YEAR 7 BASKETBALL

On Thursday 29th August our talented year 7 boys and girls basketball teams went to Craigieburn Leisure Centre to participate in the year 7 Mickleham division basketball. Both teams had completed numerous team training's, as they learnt new skills and improved their overall knowledge and understanding of the game.

Our girls’ team started the day with a loss to strong opposition in Craigieburn Secondary, but throughout the game, the girls dramatically improved on their ability to get the ball into scoring positions. The girls defence was very aggressive in this game, which lead to Melisa Demollari and Jasmine Abbas getting plenty of steals, strongly supported with Vicki Fenunuti and Elizabeth Afungia the rebounding machines. Following this game, the girls played Sacred Heart and were able to record an excellent win allowing them to finish with a 1-1 record for the day. Maysa Halabi displayed two fantastic all around performances as her confidence grew the longer she was on the court, as she defended well, stole the ball and rebounded contributing to the team’s success. All girls displayed sportsmanship throughout the day and encouraged each other continuously, which lead to a positive team environment and enjoyable day for everyone involved. Next year the girls will look to build on the skills they had learnt and become more confident as they will aim to progress to the NMR finals.

Our boys’ team started the day against the number 1 seeded school Sacred Heart. the boys started off with a slow start falling behind by 8 at half time. In the second half big rebounds from Mahmoud and Jaylahn allowed the boys to come within three with 2 minutes to go. A clutch three pointer from Haseeb drew the scores at 21-21. The boys went on to lose the game by 4 as tired legs started to show. The boys bounced back quickly in the next game beating Mount Ridley easily. Raphael providing much needed points to seal the game. Elias was solid all day surprising the team with his efficient shooting inside the arc. With practice the boys are more then capable of moving onto the NMR finals.

NORTHERN METRO REGION ATHLETICS

On Wednesday 4th September, our best athletes travelled down to Meadowglen International Athletics Stadium to participate in the Northern Metropolitan Region Finals for athletics. After having only 7 students progress to this round in 2018, the growth in talent was evident as we had 16 students attend the day. Every student performed to the best of the abilities on the day and represented the school positively. Some outstanding performers on the day were the 12-13 boys relay team, 14 girls relay team, Stefan Zoric, Liliana Ladoo and Jude Georgievski. Jude Georgievski placed 1st in both long jump and triple jump with jumps of 6.21m and 12.24m respectively as he displayed his elite athleticism. Liliana Ladoo came 1st in 90m hurdles for 14 year old girls which has allowed her to progress to the state finals, as well as displaying her speed as she bolted down the backstraight helping her relay team place 3rd which also consisted of Naz Maayar, Rossy Selman and Aleyna Yon. Our year 7 boys relay team were the biggest improvement on the day as they cut 11 seconds off their previous time at Mickleham Division to place 3rd – well done to Bailey Wickliffe-Jeffrey, Abdurahman Mohamed, Sunny Ly and Stefan Zoric. Stefan Zoric also placed 3rd in the 100m and 1st in the 200m as he displayed his lightning acceleration and pace in front of a large crowd. Our 12-13 girls which included Emilia Forte, Mia Trajkov, Melisa Demollari and Mia Ilievska were unable to place on the day but were still extremely impressive throughout training and I have no doubt will come back faster and more determined next year to get a medal. All students trained for months and I am proud of how hard they pushed themselves and aimed to improve throughout the many athletics trainings completed in term two and three.

YEAR 8 BASKETBALL

On Wednesday 11th September, our year 8 boys and girls teams went to Craigieburn Leisure Centre to compete in the Mickleham Division Basketball. It was exciting to see that many students made the teams two years in a row; it was a great effort for new students to make the team this year as well.

After progressing to the NMR finals in 2018 our year 8 boys entered the day full of confidence and enthusiasm. Our first game was against Mount Ridley, who came out firing getting an early 11-point lead on us 17-6. Luckily, Jude Georgievski countered this with 11 points straight including a three pointer and multiple and-1 opportunities as he put his improved skills on display for all watching. The game was back and forth with Mount Ridley getting leads and then we would cut the lead back to even but we were not successful in taking the lead at any point in the game and came up short. I was proud and impressed with the effort and aggressiveness that the boys showed in this game never giving up despite not being in front. Jordyn Scott scared multiple opposition players to miss their shots as he attempted to block their shots and Ezekiel Tambo made some difficult shots to help keep the scoreboard pressure on the opposition as we kept the game close. The next game the boys played against Craigieburn and were able to get an easy win as they displayed their elite teamwork and advanced ability to read the play and get steals. Daniel Rakhlin was a stand out in this game scoring heavily in conjunction with setting up teammates to assist him in the domination. The boys finished with a 1-1 record and did not make the grand final and progress to the NMR finals this year but were extremely enjoyable to train and coach as I look forward to seeing how far they progress next year.

The year 8 girls team started off the day full of nerves and anticipation. The ladies first game came against Mount Ridley, after watching the boys team play the ladies they were ready to shoot the lights out. A tight game allowed the ladies to be 6-8 up at half time. Some strong defensive efforts from Mia T who was able to limit their only shooter. Lily and Shahd were offensively solid providing the majority of the scoring. After the conclusion of the final game the girls managed to come away with a 8-14 win. With a spot for finals on the line the girls were hungry to beat Craigieburn. Unfortunately the girls lost this game 21-7 falling apart defensively. Rossy ran extremely hard all day and this effort rubbed off on Hala who really grew in confidence. The girls were extremely impressive and as they grow older there game will only improve. I was so impressed at how coachable the girls were.

STATE ATHLETICS

On Friday 18th October, three of our most talented athletes participated in the State Athletics Finals at Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park. Jude Georgievski, Liliana Ladoo and Stefan Zoric all have demonstrated the capability to improve on their natural athletic talents throughout the year which led to no surprise that they would make the state finals for their events. Jude Georgievski placed 1st in triple jump with an impressive 12.88m jump winning by a metre to 2nd place. Unfortunately Jude received three no jumps in long jump, but still displayed amazing sportsmanship congratulating other competitors after the event as he continues to enhance the schools name at interschool sport, as well as his personal reputation as a well-respected athlete at interschool sporting events. Liliana Ladoo competed in the 90m hurdles state final and placed 8th in the event with a time of 17.78s. Lily’s effort, commitment and performances at athletics have been nothing short of exceptional all year and I look forward to seeing Lily continue to improve and achieve better results in the coming years. Stefan Zoric competed in the 200m state final and placed 8th with a time of 26.24s which was an improvement on his previous time by a 50 milliseconds. Stefan has grown in confidence and with improved strength over the next year he will continue to improve his speed and no doubt be back to improve on his excellent performances in athletics.

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