THE Hamilton Basketball Association (HBA) Men’s Division One competition has reached its halfway point with no shortage of impressive individual performances across the board.
St Mary’s Orange sits on top of the ladder with an unblemished record and have comfortably been the best team on paper, going undefeated so far despite some close encounters.
Although games have been closer than this season record reflects, they are the hunted and being yet to lose a game halfway through the season, it is their premiership to lose.
Both Minders and GT Storm are tightly contesting to make the top two sitting in second and third respectively with not much separating both sides – both have three wins and just 1.73 per cent differential.
They are subject of an exciting encounter tonight in the first round back after the bye as they battle it out for an opportunity to stamp authority over the other team and jump into the top two.
Barber Boys are in fourth position with one win so far this season while St Mary’s Black are on the bottom of the ladder also on a single win.
Even though each side has faced some tough games this season, finals hopes will not be lost with room for only one of the teams when finals basketball arrives.
Don’t be surprised if each can steal a couple of upset wins against top teams as the season goes on, as the drive to play finals drives them.
Josh Miller (Minders) leads the league in points with 75 to his name while Jack Roberts (St Mary’s Black) and Josh Hallam (St Mary’s Orange) have been some of the best shooters with 13 threes each.
St Mary’s Orange
Position: First
Season record: 6-0
Most points: Archie Porter (69 points)
ST Mary’s Orange are exactly where all sides want to be at the midpoint of the winter season, undefeated and on top of the ladder with a percentage of 126.75.
Despite a scare against Barber Boys back in round two when they managed to scrape over the line in a one-point ball game, they have clearly been the team to beat this season.
All of their other wins have been decided by more than 10 points with their biggest win coming just last round against Barber Boys (18 points).
Archie Porter has been a huge reason as to why the side has been performing so well, elevating his scoring ability to be one of the most dangerous players in the competition.
The youngster has dropped 69 points which includes 11 three pointers while Josh Hallam (46 points) and Deacon White (42 points) have also offered plenty on the offensive blast.
Charlie Field and Jack Jennings (33 points each) round out the major scorers for the side.
The Saints are the best three-point shooting team in the competition by a long way, the team has made 53 shots from beyond the arc this season – almost 20 more than any other team.
They are favourites at this point, and it will likely take an off night with their outside shooting if they are to be beaten in the second half of the season.
Minders
Position: Second
Season record: 3-2
Most points: Josh Miller (76 points)
MINDERS have had a solid start to the year only dropping two games and sitting in second position with 2.20 average points per game, just ahead of GT Storm.
One of the losses was somewhat expected against the ladder-leader, St Mary’s Orange (14 points) but the other was a bit of an upset against Barber Boys (14 points).
Josh Miller has again put this Minders side on his back and has been the most consistent scorer in the competition for several seasons now.
He has put up some massive numbers this season with games of 14, 16, 13, 16 and 17 points and sits second in the league for three pointers made.
While the side hasn’t really faced this issue yet, at some point they will need some other players to stand up at the offensive end of the court.
The next scorers for the side are Jacob Greaves (31 points) and Karatau Keightley (30 points).
They are definitely challengers at this point in the year, however, they will need to be at their very best across the whole court if they are to knock off the Saints at the pointy end of the season.
They will be looking towards an important game against GT Storm tonight, it is a must-win for Minders to cement second position on the ladder.
GT Storm
Position: Third
Season record: 3-3
Most points: Wynn Rentsch (63 points)
GT Storm sits third on the ladder at the halfway mark of the season with an average of 2.00 points per game and has been led by one of the most prolific scorers in the HBA, Wynn Rentsch.
The team has a 3-3 record and results have been somewhat expected with two of the losses coming against St Mary’s Orange (both by 10 points) and the other against Minders (eight points).
The side has a good spread across the court with a nice mixture of pace, height and power at both ends.
Storm will be eyeing off a top-two finish just trailing Minders by 0.2 average points and less than two percent on the ladder.
GT Storm isn’t a massive three-point shooting side having scored less than three per game as a team, however their team’s dominance in the paint cannot be understated.
Josh Rentsch has scored 42 points and while he is one of the main scorers for the side, he has had a huge impact on defensive efforts with countless blocks and rebounds.
Cody Overton (44 points) is also having a breakout season proving he can put up numbers with his best game coming against St Mary’s Black in round two where he dropped 18.
The team takes on Minders tonight which will be a good test and an important game for them to take home a victory.
Barber Boys
Position: Fourth
Season record: 1-4
Most points: Aaron Glare (55 points)
IF you were to pick the premiership winner based off how it looks on the ladder, Barber Boys would be in trouble having won just a single game this season with 1.40 average points per game.
However, Barber Boys is one of the most dangerous sides in the competition and can beat anyone if all guns are firing on the night.
The side gave St Mary’s Orange its greatest challenge of the season in round two falling short by one point in what would’ve been a huge upset.
Aaron Glare has made scoring look easy in the HBA for a number of years now and it has been no different this season.
He has scored 55 points placing him fifth in the league scoring and has scored more threes than the rest of his side with nine to his name.
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of this Barber Boys roster is that anybody is capable of scoring and hitting outside shots which can be damaging.
Shai Bunworth has taken big strides in 2024 turning into one of the premier big men in the competition making his presence felt at both ends having scored 47 points.
The likes of Joel Le Roy (40 points) and Sam English (39 points) are also capable of standing up on any given night – Barber Boys are a wildcard team this year.
St Mary’s Black
Position: Fifth
Season record: 1-5
Most points: Craig Jackson (68 points)
THE Saints’ season hasn’t gone according to plan thus far as they sit last on the ladder with a single win to their name and just 1.33 average points per game, however they are not far out of finals contention and will be hunting the fourth spot.
The only highlight for St Mary’s Black this season came in the side’s 17-point win over Barber Boys in round two, a game that the Saints will hope to replicate in the second half of the season.
Craig Jackson went beast mode on the night sending a message to the rest of the competition that he is a force to be reckoned with, as he dropped 27 points in arguably the best individual game of the entire season.
Jackson has been a revelation for the side, owning the paint at the offensive end and scoring at will.
He sits second in the league scoring and the Saints haven’t had trouble finding other scorers.
Jack Roberts (46 points), Riley Iredell (46 points) and Zac Elliott (43 points) round out what is one of the best scoring rosters in the competition.
Scores for is no issue but they are by far the most heavily scored against side with 337 in six games, an average of 56 points against which they need to limit if they are to get some more wins on the board.
Don’t count them out of finals, a couple of wins might be all it takes for them to sneak into the top four.
