Sport

Girls Australian Football – Division Finals

Back in Week 2, our Girls Australian Football team took on St Johns Primary School in the Division Final, with the winner earning a place at the Region Finals. The girls knew they were going to face a tough and closely contested game, particularly with St Johns boasting a player who had recently been selected in the State Australian Football team.

Unfortunately, Remy, who has been an important player in the ruck and across defence, was unable to play after falling ill the day before. Despite this setback, the girls were determined to take the game right up to St Johns.

It was arguably the best performance of the season, with Coach Simon describing it as the best game the team had played. Lily was outstanding, winning plenty of possession, kicking 1 goal and 3 behinds, and making numerous tackles and smothers. Her influence around the ground was enormous, and if you had been told there was a State player on the field, you could easily have thought it was Lily!

The rest of the team followed Lily's lead and continued to pressure St Johns throughout the game. Unfortunately, St Johns' greater experience and height eventually proved the difference, with the opposition running out 38–22 winners.

Although the girls were disappointed with the result, they can be incredibly proud of their performance. They showed tremendous determination, teamwork and courage against a very strong opponent and produced a performance that demonstrated just how much they have developed throughout the season.

Girls Soccer – Division Finals

In Week 3, our Girls Soccer team headed to the Darebin International Sports Centre for the Division Finals, with two games standing between them and a potential place at the Region Championships.

First up was Ivanhoe East. The girls produced an outstanding defensive performance, with most of their attacking opportunities coming through quick counter-attacks. The final five minutes were particularly tense, as Ivanhoe East threw everything forward, creating numerous shots and corners in an attempt to win the game. Our girls defended bravely and refused to concede, meaning the match had to be decided by a penalty shootout.

Penalty shootouts are stressful, even for the best players in the world, and unfortunately it wasn't our day from the spot. The girls went down 3–2, despite an excellent team performance.

Next up was St Mary's Primary School, with nothing less than a win required to keep the girls' Region Championship hopes alive. A few positional and player changes were made, but the adjustments affected the team's structure early on. The girls were caught out a few times but showed great determination to scramble back and prevent any significant scoring opportunities.

At half time, further changes were made to create a more attacking style of play. The move paid off when Claudia rushed onto a loose ball and cleverly scooped it over the goalkeeper to give us a 1–0 lead with less than three minutes remaining.

The girls defended brilliantly to hold onto the lead and were then left waiting on the result of the St Mary's and Ivanhoe East game to determine whether they would qualify for Region Championships. Unfortunately, Ivanhoe East won 1–0, meaning our girls narrowly missed out.

A fantastic 2nd place finish at Division level is an excellent achievement. The girls should be incredibly proud of their effort, resilience and teamwork throughout the day.

Basketball – Division Finals

Our Grade 5/6 Basketball teams were aiming to repeat what they achieved back in Grade 3/4, when both the boys and girls teams qualified for the next round of competition.

The Boys team dominated throughout the group stages, winning all of their games comfortably and earning a place in the Grand Final against Banyule Primary School. It was a familiar Grand Final matchup, with the same two schools having played out an extra-time, golden-point thriller two years ago.

The boys were a little slow to get going defensively in the first half, allowing Banyule to score some easy baskets and establish a lead. The second half was a much more hotly contested affair, with some aggressive play from Banyule resulting in several fouls on Patrick HB.

The boys were awarded numerous free throws but unfortunately couldn't convert enough of their opportunities. With just 30 seconds remaining, they were five points behind. Banyule then scored again to make it 20–13 with less than three seconds on the clock.

A timeout was called and the boys executed Chris Chan's play perfectly, resulting in a basket right on the buzzer to finish the game 20–15. While it was a disappointing loss, going down by less than five points means the boys may still be in contention for a wildcard spot at the Region Championships. Fingers crossed!

The Girls team also played brilliantly throughout the day. After losing their opening game to Banyule by six points, the girls went unbeaten for the rest of the competition to earn a rematch against Banyule in the Grand Final.

It was an incredibly even contest, with the margin never stretching beyond two points either way. With just one minute remaining, Banyule hit a three-pointer to take a two-point lead. Coach Toby Barker called a timeout with seven seconds remaining, giving the girls one final opportunity.

The girls worked the ball up the court and managed to get it to Remy at the top of the key. She took the shot, but unfortunately it missed the target as the final buzzer sounded. The girls went down 13–11 in a fantastic contest.

The Future Stars Girls also had a strong day. Knowing that a top-two finish would secure a place in the Grand Final, they started with two excellent wins to put themselves in second position. A loss to RGL in their third game, after several shots just refused to stay in the ring, meant the girls needed to win the remainder of their games.

Their fourth game against Viewbank was another tight contest. With less than a minute remaining, we gave up possession, allowing Viewbank to take a one-point lead. The girls had the ball in their attacking half during the final 10 seconds but couldn't quite get close enough to the ring to score. Unfortunately, they missed out on second place by less than 3%.

The Future Stars Boys faced a difficult day but showed plenty of fight. After finishing second in their group, they earned a place in the semi-final against the winner of the other pool. Their opponents started strongly and scored regularly, making it a difficult contest for our boys. Despite the growing margin, the boys never gave up and continued to compete right until the final siren.

Congratulations to all of our basketball teams. Across both the Grade 5/6 and Future Stars competitions, our students demonstrated excellent teamwork, resilience and sportsmanship, and should be extremely proud of their efforts.

Thank you to Chris Chan, Toby Barker and Ryan Booth for volunteering to coach the HPS basketball teams on the day.