There was a sense of business this week as staff and students returned to a much anticipated MCS competition. Our Year 8 and Year 9 Basketball teams commenced their season in Week 4 both earning convincing wins with their newly selected teams. Some great action was on show by these boys as they outplayed and out hustled their opposition. One noticeable difference in these teams is that they are becoming young men.

Some good news from our Senior Basketball teams who both earned hard wins. Special mention to Jake Wright and Mason Hunter who filled in this week in the College 1st Grade team, filling positions of Year 11 Work Placement students. Our Year 7 team went down in a nail biter but will learn from this loss.

Our College Cricket teams had mix success but there were some sensational individual efforts across all teams. Well done to all teams for completing their Round 1 games under tough COVID-19 restrictions.

Marist Carnivals

Following advice from the Marist Carnival Committee, it has been decided that the Marist Basketball Carnival (Adelaide), Marist Netball Carnival and Marist Cricket (Canberra) Carnivals are to be postponed indefinitely until further notice. The carnivals will not be held in 2021. The 2020 hosts will remain the hosts until the Carnivals resume.

MCS Reports

1st XI Cricket (10/75) were defeated by St Dominic’s Penrith (4/76)

We travelled to Penrith for Round 1. We won the toss and went in to bat. St Dominic's bowled very well having us 3-13 after we lost 3 wickets in 3 balls. Unfortunately, we could not recover and were eventually bowled out for 75. Jacob Shortland was the best of the batters with 33 off 27 balls. We started well with the ball having the opposition 2 for 18 however a small field, combined with some dropped catches and some good batting resulted in us being passed in the 11th over. A disappointing loss that will require us to bounce back straight away in Round 2.

Most Valued Player (MVP): Jacob Shortland

Mr L. Morrissey - Coach

2nd XI Cricket (3/66) defeated Name of College Greystanes (3/64)

St Greg's won the toss and sent Greystanes into bat first. It was tough going early as we made it difficult for them to score easily. Greystanes put up a strong fight though and we took just three wickets in the 20 overs, with Greystanes finishing on 3/64. Joshua Low took 2 wickets and Alex Mullan the other. With the bat, Marcus Zapirain top scored with 27, and we chased the runs down in 12 overs for a solid win.

MVP: Marcus Zapirain (Molloy)

Mr S. Bullock - Coach

3rd XI Cricket won against St Patrick’s Dundas

A very strong bowling effort saw sustained pressure on the batsmen and SGC 3rd XI took regular wickets across the innings and bowled St Patrick's Dundas out for 55. Particular mentios must go to Josh Logozzo and Aaron Phillip who both took their first MCS wickets. St Patrick's responded with some very sharp bowling with our top order struggling with the unpredictable bounce and movement on a challenging pitch. A lower order rear-guard action, punctuated with some big hitting, led by Jack Losurdo and Lucas Braithwaite saw the team home for a well-deserved win considering the conditions. Congratulations to the team and especially those who were making their debut in MCS Cricket. I look forward to continuing our success for the rest of the season!

MVP: Lucas Braithwaite (Molloy)

Mr W. Goodsell - Coach

4th XI had the bye this week.

Mrs K. Skuse - Coach

9/10 A Cricket (7/121) were defeated by Eastwood (5/134)

With much excitement to be finally able to play, we began the season with a cracking game that unfortunately resulted in a narrow loss. Marist Eastwood batted first and were able to achieve 134 runs in the 20 overs with the loss of 5 wickets consisting of 4 brilliant catches and a bowled. The best bowling was Jack Spragg who took 2/8 off 2 overs. Tim Saunders was also noteworthy taking 1/9 off 4 overs followed by a great catch. St Greg’s had a strong start in the chase but fell heartbreakingly short with a total of 7/121.

Top scorers were Blake Truman (28), Coby Holland (24) and Jack Spragg (22)

MVP: Jack Spragg (Molloy)

Mrs J Sligar - Coach

9/10 B Cricket won against Patrician Brothers’ Fairfield

Welcome to Old Boy Archie Allen (2019) as Coach. St Greg’s won the toss and captain Ben Taylor (Year 8) elected to bat first. After a disappointing start losing a wicket in the 2nd over the St Greg’s boys through Cameron Salter and Patrick Salecich, were able to put a great partnership together, which left St Greg’s on 185. Special mention to Cameron Salter on scoring his first 100 ending with 103 not out.

After a slow start with the ball St Greg’s were able to get a breakthrough with a run out from Archie Nott. With regular wickets St Greg’s kept Fairfield to 77 after the 20 overs. St Greg’s ended with the win by 113 runs.

MVP: Cameron Salter (Kilian)

Mr Archie Allen - Coach

7/8 A Cricket (3/85) defeated Eastwood (7/83)

St Greg's won the toss and elected to bowl. Excellent fielding on a tiny field kept Eastwood down to 7 for 83 off 20. In reply, St Greg's were 3 for 85 off 14.3. Bowling highlights included Matt Fitzgerald 1 for 19 off 4; Aiden Richards 1 for 15 off 4; Ashton Haycock 1 for 9 off 4; Jacob Malvern 2 for 17 off 4. Also in the field, the many catches kept the Eastwood score down. Catches included - Luke McElhone, Jacob Malvern, Ashton Haycock and Josh Heylin. Run outs by Aidan Richards and Corey Arentz. Batting highlights included Josh Vella's 44 no. This score together with his excellent keeping gave him the Man of the Match. Great first result from our team and excellent Captain Matthew Fitzgerald.

MVP: Joshua Vella (Molloy)

Mr G. Bingham - Coach

7/8 B Cricket won against Patrician Brothers’ Fairfield

Patrician Brothers Fairfield were given the opportunity to bat first against St Gregory's College. However, the St Greg’s bowling attack was too strong and got Patrician Brothers’ all out for 11 runs within 10 overs. Dominic Petrovski took a stellar 5 wickets for 6 runs. The team was captained brilliantly by Benjamin Small who worked with his bowlers to coordinate the best form of fielding attack which limited Patrician Brothers’ from scoring runs. Both Benjamin Small and Dominic Petrovski were also our opening batsmen and chased the target score of 12 down within 2.2 overs giving St Gregory’s College the win with ease.

MVP: Dominic Petrovski (Laurentian)

Mr K. Singh - Coach

1st Grade Basketball (49) defeated Parramatta Marist (40).

This was a much-anticipated game as the team was very keen to get the season started but unfortunately with two injuries and 2 students on Work Placement, the team was down to 6. Thankfully Parramatta Marist was kind enough to allow students from our Junior teams to play. Jake Wright (10 Opens) and Mason Hunter (9 Opens) got the call up.

We started out well with Jack Stewart hitting a 3 pointer to begin the scoring. It seemed like Parramatta wanted the win a bit more than we did. The smaller Parramatta players were able to pick off some readable passes to keep in the game and we were not making the correct choices with our offence positioning. We only went into the start of the second half with a 2-point lead.

It is amazing to see the constructive discussions between the players which means quite often the coach cannot get a word in. Through this discussion and teamwork, the court positioning improved 10 fold and the passes were direct and undetectable which allowed us to get a better distance from the opposition.

This was a hard-fought win and I would like to congratulate and sincerely thank Jake and Mason who both really held their own and made a huge impact on the court both offensively and defensively.

MVP: Jack Stewart (Molloy) - 16 points including four 3pointers. Great positioning and confidence to keep the scoreboard ticking over or getting us out of the close situations.

Mrs Giles - Coach

2nd Grade Basketball (23) were defeated BY Parramatta Marist (25)

A very close game for the first round of MCS Sport. St Greg’s trailed the whole game and lost by 2 at the final buzzer. Too many turnovers and missed shots allowed the opposition to take this game from us. Still a solid start to the season.

MVP: Alex Pucovski (Donovan)

Mr Perna - Coach

Year 9 Basketball (35) defeated Parramatta Marist (28)

The boys had an excellent start to the season with a well-earned victory over Parramatta Marist. After shaking off some rust and nerves in the first five minutes the team played very well. The boys were particularly impressive with their full-court press. This made the opposition uncomfortable and allowed us to score some easy baskets in transition. We eventually won the game 35-28. Jake Wright showed excellent leadership qualities on his way to a team high 11 points.

Justin Blums received the MVP award for his all-action performance. Playing his first game of basketball for the College, Justin took his opportunity with both hands. He showed great energy, especially in defence. He managed to come up with some great blocked shots and rebounded strongly throughout the entire game.

MVP: Justin Blums (Molloy)

Mr Limbrey - Coach

Year 8 Basketball (59) defeated Parramatta Marist (24)

It seems like forever since the last season of MCS and the team were very keen to hit the court against an opposition other than our own St Gregory’s teams.

All returning players from last season have grown both physically and mentally, but this is a very new look team regardless with the injection of some different players. This meant that it was essential to communicate with each other and learn how to play as a team.

Right from the first throw in, it was evident that the team wanted the win to start the season, playing intense defence and thoughtful offense. Although each player has some areas to work on going forward it was a very solid team performance with great positioning, excellent passing and good options for shots. The extra weeks of training have been frustrating, but it has really paid off as each member of the team knows their role and what is expected to have a great season.

MVP: Isaac Sykes (Molloy) - (19 points) Amazing effort today taking on a new position this year as the centre. Fantastic shot options chosen, strong rebounding at both ends of the court, running the floor consistently and creating scoring opportunities with great assists.

Mrs Giles - Coach

Year 7 Basketball (36) defeated Parramatta Marist (30)

Watching the opposition walk in, the boys were intimidated. They looked bigger and stronger than us. This intimidation followed into the first 10 minutes where we were trailing by 8 points. However, with a time out and re-grouping back onto our game plan, we clawed our way back into the game for the remaining time left in the first half. Leading by 6 points we went into the second half with a more focused purpose to extending our lead and playing a clever game of breaking their half court press on us and a stronger presence at our defensive end. The boys came out with a convincing win and were excited at winning their first ever St Greg's MCS basketball game. A very proud coach.

MVP: Kai Allie (Kilian)

Mr Ivancic - Coach

Sport Person of the Week

It has been a long time overdue, but I am excited to acknowledge a past College tradition. I have been informed previously that students who claim hat-tricks or score a hundred receive a small token to acknowledge their achievements. Last week Cameron Salter scored an unbeaten century against Fairfield to help his side pile on an impressive 185 runs from 20 overs. Well done Cameron and to the 10B Opens Cricket team for your win.

Co-curricular Assemblies

The first of the College Co-curricular assemblies have been completed with Year 8 and Year 10 holding their respective assemblies on Wednesday. Students who have represented the College or participated in College Co-curricular activities received commendation certificates. Special awards were given to the following students for outstanding individual contributions to College sport and Co-curricular programs.

MCS Softball Representative – Joel Byrne from Year 8

Year 8 College “All Rounder” – Kieran Foran

Year 8 Sportsman of the Year – Isaac Gasson

Year 10 Sportsman of the Year – Blake Ciscato (L)

Year 10 College ‘All-Rounder” of the Year – John Dimech-O’Connell (R)

Latest Sport Information – 2021 NSW CCC calendar dates

To ensure you remain up to date with the latest sport news, please use the following link to access the Catholic Schools NSW Sport website.

Some NSW All Schools events are scheduled to take place this year. Please check to ensure you don’t miss out on these sport opportunities.

Trial dates for several sports are already confirmed for 2021 and I would recommend you investigate the dates and venues for your respective sports.

CSNSW website - https://csnsw.sport/news/events-suspended

School Sport Australia website - http://www.schoolsportaustralia.edu.au/blog/2020/03/23/ssa-announces-cancellation-of-2020-championships/

Yours in Sport

Senior School News