Basketball – Victorian College Championships
Term 2 has seen our strongest basketballers competing in the Victorian College Championships (VCC). Our teams have entered the VCC Qualifying at Frankston Basketball Stadium, with our Senior Boys and Intermediate Boys playing in recent weeks. The day-long Qualifying events consist of round-robin matches followed by finals, all played over 12-minute halves for a fast-paced day of high-quality basketball. So far, the standout performance has come from our Senior Boys team.
Our Senior Boys team started their VCC Qualifying day strongly in ‘friendlies’ against Division 1 teams, coming away with a 1-1 record. Friendly by name, enthralling by nature.
Coming into our matches for points against fellow Division 2 teams Hallam SC and Flinders CCC, it was all to play for. A big win against Hallam, followed by a narrow loss to Flinders, was enough to secure a place in the Division 2 Final against Hallam.
The Grand Final was a high-intensity encounter in which Hallam took control early on. However, our Woodleigh team made a mighty surge to take the game into the final play, narrowly falling short by 1 point.
Congratulations to our team of Noah Barnes, Jacomo Dwyer-Morris, Seb Ginsberg, Rory Goding, Nick Gordon, Zac Nelson and Ilan Umansky, along with coach Liam Doyle-Toombs.
While narrow margins can be cruel, our Senior Boys team qualified for a place in the VCC Finals at the State Basketball Centre on June 1. They will also be joined by our Senior Girls at this event. Our Intermediate Boys recently competed in their VCC Qualifier and qualified for the semi-finals before being knocked out, while the Junior Boys VCC Qualifier will be held on June 7.
Further congratulations are also due to Seb Ginsberg, Noah Barnes, Rex Thorpe and Ryan Drenkhahn (with past student Walter J), whose self-made team, the Ancient Dinosaurs, won their recent Championship.
Well done!
TOM ANGELICO
Assistant to the Director of Sport