Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Heathdale Hornets Under 18/20 Grand Finals, September 15, 2015


Under 18/20 Girls B Grade Grand Final: Heathdale Hornets 28 lost to Corpus Christi Gems 34
The Heathdale Hornets U18/20 Girls faced off against the Corpus Christi Gems in their B Grade Grand Final. The Hornets (11 wins, 7 losses) finished the regular season 6th out of 13 teams but made the Grand Final as A and B Grade were combined, then separated for finals. The Gems (14-4) finished just above them in fifth place. The teams met once during the season, with the Gems triumphing by five points in Round 15, 34-29.

Kaylah and Cassidy
 opened the scoring for the Hornets, giving them an early lead. However the Gems struck back through two quick baskets to their centre Kylie, whose height and size would prove to be a headache the Hornets were unable to overcome. Maeghan scored a basket, was fouled and completed the foul shot to wrestle back the lead for the Hornets. They then went on a 7-2 run thanks to a free throw from Lyndal, a big three-pointer from Maeghan and a basket from Kaylah. Gems point guard Nikita got a steal, was fouled and converted the two free throws to tie the game at 13-13. The refs then went hard on the whistle, bringing both teams up to bonus foul shot territory. Corpus converted four free throws to end the half, giving them a 17-13 lead and meaning they had scored eight unanswered points to finish the half. Maeghan was the Hornets leading scorer to this point with six, while Kylie had eight points for the Gems.

Three early fouls from the Hornets resulted in Corpus scoring the first five points of the second half, all from Kylie, and the Gems extended their lead. Maeghan finally broke through for the Hornets, but four more Hornet fouls, including three to Jeri meant that she was fouled off and the team was dangerously close to bonus territory. Finally the Hornets started putting up some good shots and they slowly erased the deficit, getting to within four points, 30-26. Lyndal, Kaylah and Taneya all contributed during this time. Gem’s Nikita stepped up again, drawing a foul and making the free throw to complete the “and-1” to put the game out of the Hornets reach. Hayley scored a late consolation basket, but it wasn’t enough, the Gems winning the match by six, 34-28. Maeghan led the Hornets with 10 points, Kaylah had six, Lyndal and Hayley had four points each while Cassidy and Taneya scored two each.
U18/20 Boys C Grade Grand Final: Heathdale Hornets 38 lost to Hoppers Crossing Giants 51
The Heathdale Hornets U18/20 Boys came up against the Hoppers Crossing Giants in their C Grade Grand Final. The Hornets (16 wins, 3 losses) finished the regular season on top of the ladder, while the Giants (13-5-1) finished second. The season series result was 2-1 in favour of the Hornets and all three games were close contests. The Giants won their first encounter 38-45 then the Hornets struck back twice, 36-32 and 32-30.

Ethan got the Hornets off to a good start, scoring in the first play of the game but the Giants regrouped quickly, scoring the next seven points to open up an early lead. Brock scored next for the Hornets to keep them in touch, but they were getting outrebounded and were in foul trouble early on. Alfred came on and had an immediate impact, and Bill got on the scoreboard too. The Giants were shooting well from beyond the three-point line and before long their lead had ballooned out to 14, 25-11. Alfred scored again, with a globe-trotter-like assist from Jayden and then the big guy hit a three to bring the margin back to single-digits. However, he was immediately answered by a trey up the other end. Alfred score the last bucket of the half, and at the break the Hornets were down 18-28. Alfred led all scorers with eight points, while Saxon and Shaye for the Giants had seven points each.

Brock opened the scoring in the second half, while Alfred earned himself a tech foul and a rest on the bench. The game degenerated into a foul-fest in the second half, with 22 fouls called, making it a very stop-start affair. The Hornets managed to contain the Giants outside shooting and their defensive pressure was led by Brock and Jayden. Bill got in on the action, finishing off an awesome alley-oop from Jayden and then, after being fouled up one end but not receiving the call, raced up the defensive end and spectacularly blocked a certain Giants goal. The closest the Hornets got in the second half was eight points and the final score 38-51 in favour of the Giants. Bill and Ethan top scored for the Hornets with nine points each, Brock and Alfred had eight each, Jayden finished with three and Josh scored one.

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