THE Hamilton Basketball Association (HBA) Women’s Division One competition is heating up and the top two battle will be one the most interesting aspects of this winter season.

With four teams in total, all of the sides will play finals later in the season, so it is about getting momentum and playing your best basketball at the right time.

St Mary’s Black was knocked out in last season’s preliminary final by eventual premier Tigers so the Saints will be out for redemption when finals come around – there is nothing between these two and it could be anybody’s game.

Despite numerous narrow victories this season, St Mary’s Black hold the top spot on the ladder with an impressive season record of 7-1 and 2.75 average points, closely followed by reigning premiers Tigers who sit second with a 5-3 record and 2.25 average points.

St Mary’s Orange are third with a 4-4 record and 2.00 average points but have taken it up to the best sides in the HBA, defeating Tigers by one point just a couple of weeks ago and losing to St Mary’s Black in a one-point thriller.

St Mary’s White are sitting on the bottom of the ladder with a 2-6 record and 1.50 average points, but if they play their cards right, they could definitely be a dangerous side come finals time.

They played the first three rounds against division two sides starting the season 2-1 before making the jump up into the top level.

The top side has been helped by one of the most exciting young basketballers from Hamilton, Charlize Cooper who leads the league scoring with 75 points.

Some of the other top scorers in the league include Danielle Vankalken (70 points), Saskia Gould (64 points) and Rhianne Lewis (63 points) – Lewis is a sharpshooter and leads the league in threes with 16.

St Mary’s Black

Position: First

Season record: 7-1

Most points: Charlize Cooper (75 points)

AS the season has progressed, the Saints have proven to the rest of the league that they are the team to beat when the winter season finals roll around.

They have dropped just one game for the season which came in round two when Tigers smashed them by 20 points and seemingly made a statement to the competition.

However, St Mary’s Black has won the next two encounters comfortably by 10 points (round five) and 23 points (round eight) to go into the second half of the season as favourites for the HBA premiership.

Charlize Cooper is the most prolific scorer in the entire league and has put together a huge season for the Saints, dropping 75 points.

Whether it is pulling down boards and blocking shots, shooting the lights out from three or terrorising teams in the paint, Cooper has the ability to do it all.

There has been a heap of strong scoring contributors with Saskia Gould (64 points), Lily Raymond (52 points), Elise Thurman (47 points) and Holly Rook (39 points) providing different avenues to the basket.

The Saints’ two closest wins of the season have both came against St Mary’s Orange (by one point and five points) so they will hope to consistently extend their winning margins for the rest of the year.

St Mary’s Black are the favourites to win the flag and the preliminary final loss last year will be driving this goal.

Tigers

Position: Second

Season record: 5-3

Most points: Rhianne Lewis (60 points)

TIGERS are well positioned to go back-to-back this season having beaten all teams in the competition and they are a clear second with five wins and three losses at the halfway point.

The experience of Rhianne Lewis has been invaluable to the young side and you will not want to leave her open from beyond the arc with 16 threes to her name – scoring two or more in every game but one.

The side had a statement win over other major contender, St Mary’s Black earlier in the season but the Saints have won the next two match ups easily.

But if it bleeds, you can kill it and Tigers will take plenty of confidence in the fact that they have beaten the Saints once and can do it again.

An uncharacteristic loss came against St Mary’s Orange by just one point in round six, a game the Tigers will want to forget about in a hurry.

While Tahlia Ross hasn’t been putting up her career best numbers, she is still sixth in the league for scoring with 55 points and nine threes which shows how much of an offensive threat she poses to the competition.

Ross is a big game player, when the season is on the line and you need a three to hit the front, she is the person you’re passing the ball to - clutch under pressure.

Paige Kissel (42 points) and Maddison Rhook (40 points) have both went under the radar and have been great for the side.

St Mary’s Orange

Position: Third

Season record: 4-4

Most points: Grace Cleaver (43 points)

THE Saints have a neat 4-4 season record but have showed some impressive signs giving some of the best teams a wake-up call and proving they could be a wildcard for the premiership at the end of the season.

Of the four wins, two have come against bottom-placed St Mary’s Black White as expected, another came from a forfeit, but the Saints got themselves a big scalp against the reigning premiers.

St Mary’s Orange caused an upset against Tigers escaping with a thrilling one-point victory, restricting the scoring to win 25-24 – Stella Grinham led the way in the win with 11 points.

Despite the Tigers missing Lewis in that clash, the Saints will gain some confidence from that win and look to cause a few more problems for the top two sides in coming weeks.

They are the lowest scoring side with 223 points for the season, but they are also the best defensive side conceding just 213 points.

St Mary’s Orange is led by Grace Cleaver from a scoring point of view with the young gun getting better every week, but the rest of the scoring distribution is an incredibly even spread.

Grinham and Emily Iredell (31 points each), Kate Pickford (27 points) are some of the other main scorers this season.

If the Saints can manage to shut down some of the other main scorers when they take on the top two sides, their even scoring roster will flourish and they could easily pinch a couple more wins.

St Mary’s White

Position: Fourth

Season record: 2-6

Most points: Danielle Vankalken (70 points)

ST Mary’s White have two of the top five scorers in the league in Danielle Vankalken (70 points) and Zoe Vankalken-Flack (61 points), but it unfortunately hasn’t translated to wins this season.

The pair have scored 53 percent of the team’s score for the whole season which highlights how important they are in offense.

The Saints sit in fourth and final position so they will play finals but are yet to get a win since making the move up into the top division.

They have surprisingly matched up best against Tigers with two narrow losses by seven and nine points, far more flattering than their games against St Mary’s Black which have resulted in big margins.

However, the side’s closest chance to a win since moving up came earlier this week when they fell just four points short of stealing victory against St Mary’s Orange – thanks to a massive 19-point game from Vankalken-Flack.

Vankalken has also been dominant dropping 70 points and gets to the free throw line for fun – she leads the HBA with 23 free throws made.

Nicky Lowe has also contributed well at the scoring end with 31 points reaching double figures in two games this season.

The focus for the second half of the season will be on being competitive against the best teams and staying in the game for longer, which will hopefully be the difference in getting a bit more success.