Sutherland Sharks women split basketball weekend

The Sharks Waratah Basketball League Women had a tough double header this week-end with two teams – Hills Hornets and Manly Warringah - that were looking to consolidate their positions in the top six for the finals in a couple of weeks.

On Saturday the Sharks ladies travelled to Hills to play a team that had recruited from near and far in both coaching and playing staff in an attempt to re-establish themselves in the Waratah League. After a defeat by Hills in the first round by 8, the Sharks knew that this was going to be a tough ask to reverse the result, in particular when Hills had further strengthened their ranks with some tall timber.

The Sharks looked like midgets against the Hills line up at the tip off and with the score being 11/0 against the Sharks after 5 minutes if seemed that the Hills ‘bigs’ were set to dominate the encounter. A defensive adjustment by the Sharks helped them to convert some quick baskets at the offensive end and the Sharks ladies finished the quarter only 2 down (16/14). The Sharks had to step up the physicality against the physically dominant Hornets, starting the second quarter and they did. This, matched with some great perimeter shooting from Peta Kneen and Merle Hall against the Hornets zone saw the Sharks finish the quarter, 3 in front (35/32).

From the start of the second half the Sharks stuck to the recipe of tough defence and up tempo transition that put pressure of the Hills big players to get up and down the floor. This pushed the lead out to 12 at the end of the third quarter and set up a test for the Sharks ladies to keep their composure down the stretch. As expected, Hills focused in on their ‘go to’ stars in Molly Lewis and Ellie Manou but brilliant defence by the Sharks’ consistent leader, Mel Bartlett, on Lewis left Manou to play a lone hand. Despite a brilliant 30 pts and 23 rebounds by Manou, the final buzzer gave the Sharks a memorable win by 7 (73/66). Four of the Sharks finished in double figures with Peta Kneen leading with 25 pts. The Sharks went away reflecting on the wisdom of the old saying about, “… a champion team will beat a team of champions”.    

Sutherland Sharks 73 defeated Hills Hornets 66 after leading by 35-32 at half time.

After the emotion of a great win on Saturday it was always going to be a tough ask to back up both mentally and physically for the road trip to Manly on Sunday. The Sharks had a 3 point loss to Manly in a nail-bitter at home in the first round, so they knew that they were in with a big chance to follow-up Saturday with a second win.

As was the case in the first round this was a very physical encounter. The Sharks women matched up better against their opponents but never seemed to be able to get their noses in front. The Sharks were in foul trouble very early as they tried to match the aggressiveness of Manly on all parts of the court. Manly went strong to the offensive boards and the worst statistic of the first half for the Sharks was their defensive boards, totalling only 4. Despite this the Sharks only trailed by 3 (31/28) at the long break and were very much in the game.

A spirited start to the 3rd quarter by Manly pushed the lead to 11early but some tough plays by both Merle Hall and Courtney Dean got the Sharks back to a 3 point deficit at ¾ time (46/43). The 4th quarter just bought more of the same physical defence by both teams which lowered both teams shooting percentage. Mel Bartlett was outstanding and not only led the way with brilliant defensive footwork on the ball-carrier but set the example on the defensive boards.

The game was still up for grabs by either team going into the last minute even though Manly had not relinquished the lead since half time. The Sharks were forced to foul to stop the clock in the last seconds of the game and Manly held their nerve to convert from the line. The final score was 59/54 and Peta Kneen 14, Merle Hall 12 and Courtney Dean 10 led the scorers for the Sharks.

Manly Warringah 59 defeated Sutherland Sharks 54 after leading by 31-28 at half time. 

With the final round of fixtures next week-end being another double header (Saturday Parramatta (at home), Sunday North’s (away)) the Sharks ladies have a chance to finish off their season with some more success. Report courtesy of WABL web site: http://www.waratah.basketball.net.au/fs_newsitem.asp?id=84566&orgID=102&Oname=Waratah&O1c=22&O10c=22

Sutherland to host state basketball finals

Basketball NSW has announced that the Sutherland Basketball Association has been selected as this year's host of the 2009 Waratah ACC and NSW State League finals on the weekend of 8th - 9th of August.

Sutherland Basketball Association hosted the Premier Event on the Basketball NSW's calendar two years ago with great success and is looking forward to once again showcasing a professionally managed and memorable event for players, coaches, officials and supporters.

The weekend sees the conclusion of the season, with semi-finals on the Saturday and the grand finals on Sunday. The grades include men and women grades of Waratah ABL, State League and Youth League.

The Sutherland Basketball Stadium have a proud history of playing host to major events and 2009 is no different with the Sydney World Masters Games taking place from 10th - 18th October. 

There is still time to be fit, fun and forever young registrations close 31st July for further information please go to www.2009worldmasters.com.au

For more Sutherland Shire Basketball stories go to: http://sutherlandshire.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=2131.

For more on Waratah ABL basketball go to: http://www.waratah.basketball.net.au/fs_home.asp

Bodyboarding: Cronulla’s Shark Island Challenge

For results of the first round and competition updates go to: http://www.surfertoday.com/bodyboarding/1709-huge-swell-hits-the-first-round-of-the-2009-nomad-shark-island-challenge

For names of the participants in each heat go to: http://www.surfertoday.com/bodyboarding/1657-heats-drawn-for-the-2009-shark-island-challenge

Premier Youth League soccer games resume

The next round of the Premier Youth League is to be played from Saturday 25th July after the holiday break last weekend. The Sutherland Sharks teams will be taking on the Bonnyrigg White Eagles at Bonnyrigg Sports Club beginning with the under 13s at 9am.

Other Sutherland Sharks Premier Youth League Reports can be found at: http://theshire.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3476

More details on the Premier Youth and Senior League results can be found at http://www.soccernsw.com.au/index.php?id=78

What's on around NSW with Sport and Recreation

NSW Sport and Recreation runs programs that will help you get active, improve your fitness or try a new sport. For more details of what’s on in the region go to: http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/active/whatson.asp

Register for Sydney’s World games by end of July

As reported previously Sydney is hosting the 2009 World Masters Games involving over 28 sports from October 10 to 18 for social to elite athletes. Sutherland Shire venues will host some of the basketball games.

Registrations for all sports close on July 31. There are still plenty of opportunities to nominate. For more on the 2009 World Masters Games and all the sports go to: http://www.2009worldmasters.com/

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