST MARY’S ORANGE has moved to within striking distance of the ladder lead in the Hamilton Basketball Association women’s division one competition with a 31-29 victory over Barber Babes on Tuesday night as Grace Cleaver stamped her authority on the game.
Cleaver had the hot hand with 17 points for St Mary’s Orange and was the dominant player on the court in her 150th career game.
So dominant was her performance that she more than doubled the next highest scorer from either team for the game, helping her side get within striking distance of the ladder lead after St Mary’s Black lost to Tigers.
While the Saints mainly funnelled their attack through Cleaver, Barber Babes was more inclined to move the ball through more hands, as Danielle and Rebecca Van Kalken and Isabelle Johnson offered scoring options for the Babes.
Next week, St Mary’s Orange and Black will meet to determine which team finishes atop the ladder, while Barber Babes will have its last game of the winter season as it battles Minders, and no doubt will be looking to cause an upset.
St Mary’s Black v Tigers
TIGERS has caused a huge upset in the Hamilton Basketball Association division one competition by defeating ladder leaders St Mary’s Black, 25-23.
As expected, St Mary’s Black came out in the first half and took the lead by five points at the sounding of the buzzer to end the first period as Saskia Gould, Maddox Ryan and Ruby Cleaver controlled the tempo of the game, but after the break Tigers were resurgent with the ball in hand and quickly turned the game.
The Tigers worked overtime in defense to negate the St Mary’s Black attack as Maddison Cotten, Bridget Mailes and Molly O’Brien began to dominate both on the court and the scoreboard.
Cotten landed three shots from long range to hand the Tigers the edge, while the whole Tigers team overcame the deficit and moved clear by two points at the fulltime siren.
The loss didn’t cause St Mary’s Black to fall from the top of the ladder, but Tigers did open a five-point gap on Barber Babes for the coveted fourth spot, which it cannot be displaced from with a bye next week.
Men’s Division 1
Barber Boys d Minders White
BARBER Boys Black leapt from the bottom rung of the premiership ladder with a hard-fought victory against Minders White, 45-42.
With one round remaining in the winter season before finals, Barber Boys has timed its run for a finals place just right, but having a last round bye means the side must sit back and pray results go as expected next week to ensure they play finals.
From the opening tip off, the ball travelled up and down the court, as both teams executed their attacking game plans, but by the half time buzzer, Barber Boys were up by three points, 24-21.
The second half was even tighter, as the teams traded shot for shot in adding 21 points each to see the Barber Boys claim the points and rise to fourth place, as Ryan Anton (10 points), Sam Brewer (nine) and Hayden Millard (nine) combined well to lift the team to victory, while Joshua Miller with 22 points stood head and shoulders above all others on the court for Minders.
St Mary’s Black v St Mary’s Orange
ST Mary’s Orange defeated St Mary’s Black convincingly 42-18, to send the Black team tumbling out of the top four.
Orange dominated the opposition which only had five available players for the game, as the buzzer for the end of the first half saw Orange ahead, 17-9.
In the second half, Orange pressed ahead even more to extend the lead out to 24 points, as Deacon White held the hot hand for Orange with 18 points next to his name on the scoresheet, while Black looked to Zac Elliott (nine points) and Jack Roberts (eight) to score.
The win leaves St Mary’s Orange in third place with the opportunity to replace Barber Boys White from the top rung of the ladder next week when they meet in the match of the round, while St Mary’s Black must defeat Minders White to have any chance of extending its season into the finals.
