The Werribee Devils Youth League Men finished up their 2017 preseason by
competing in (and winning) the Men’s Premier Youth division of the Ballarat tournament. Here's how it happened:
Werribee 61 v Collingwood 65
Josh Zamperoni 12
Patrick Daley 10
Jesse Harberger 8
Josh Tang 8
TJ Remy, 7
QT 16-19
HT 35-35
3QT 52-49
FT 61-65
The Devils opened their tournament against Collingwood. In a sign of things to
come, their first ten points came from four different scorers, with TJ Remy,
Jesse Harberger, Patrick Daley and Erwin Muharemovic all chipping in to give
the Devils an early lead. A Manyiel scored eight consecutive points for Collingwood,
giving his team the ascendancy, before back-to-back three-pointers from Josh
Zamperoni put the Devils back on top. However this lead was only brief, as
Collingwood scored the last five points of the quarter, taking a three point
lead into quarter time.
In a tightly-contested second term, Remy and Josh Tang scored early to help the
Devils draw level, then it was goal-for-goal for the next few minutes. Werribee
struggled to find consecutive baskets while Collingwood had a couple of runs of
five, giving them a slight edge. Three baskets to Josh Toniato at the end of
the quarter allowed the Devils to go into half on level terms.
Daley scored twice for the Devils to open the second half but was quickly
answered, and the lead changed several times over the next few minutes. Tang was the standout for the Devils with seven points, while Jesse Harberger,
Liam Paul and Muharemovic also got on the board. The Devils scored six of the
last eight points, giving them a three-point lead at three-quarter time.
Harberger started well for the Devils with a couple of baskets before Collingwood
turned the tables with nine unanswered points. Zamperoni hit a three which
brought the Devils within two points, but foul trouble ended up proving costly,
as four made free throws from Collingwood kept the game just out of the Devils
reach, despite a late score from Cam Hutton.
Werribee 76 v Western Port 50
Mitch Alush 25
Dylan Harberger 15
Josh Tang 9
Erwin Muharemovic 7
Oz Soylemez 5
QT 14-10
HT 32-16
3QT 58-36
FT 76-50
After the close call in Game 1, the Devils came up against the Western Port
Steelers. C Jackson struck first for the Steelers but the Devils controlled
much of the quarter with Jesse Harberger, Mitch Alush and newcomers Erwin
Muharemovic and Oz Soylemez all contributing to ten unanswered points and
giving them a handy lead. The Steelers fought back and levelled the scores with
eight points of their own, before Dylan Harberger and Patrick Daley gave the
Devils a four point lead at the first break.
The Steelers levelled the scores again with the first four points of the quarter
but they probably didn’t pick what came next. Mitch Alush hit a purple patch
with 11 points for the quarter and was joined by Harberger, Daley and Josh Tang
as the Devils scored 18 points on the trot and took control of the contest.
The third quarter proved to be a shootout, with the teams combining for 46
points after scoring 48 between them in the first half. Led by Alush again with
11 points, the Devils got their lead out to 26 and from there it was an even
contest as the Steelers did their best to stem the tide. The Devils had a
pleasing number of scoring contributors, with Bubby Luxford and Tang hitting four
each, Soylemez hitting three and Liam Paul and Harberger scoring a bucket each
Despite the onslaught, the Steelers were not going to give up without a fight,
scoring ten points in quick time to reduce the margin significantly. Muharemovic
stood up with five points of his own as the Devils poured on the points,
getting the margin back out to 27. Dylan Harberger had a great quarter with eight
points as the Devils ran out with a comfortable 26 point win.
Werribee 65 v
Ballarat 40
Mitch Alush 18
Jesse Harberger 11
Patrick Daley 8
Josh Zamperoni 8
Dylan Harberger 6
Josh Tang 6
QT 22-6
HT 38-19
3QT 54-32
FT 65-40
The Devils continued their good form when they came up against Ballarat in Game
3. Scores were level early on, but the Devils went on a 17 point run which was
only interrupted by a late Ballarat field goal, which gave the Devils a
comfortable 22-6 margin at quarter time. The Devils had six individual scorers,
led by Mitch Alush (seven points) while Josh Zamperoni knocked down a couple of
three-pointers.
Patrick Daley hit the first basket of both the first and second quarters, and
Cam Hutton got on the board with a couple of free throws as the Devils
increased their lead early on. Baskets from Alush and Daley pushed the margin
past 20 before J Constable scored four points in a row and tried to get his
side back in the game. Josh Tang answered with four points of his own. R
Weightman and Jesse Harberger traded baskets and J Fiegert did his best to
chip away at the deficit with four points. Alush scored the last basket of the
half and the Devils went into the long break at double Ballarat’s score.
It was much the same story in the third term. The Devils maintained the lead
beyond 20 points and had six individual scorers. Jesse Harberger led the Devils
with four points, while Alush and Dylan Harberger had three each.
The scoring dried up in the final term with Ballarat winning the quarter 11-8,
giving the Devils a comfortable 25 point victory. Alush and Daley scored for
the Devils, while the Harberger boys scored the final two baskets of the match
Werribee 78 v Western Port 50
Mitch Alush 16
Jesse Harberger 13
Mark Luxford 9
Erwin Muharemovic 8
Oz Soylemez 8
QT 16-18
HT 29-25
3QT 51-40
FT 78-50
The Devils faced off against Western Port again, and the Steelers would have
been determined to put up more of a contest than their first showdown ended up
being. They opened up an early lead on this occasion, thanks to D Thoonen and E
Cox. Jesse Harberger (four points) and Mitch Alush (six) got the Devils going,
and pretty soon the tables had turned and they were back on top and looking
dangerous. However the Steelers rallied again and put together nine unanswered
points toward the end of the quarter. A pair of Dylan Harberger free throws got
the Devils within two points at quarter time.
The Steelers increased their lead early on but the Devils drew back level
thanks to three-pointers from Cam Hutton and Jesse Harberger. The remainder of
the quarter was a close contest, with the Steelers getting into late foul
trouble. Bubby Luxford, Oz Soylemez and Alush all hit free throws as the Devils
took a four point lead into half time.
The first part of the third term belonged to Luxford (five points) and Soylemez
(seven) who combined to extend the Devils lead to 13 and give them control of
the contest. Josh Tang added a three-pointer before the Steelers added seven
unanswered points to halve the deficit and they were back in the match. Then
Josh Zamperoni and the two Harberger boys popped up at the end of the quarter
to restore the Devils double-digit lead.
With the margin at 11 points the Steelers still may have given themselves a
chance, particularly when T Kemperman scored the first basket of the term. A 12-0
Devils run followed, with contributions from Erwin Muharemovic, Hutton and the
Harbergers. The Steelers fought back with a couple of baskets of their own
before Alush popped up for six points and Muharemovic scored again. All of a
sudden the margin was out to 24 in favour of the Devils. R Stewart hit a late
three-pointer but the Devils finished strong with Zamperoni, Jesse Harberger
and Alush combining for the last seen points of the match, resulting in an
almost-identical result to their previous encounter.
Werribee 63 v Collingwood 51 (Grand Final)
Mitch Alush 21
Jesse Harberger 17
Josh Tang 8
Patrick Daley 8
Oz Soylemez 7
QT 19-11
HT 29-32
3QT 47-35
FT 63-51
After facing off in the first game of the tournament, Werribee and Collingwood
were back on Labour Day Monday to do it all again in the Grand Final. After
having a full team for the first two days the Devils went into the match with
only eight players thanks to injuries, work and Uni commitments.
One crucial difference with this contest was the inclusion of Mitch Alush who
had missed out on the first match, and he didn’t take long to make his presence
felt, scoring six early points. Jesse Harberger got the Devils off to the
perfect start with a basket inside the first ten seconds, while Josh Tang
chipped in as well, giving the Devils an early 10-2 advantage. Collingwood
fought back and got within four before Alush, joined by Patrick Daley and Oz
Soylemez, opened the gap again and increased the lead to double digits. A
Manyiel scored late in the quarter and converted the “and one” giving the
Devils an eight point quarter time lead.
Erwin Muharemovic scored first for the Devils but Collingwood found some
momentum and turned things around completely with a 17-3 run that earned them a
handy lead. Tang and Harberger did their bit for the Devils and got them
back within a point, but a couple of free throws late in the term saw
Collingwood go into half time with a three point lead.
Perhaps a little stung by the events of the second term, the Devils came out in
the third determined to put things right again. Soylemez and Harberger scored
first, followed by a couple of free throws from Alush. This briefly gave the
lead back to the Devils before H Fletcher scored when fouled and converted the
bonus to level the scores at 35-35. From there it was all Devils, rattling off 12
consecutive points and taking back control of the game. Harberger led the way
with six points, supported by Soylemez, Alush, Daley and Josh Toniato.
Collingwood began the final term with a couple of free throws to A Cocco,
before Alush, Daley and Harberger all put the Devils on the board,
consolidating a double digit lead. Cocco then combined with N Lacey and H
Fletcher as Collingwood outscored the Devils 12-4 and found themselves within
six points inside the final two minutes. Daley and Alush steadied the ship for
the Devils, and a couple of free throws pushed the final margin back out to
double digits.
They were made to work for it, but in the end the Werribee Devils secured a
well-earned victory.
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