Ballan Brumbies under 14 Boys B took on arch-rivals Wildcats with plenty on the line. With the teams sitting 4th and 5th respectively, Wildcats needed to take down the Brumbies to give themselves any realistic chance of playing finals this season.
Both teams came into the game with key absences, Ballan missing sharpshooter Fletcher Garner through injury, Wildcats losing big Ajay Lees to illness. With a plenty of shooting available on their roster, Ballan felt confident of covering for Garner, whilst Lees withdrawal saw Wildcats looking rather small.
In the early stages, though, Wildcats found a way to make the most of their situation, using the relative speed of Ollie Pickering to draw star Brumbies centre Angus Tranter away from the basket. Pickering's transition play was excellent, creating issues for the Brumbies, topped off when he cooly drained an open corner three.
For their part, Ballan were keeping pace, a Lachlan Prosser three and Jack Clark's patented left hand drives keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Wildcats, though, were swarming Tranter inside. Whilst he was able to connect on a few baskets, he was struggling under double and triple teams.
That did, however, leave Ballan's shooters open but, Prosser's early make aside, Ballan was cold from the perimeter. At half time the Brumbies sputtered their way to a 21-19 lead, the game on a knifes edge.
In the second half, the physical toll of restricting Tranter started to tell on Wildcats. In sending bodies inside, they started to allow the Brumbies easy driving lanes, Will Rogers scoring on a a pair of layups, Kristian Seketa slicing through almost at will to feed Tranter inside. A telling sequence early in the second half saw Cruze Miller literally stop and look for a pass for a good few seconds before realising he was wide open with no defender approaching... he drilled the open three ball.
When Wildcats adjusted to stop Ballan's drives, the Brumbies simply switched to feeding Tranter inside who was too strong for Pickering one-on-one. Tranter feasted after the break on his way to a game high 26 points.
The other key adjustment in the game was Ballan's move of Foster Trinder onto Wildcats star wing Jagger Dark. Dark, who scored 12 points in the first half, was held to just five for the remainder of the game as Trinder's lateral speed cut Dark off at the pass.
A tight and tense first half gave way to a Brumbies procession in the second as Ballan comfortably won 63-44 despite taking their foot off the gas in the last five minutes.
Under 8's defeated Phoenix Hummingbirds 26-12
Under 10 Boys E lost to Saints Nets 4-63
Under 10 Boys B lost to Sovereign Knights 24-28
Under 12 Boys B defeated Excies Acmy 34-29
Under 14 Boys F lost to Sovereign Knights 15-48
Under 14 Boys E defeated Wildcats 34-25
-Under 14 Boys D lost to Drummo Dragons 21-41
Under 14 Boys B defeated Wildcats 63-44
Under 14 Girls E defeated Celtic Tigers 28-18
Under 16 Boys G Blue lost to Phoenix Rush 23-36
Under 16 Boys G White defeated Wildcats 41-26
Under 16 Boys D defeated Wildcats 43-40
Under 16 Boys C defeated Wildcats 58-29
Under 19 Boys G lost to Saints Jets 36-42
Under 19 Boys E lost to Phoenix Pacers 39-42
Under 19 Boys C lost to Wildcats 37-43
Under 19 Girls defeated Phoenix Sparks 41-18