Open Boys Basketball

On Friday 29 July, the Open Boys Basketball Tournament was held at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium. Aberfoyle Park High School played in the top division, against some highly skilled opponents. We started the first game strong against Reynella East, going into half time with a 12-5 lead. Unfortunately, a few brain-lapses and some strong scoring by the opposition saw us lose the game by eight points. 

The team bounced back showing excellent perseverance and resilience in the second game, beating Victor Harbor by over 10 points. This lifted the spirits of the team, and you could see the belief in themselves growing. The third game was against a very formidable Wirreanda team, who on paper, were the more talented group. However, the boys executed the game plan perfectly. They gave a hundred percent effort and won by five points. 

This meant our final game was against Woodcroft College who were undefeated. A win against them would mean the tournament would end in a three-way tie and come down to percentage. Woodcroft had two players, twin brothers, who were 6 feet six and played state level basketball. Again, Aberfoyle Park High School boys focused during pre-game discussions and came out executing the game plan perfectly. At half time the score was 12-9. We were only down by three points. The team played excellent defence and gave it their all until the final siren. Unfortunately, Woodcroft’s defence was too strong, and they won the game 24-15. This resulted in a third-place finish for APHS Open Boys.

The boys should be very proud of themselves for their preparation and commitment to training in the lead up to the tournament as well as how well they played against strong competition. The growth that I witnessed in the whole team in the month leading up to the tournament was fantastic, and I’m very proud of what they achieved.