MINDERS has retained the ladder lead in the Hamilton Basketball Association (HBA) Men’s Division 1 competition after Jakob Greaves led a second half revival against St Mary’s Black at Hamilton Indoor Leisure and Aquatic Centre (HILAC), guiding the team to a 44-37 win on Wednesday night.
Bottom of the ladder St Mary’s Black was on track for a huge upset at the half time break, as the team led 22-16 after taking the game up to Minders in the first half.
Greaves was the star of the second half, putting up 12 points to see Minders catch St Mary’s Black and eventually grab the lead, recording a come-from-behind victory
Greaves led the Minders attack with 16 points for the game, with Josh Miller (15) and Paul Churchill (six) giving him great support.
It wasn’t to be for St Mary’s Black, despite the best efforts of Zac Elliott (14 points), Riley Iredell (nine) and Craig Jackson (seven), as the team put in a sterling performance to scare the ladder leaders in the final game of the year.
St Marys Orange d Barber Boys
ST Mary’s Orange has caused a huge upset by defeating previous ladder leader, Barber Boys, in Wednesday’s late game, 49-34.
The victors controlled the game after falling behind by four points to open the game, but Jack Jennings dropped two three-point bombs to gain the lead, and the team was never headed from then on.
Charlie Alexander (17), Jacob Hill (nine) and the rest of the St Mary’s Orange players all played very well to lift the side from the bottom of the ladder, while Shai Bunworth (nine), Joel LeRoy (eight), Angus Hayden-Simpson (seven), and Sam English (seven) battled hard for Barber Boys.
Women’s Division 1
Minders d Tigers
MINDERS has leapfrogged St Mary’s Orange in second place on the HBA Women’s Division 1 ladder after defeating Tigers by seven points on Tuesday night at HILAC, 32-25.
Tigers staged a huge second half revival after falling behind at the halftime break, 7-21, as the Tigers turned the tables on its more fancied opponents to fall short when the final buzzer sounded.
The second half surge was led by Rhianne Lewis who had only three points next her name at the break but roared back into the game with 12 points to finish with 15 points for the game.
Caeleigh Humphries (11) was the leading scorer for Minders as the team held their nerve in the second half despite the increased attacking pressure from Tigers which remains on the bottom of the ladder after the loss.
St Mary’s Black d St Mary’s Orange
ST MARY’S BLACK has remained undefeated after the first seven rounds of the season with its defeat of sister team, St Mary’s Orange in the late game on Tuesday night, 41-25.
The battle of the Saints’ teams was one-sided as the Black team carried a six-point lead into the second half after finishing the first in front, 18-12, but the Black players just lifted the intensity for the second half and roared away to win by 16 points.
Charlize Cooper and Saskia Gould both posted 10 points for the game to lead the scoring for the Black team, while the Orange team had Clare Crawford putting up 10 points also.
The competition now goes into recess for the next two months before resuming on February 4 and 5.
