Sports News, Senior Basketball

On Monday the 20th of June, the senior boys’ basketball team travelled to the Broadmeadows basketball stadium to play against other schools from our region. After arriving, the team was quick to warm up as the first game was against long-time rivals – Mount Ridley College. As the team were shooting around, they were reminded of previous defeats from their junior years in the hope that this would ignite some motivation for the team. The game started and the boys were quick to establish a lead and maintained great defensive pressure against Mount Ridley. Year 12 students Jackson Murphy, Nathan Major, Nathanael Riscica, Jordan Hurley and Jake Johnston played terrifically as a team and supported each other to get steal after steal and then transfer these into points up at Craigieburn’s end. Year 11 students Anthony Evangelou, Jarrad Spencer and James Lancaster were also great additions to the game and quickly took control once they had the ball. After some great shooting and excellent defense, Craigieburn held a comfortable lead going into the second half.

The second half started and Mount Ridley were eager to disrupt the Craigieburn flow, so much so that players tried becoming physical and even attempted to taunt our players. The boys kept their cool and continued playing the game of basketball. Special mention goes out to John Ranellone who made some terrific baskets while on the court and made some great steals to add to the lead over Mount Ridley. Craigieburn continued to play great basketball for the remainder of the half and ended up with a 45 to 29 point win over Mount Ridley.

Our second game was straight after a tiring win over our long time rivals and the boys were at first shaken by the pressure from Sacred Heart College – Kyneton. Sacred Heart were able to gain a quick lead over Craigieburn, but it was not long until the team dug deep, applied defensive pressure and made some important baskets to catch up and maintain a close game. Our tall players were challenged by one of Sacred Heart’s players who was very physical while playing in the key, but with great teamwork displayed by Craigieburn, he became frustrated and tried fouling the team. Craigieburn took the lead with only minutes to go and with Sacred Heart in foul trouble – we had the advantage. Some late fouls sent Craigieburn to the foul line and the boys would have felt the pressure in the closing seconds of the game where foul shots became crucial to make. Despite everything that occurred during the game, Craigieburn came away with a 45 to 41 point win.

Due to winning both games, Craigieburn was straight into the grand final where they would have to play the winners from the other pool of teams. After watching some close games from the other pool, it was time to face Hume Anglican Grammar in a winner takes all grand final. The boys warmed up once again and were being told some strategies for the game. After the jump ball, spectators were treated to another great performance of Craigieburn defensive pressure and teamwork which lead to many points being scored. Hume Anglican were shaken and called an early time out to regroup and plan their next attack. Craigieburn maintained this pressure and established a big lead early in the game.

Coaching staff, scorers and spectators were treated to another great team performance. Jackson Murphy and Nathanael Riscica continued their pressure and almost forced all of Hume Anglican’s offensive opportunities into turnovers. Nathan Major, Jarrad Spencer and Jake Johnston were amazing inside the key and stopped all advances towards the ring. Jordan Hurley became a crowd favourite during the game as every time he had possession of the ball the team from Edgars Creek would cheer him on. James Lancaster, Anthony Evangelou and John Ranellone could not be stopped with their outside shooting game which helped the team secure a win over Hume Anglican Grammar and a final result of 46 to 33.

The team played amazingly during all three games and should be congratulated for their efforts.

We would also like to thank Coby Sanderson and Emily Prouse for volunteering to be scorers for the day. All the games would not have run as smoothly as they did without your help. Special thanks should also go out to Ms Talbot who ran the entire day and allowed teams from a range of different schools to play this amazing game.

Goodluck at the next round boys!

If you would like for your child to play a sport that they love and represent the college, please look out for Compass announcements in relation to try outs and trainings. Students can also ask any member of the PE team.

Thank you!

Cameron Archibald,

VCE Outdoor & Environmental Studies.