This past Saturday/Sunday was WABL Grand Final weekend, and there was heaps of excitement in the air. To all the Wolfpack WABL teams that made it all the way to their Grand Final, a huge congratulations! We have a handful of very exciting, high intensity games on the weekend and 4 teams that were crowned champions.
The U12 Girls Champs Team came off of a thrilling 2-pt win in the semi-finals to face up against a 1-seeded Tigers team. The girls started out firing, creating disruption on defense and generating point in transition. They were up 11-5 at quarter time, and 19-13 at halftime. Momentum shifted in the 3rd quarter a bit and the score going into the 4th quarter was 28-31 with the Wolves down 3. After the game went back and forth for a bit the Wolves went from down 5 to up 1 in a quick run including an and-1 from Alyssa Grosvenor and a bucket from Aya Moustafa, and Aisling Fernandez, and with 40-seconds remaining, the Wolves found themselves in the lead. In a fast paced next 25 seconds, the Tigers got 2 quick transition scored and flipped the game around. The Wolves lost in a close, hard-fought, heartbreaker.
The U12 Boys Champs Team hadn’t really been tested yet in finals after a 42-point win against Rockingham in round 1 and a 20-point win against Cockburn in the semi-final. But top seeded Willetton was going to be a test in the Grand Final for sure. The boys were incredible for the first 14 minutes of gameplay and showed terrific poise against pressure, getting up as much as 15 in the 2nd quarter. But in the final couple minutes of the 2nd, the Tiger’s defensive pressure picked up and the Wolves offence got discombobulated. The 15-point lead fell back to just a 3-point lead going into halftime. The boys settled at halftime and pushed it back to a 10-point lead. The first 40 seconds of the 4th, they gave up a lightning quick 6-0 run, but a crucial timeout from Coach Damian Matacz again settled the team and they came out settled and poised to regain the lead. Up 2 with 2 minutes to go, a crucial bucket was a gritty offensive rebound and putback from Micah Matacz. This was followed up by a broken play steal and then a terrific finish by Kamron Makawa to seal the deal for the Wolves with a 6-point lead. The Wolves won the Grand Final with a score of 78-69.
The U16 Team 3 Boys game started out with great pace. In a 20-20 first quarter against Warwick, both teams were sprinting the lanes in transition and getting quick baskets there. In the 2nd quarter, a quick stretch of 2-3 zone disrupted the momentum of the Senators, and in those 2 minutes, the Wolves had a 7-point run. They went into halftime with a 6-point lead at a score of 44-38. The game hung steady throughout the 3rd but there were a few big finishes by Oli Toms at the rim and some terrific transition buckets from guards Aiden Jones and Aidan Kiely. Those 3 ended the game with 16, 19, and 18-points. Starting in the 4th, a few steals from Levi Simon, and deflections from the whole team, catalyzed some easy transition opportunities, and the Wolves started the quarter on a 12-0 run to get their biggest lead of the night at 17-points. This lead carried them through to an impressive 77-62 victory. Overall, including finals, the boys amassed a 16-3 record, were the top seed, and finished it off with a victorious Grand Final.
The U18 Team 4 Men’s team entered finals with an impressive undefeated record of 16-0.They started out their finals run with a 26-point victory over Hills Raiders, followed by a 25-point victory over the Slammers. Finally, in the Grand Final, they ran into the second place Warwick Senators. The opposition started out the game firing and the Wolves were also having a hard time scoring. For a team that frequently scored more that 100-points in games all year long, the Wolves team only scored 12 first quarter points and 18 second quarter points. They found themselves in unfamiliar territory, down 42-30 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Wolves men changed momentum and got the game back to 3-points, but were still trailing going into the 4th. But then from a 2-point game midway through the quarter, the Wolves went on a 20-4 run to win the final quarter 32-14 and win the game 85-70. What a terrific quarter by the boys. Ethan Jongsma had a huge game with 26-points and the U18 Team 4 Men finish the entire WABL Season and WABL Finals with a perfect 19-0 record.
The U21 Women’s Team never really had a doubt on Saturday night as the team took on the Southwest Slammers. The Wolves got up early, and kept on building their lead the whole game. The ball movement was terrific, they made shots, and they disrupted the opponent to generate easy layups in transition. The Wolves got up 23-12 after the first, 49-26 at halftime, and then really put the game away with a 37-15 third quarter that iced the game at 86-41 going into the 4th. The Wolves won the game 103-58. Chloe Goldsmith was dominant with 22-points while Janah Jabado had 15, Kyah Nichols 11, and Ty Bolland and Grace Gardiner also scored in double digits with 10. The Wolves Women finish the year with only one loss all year, and a dominant finals run.
Best of luck to all our two U18 champs teams who have made it to Club Nationals and will be competing as a part of Hoopsfest in the upcoming week.
To our WABL Grand Final Champions – congratulations on an amazing achievement as a team. To all our other WABL teams – congratulations on a great year as well. We look forward to seeing you all next year as we try to do it even bigger and better