The
Werribee Devils and Keilor Thunder spent the 2017 Big V season at the top of
the Youth League One Men ladder, so it was fitting that they found themselves
playing off for the top prize in a best-of-three Grand Final series.
Setting the Scene – Regular Season battles
Round 7 – Keilor 94 d Werribee 87
Werribee 25 17 11 34
Keilor 20 27 18 29
Werribee and Keilor first met at Eagle Stadium in Round 7 when Werribee was on top and undefeated at 9-0 and Keilor was right behind them with an 8-1 record. After a competitive first half, the Thunder controlled the later part of the game, leading by as much as 20 in the third quarter before the Devils rallied late to get within seven points at the final buzzer.
Werribee Devils
Setting the Scene – Regular Season battles
Round 7 – Keilor 94 d Werribee 87
Werribee 25 17 11 34
Keilor 20 27 18 29
Werribee and Keilor first met at Eagle Stadium in Round 7 when Werribee was on top and undefeated at 9-0 and Keilor was right behind them with an 8-1 record. After a competitive first half, the Thunder controlled the later part of the game, leading by as much as 20 in the third quarter before the Devils rallied late to get within seven points at the final buzzer.
Werribee Devils
Jesse Harberger 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals
Mitch Alush 13
points, 4 rebounds
Dylan Harberger 13 points, 5 rebounds
Paddy Daley 12
points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks
Josh Tang 12 points, 2 rebounds
Josh Zamperoni, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Keilor Thunder
BJ Symons 34 points, 11 rebounds
Justin Soleimani 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
Sam Loccisano 16 points, 3 assists
Cooper Keogh 7 rebounds, 4 assists
Carlo Camp 4
rebounds, 3 assists
Jakob Shaw 5
rebounds, 2 assists
Round 11 – Keilor 82, Werribee 76
Werribee 30 14 8 24
Keilor 21 18 21 22
The rematch took place four weeks later in Round 11 at the Thunder Dome. It was once again a top-of-the-table clash, with Keilor (1st, 12-1) marginally ahead of the Devils (2nd, 12-2). The Devils started confidently and seemed determined to claim back the #1 spot, opening up a double digit lead. The Thunder clawed their way back and took the lead for the first time in the game with 1.50 remaining in the third quarter and finished the term with a 14-1 run. The Devils weren’t done, snatching the lead back with five minutes left in the game and leading by as much as seven before the Thunder once again finished strong, scoring the last 13 points of the game and running out with an 82-76 victory.
Werribee Devils
Cameron Hutton 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
TJ Remy 14 points, 6 steals
Josh Zamperoni 13 points, 7 rebounds
Jesse Harberger 11 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks
Josh Tang 4 rebounds, 4 assists
Bubby Luxford 6 assists, 2 steals
Keilor Thunder
Mitchell Lukey 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Justin Soleimani 22 points, 3 assists, 3 steals
Sam Loccisano 16 points, 5 rebounds
Jakob Shaw 10
points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals
Cooper Keogh 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals
Grand Final Series
Game 1 – Saturday August 5th, 2017, 8.30pm Eagle Stadium
Werribee 23 8 15 20 66
Keilor 28 25 36 24 113
Werribee Devils
Grand Final Series
Game 1 – Saturday August 5th, 2017, 8.30pm Eagle Stadium
Werribee 23 8 15 20 66
Keilor 28 25 36 24 113
Werribee Devils
TJ Remy 14 points, 5 rebounds
Mitch Alush 13 points, 9
rebounds, 4 steals
Paddy Daley 8 points, 4 rebounds
Jesse Harberger 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Cameron Hutton 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Josh Tang 5 rebounds, 3
assists
Keilor Thunder
Justin Soleimani 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals
BJ Symons 28 points, 10
rebounds, 3 steals
Sam Loccisano 11 points, 4 rebounds
Carlo Camp 10 points, 3 assists,
4 steals
Mitchell Lukey 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 8 steals
Cooper Keogh 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Jakob Shaw 9 rebounds
From a Werribee perspective the less said about Game 1 the better, but it does help to provide some context regarding how the rest of the series panned out.
The Eagle Stadium Grandstand was out, the game had been well-promoted in the community and there was an air of expectation. The first quarter started like any other contest between the two competition heavyweights – a tight competitive tussle, giving no indication of what was to come.
Mitch Alush started with a bang, scoring 11 first-quarter points and giving the Devils an early lead. Seven unanswered points in a minute from BJ Symons and Justin Soleimani brought the game back to level pegging before Alush, TJ Remy and Paddy Daley restored the Devils advantage. With the score locked at 20-20 with a couple of minutes left in the quarter, TJ Remy hit a three-pointer but the Thunder gained the ascendancy with contributions from Mitch Lukey, Xander Mafodda and another five points from Soleimani, who finished with 15 points for the quarter. The Thunder went into the first break with a five-point advantage.
Sam Loccisano started the second term off for the Thunder with a couple of free throws, and was soon answered by Paddy Daley. Mitchell Lukey put in a three-pointer and another basket from Loccisano got the margin briefly out to double digits before Josh Tang hit back. Neither team scored for the next couple of minutes, then six consecutive Thunder points from Carlo Camp, David Pino and Soleimani gave the Thunder a nice buffer. Josh Zamperoni and BJ Symons both added baskets, and when Jesse Harberger scored with 2.39 remaining in the quarter it was the last thing the Devils would have to cheer about for a while, as the Thunder scored ten unanswered points to finish the quarter and pushed the half time margin beyond 20.
Things didn’t get much better for the Devils in the third term. After some early resistance from Hutton, Remy and Jesse Harberger, the Thunder scored 22 unanswered points from six different scorers, blowing the game wide open. Dylan Harberger hit back with five points late in the term but the Devils were in unchartered territory facing a 40+ point deficit in front of a shellshocked home crowd.
Cam Hutton and Oz Soylemez started the final term positively, getting the Devils on the board, but another run of 11 consecutive Thunder points pushed the margin to 50 within the first four minutes of the term. The rest of the quarter was goal-for-goal, with Alush, Remy, Zamperoni and Liam Paul all contributing.
This was the bottom line: Keilor made Werribee pay for their errors, scoring 46 points directly from turnovers, and the final margin was 47.
Game 2 – Saturday August 12th, 2017 8.30pm Keilor Basketball Stadium
Werribee 17 27 28 20 92
Keilor 21 20 30 17 88
Werribee Devils
Mitch Alush 22 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals
Josh Tang 19 points, 4 rebounds
Jesse Harberger 11 points, 7 rebounds
TJ Remy 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
Cameron Hutton 9 points, 4 rebounds
Dylan Harberger 8 points, 2 rebounds
Bubby Luxford 8 points, 3 rebounds
Liam Paul 2 assists, 2 steals (in three minutes)
Josh Zamperoni 6 rebounds, 2 assists
Keilor Thunder
BJ Symons 29 points, 8 rebounds
Jakob Shaw 16 points, 8
rebounds
Justin Soleimani 15 points, 5 rebounds
Carlo Camp 10 points, 7
rebounds
Mitchell Lukey 5 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals
After the debacle that was Game 1, the Devils and their loyal band of supporters headed to Keilor. How they responded to the previous week would say a lot about their character and spirit as a group.
Both defences were on the job early, with neither side scoring for the first 90 seconds. Jakob Shaw opened the Thunder’s account with a three-pointer, quickly answered by big man Paddy Daley. TJ Remy and Mitch Alush added to the Devils score, but BJ Symons and Cooper Keogh helped the Thunder to an early 14-6 lead. Cam Hutton fired up with back-to-back threes and when Alush added another one the Devils were back within two points. BJ Symons’ bucket with 1.32 remaining was the last score for the quarter and made the score 21-17 in favour of the home side.
After Marcus Taylor extended the Thunder lead with the first basket of the second term, Dylan Harberger lit up with eight points in under two minutes, bringing the Devils back within a point. The Devils started to gain the ascendancy, with three points from Bubby Luxford and TJ Remy, and then Cam Hutton and Jesse Harberger added more points, the Devils found themselves up by 7. Four unanswered points from BJ Symons were countered by Jesse Harberger and Josh Tang, and the last two minutes were a frantic shoot-out, with five Devils points from Tang and Alush matched by nine points from Symons and Jakob Shaw. When the half time buzzer sounded, the Devils found themselves still in the lead, 44-41.
Liam Paul might have only played three minutes, but he sure made an impact. Subbed on at the start of the third quarter, Paul had two steals and two assists and directly contributed to a couple of the Devils early scores. Cam Hutton and Paddy Daley got on the board early for the Devils, but the Thunder were staying in the contest with their outside shooting thanks to Soleimani and Carlo Camp. A basket from Jesse Harberger and a three-pointer from Josh Tang gave the Devils some breathing space. Mitch Lukey nailed a three for the Thunder but Josh Tang nailed two in a row of his own, before BJ Symons scored as he was fouled and converted the “and 1” to keep the Thunder in it. Bubby Luxford put the Devils eight points up, but within a minute the Thunder took the lead thanks to six points from Soleimani and three from Camp. The last two minutes was enthralling basketball, with the Thunder’s three-point shooting again on display. Mitch Alush got the lead back for the Devils but was answered by a three from Symons. Luxford tied the game up before Sam Loccisano and TJ Remy traded threes, and a Jesse Harberger free throw put the Devils back in front. The Keilor crowd went nuts when Soleimani regained the lead with a long bomb in the dying seconds but the tables turned quickly when a Mitch Alush half-court “Hail Mary” went clean through the net, giving the Devils a one-point lead at three-quarter time and bringing the Werribee crowd to their feet in jubilation. I won’t lie, I’ll put aside my journalistic “neutrality” and admit I was one of those supporters with fists raised to the sky and voice shouting in triumph.
BJ Symons and Marcus Taylor quickly went to work in the final term, regaining the lead for the Thunder within thirty seconds of the restart. Josh Tang got the Devils first score two minutes into the quarter and the Thunder managed to hold onto their narrow advantage until five points from Mitch Alush got the Devils back in front. Once the clock ticked inside the final five minutes it sparked a mini scoring frenzy, with twelve points scored in a minute. Alush, Remy and Tang scored for the Devils and the scores were tied up inside the last four minutes. As the pressure mounted the scoring dried up. Jesse Harberger came up big with four unanswered points, giving the Devils back a slight advantage. Neither team scored for the next two minutes, before Carlo Camp scored with 43 seconds remaining, bringing the Thunder within a point.
With 21 seconds left, the Devils called a timeout and the game was the Thunder’s to win. One point down, they had possession, the shot clock was out of the equation, the Devils were in foul trouble and the Thunder still had a couple of fouls to give. All they had to do was draw a foul, nail a couple of free throws, job done. What happened instead? Carlo Camp doesn’t get the ball in in time and gets called for a five-second violation. Then the Thunder defender lets 10 seconds go on the clock instead of fouling straight away, playing right into the Devils hands. End result? TJ Remy makes a free throw and Mitch Alush scores in the dying seconds, giving the Devils an incredible four-point win, overcoming the disastrous result in Game 1 to force a deciding game the following day.
Amazing. Simply amazing.
Game 3 – Sunday August 13th, 2017 3.30pm Keilor Basketball Stadium
Werribee 22 15 14 25 76
Keilor 20 22 17 25 84
Werribee Devils
Cameron Hutton 21 points, 4 rebounds
Mitch Alush 17 points, 11
rebounds, 3 steals
Paddy Daley 11 points, 13
rebounds, 3 assists
Jesse Harberger 10 points, 6 rebounds
Josh Tang 7 points, 6 rebounds
TJ Remy 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Josh Zamperoni 6 rebounds
Dylan Harberger 5 rebounds
Keilor ThunderJustin Soleimani 24 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
BJ Symons 20 points, 15 rebounds
Jakob Shaw 12 points, 14 rebounds
Mitchell Lukey 9 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists
Cooper Keogh 7 points, 6 rebounds
After the incredible 51-point turnaround of Game 2, the Devils were back the very next day to do it all again and have one last tilt at the title.
Mitch Alush got the Devils off to the perfect start with a layup inside the first ten seconds of the game, before Justin Soleimani got the Thunder on the board soon after. Werribee captain Cam Hutton led from the front, with three 3-pointers in the space of two minutes, opening up an early seven-point lead. The two sides traded baskets as TJ Remy and Paddy Daley got on the board, before four consecutive points from Alush gave the visitors a 19-11 advantage, and what would be their biggest lead of the game. Three-pointers from Mitch Lukey and Soleimani got the Thunder back in the game late in the quarter, before free throws from Daley and Bubby Luxford maintained the Devils slight advantage. A basket from Marcus Taylor in the final seconds brought the Thunder within two points at quarter time.
The Thunder hit the lead inside the first minute of the second term thanks to four points from Soleimani, then TJ Remy hit back with a big three. The lead changed several times early in the quarter and neither side could break free for an extended period as Hutton and Alush traded baskets with Soleimani and BJ Symons. The Devils hit foul trouble midway through the quarter and the Thunder put in eight consecutive points before Alush broke the Devils scoring drought. Symons gave the Thunder their first double-digit lead with a couple of minutes remaining but was answered by a Josh Zamperoni long bomb. Liam Paul subbed in with four minutes remaining and had an immediate impact with a couple of rebounds and assists. Jesse Harberger brought the Devils back within five points with a basket and a free throw late in the quarter.
The third quarter was an arm wrestle, with Keilor managing to maintain a narrow advantage and keep Werribee at arm’s length. Cam Hutton and Paddy Daley got on the board early for the Devils, but consecutive points from Soleimani, Symons and Carlo Camp gave the Thunder some breathing space with an eight-point buffer. Hutton scored again, keeping the Devils in touch, then Josh Tang had a big five minutes, scoring seven points and getting the Devils back within one point with three minutes left in the term. The Thunder finished with the last six points of the quarter thanks to Symons and Jakob Shaw, resulting in a 59-51 Thunder lead at three-quarter time.
The Devils had played catch-up for most of the match and needed to get some scoring momentum if they were going to get over the top for the Thunder. Daley and Jesse Harberger got on the board early for the Devils, but up the other end Jakob Shaw and Troy Duca helped the Thunder consolidate a double digit lead and keep it for the first half of the quarter. The Thunder’s scoring then dried up while Alush and Hutton dragged the Devils back within six points with a couple of minutes to play. Four points from BJ Symons was answered by another three-pointer from Hutton and two free throws from Alush, and the margin was just five points with one minute left. A couple more baskets from Shaw and a free throw from Soleimani put the game out of the Devils reach, but Paddy Daley finished the game in style with a couple of made free throws.
Final score: 84-76
Photos of Game 3 courtesy of Larry Heywood
Keilor ThunderJustin Soleimani 24 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals
BJ Symons 20 points, 15 rebounds
Jakob Shaw 12 points, 14 rebounds
Mitchell Lukey 9 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists
Cooper Keogh 7 points, 6 rebounds
After the incredible 51-point turnaround of Game 2, the Devils were back the very next day to do it all again and have one last tilt at the title.
Mitch Alush got the Devils off to the perfect start with a layup inside the first ten seconds of the game, before Justin Soleimani got the Thunder on the board soon after. Werribee captain Cam Hutton led from the front, with three 3-pointers in the space of two minutes, opening up an early seven-point lead. The two sides traded baskets as TJ Remy and Paddy Daley got on the board, before four consecutive points from Alush gave the visitors a 19-11 advantage, and what would be their biggest lead of the game. Three-pointers from Mitch Lukey and Soleimani got the Thunder back in the game late in the quarter, before free throws from Daley and Bubby Luxford maintained the Devils slight advantage. A basket from Marcus Taylor in the final seconds brought the Thunder within two points at quarter time.
The Thunder hit the lead inside the first minute of the second term thanks to four points from Soleimani, then TJ Remy hit back with a big three. The lead changed several times early in the quarter and neither side could break free for an extended period as Hutton and Alush traded baskets with Soleimani and BJ Symons. The Devils hit foul trouble midway through the quarter and the Thunder put in eight consecutive points before Alush broke the Devils scoring drought. Symons gave the Thunder their first double-digit lead with a couple of minutes remaining but was answered by a Josh Zamperoni long bomb. Liam Paul subbed in with four minutes remaining and had an immediate impact with a couple of rebounds and assists. Jesse Harberger brought the Devils back within five points with a basket and a free throw late in the quarter.
The third quarter was an arm wrestle, with Keilor managing to maintain a narrow advantage and keep Werribee at arm’s length. Cam Hutton and Paddy Daley got on the board early for the Devils, but consecutive points from Soleimani, Symons and Carlo Camp gave the Thunder some breathing space with an eight-point buffer. Hutton scored again, keeping the Devils in touch, then Josh Tang had a big five minutes, scoring seven points and getting the Devils back within one point with three minutes left in the term. The Thunder finished with the last six points of the quarter thanks to Symons and Jakob Shaw, resulting in a 59-51 Thunder lead at three-quarter time.
The Devils had played catch-up for most of the match and needed to get some scoring momentum if they were going to get over the top for the Thunder. Daley and Jesse Harberger got on the board early for the Devils, but up the other end Jakob Shaw and Troy Duca helped the Thunder consolidate a double digit lead and keep it for the first half of the quarter. The Thunder’s scoring then dried up while Alush and Hutton dragged the Devils back within six points with a couple of minutes to play. Four points from BJ Symons was answered by another three-pointer from Hutton and two free throws from Alush, and the margin was just five points with one minute left. A couple more baskets from Shaw and a free throw from Soleimani put the game out of the Devils reach, but Paddy Daley finished the game in style with a couple of made free throws.
Final score: 84-76
Photos of Game 3 courtesy of Larry Heywood
