Author: Tristan Prentice

Winter strikes from deep early - Georgia Winter hit 15 points in the opening quarter to setup a historic win for the Waatu Women - Photo provided by AU

Superb Sabine and Wonderful Winter bring start to new era

The Waatu Women were eyeing off their second win of the season and managed to grab it at the conclusion of the match with a thrilling 81-74 win over the RMIT Redbacks at the State Basketball Centre.  

After a close basket for basket opening with Georgia Winter (Veterinary Technology) and Jolie Brown (7 points) – it was Winter that dominated the opening stanza with 15 points at 75 percent with three triples to have the Waatu just in front 24-21. 

The second was again a trading of basket for basket with conscious effort being applied on Winter by the Redbacks at the defensive end of the floor. That left Alice Sabine (Medicine) to reel off nine points and five rebounds for the term with NBL1 South Ringwood Hawks Mikayla Peterson scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds for the half to keep the Redbacks within a few baskets 45-38 at the main break. The Waatu did a good job containing Emma Carr who had hurt some opposition in the past fixtures. 

The tightness in the contest continued with another couple of faces emerging in the second half with the Waatu’s Jemima Whitton (Viticulture and Oenology) adding six points and couple of blocked shots but the Redbacks Kaityln Bickerton kept them in striking distance with 10 points for the quarter to leave it at 64-58 with one to play. 

The Waatu set themselves up for victory early in the fourth with 11-0 courtesy of Whitton who reeled off eight final quarter points but Peterson did her best to chase the Redbacks into the game closing it down to the final minutes. The Waatu holding their nerve as Whitton made a couple of her late baskets to get their second win in a season in their short history 81-74 in the finish. 

Through four quarters Sabine produced the numbers again with 24 points, 17 rebounds (six offensive), six assists, three steals and three blocks with Whitton’s second half giving her best numbers of the season with 17 points, 10 rebounds (five offensive), four steals and two blocked shots. Winter set the ball rolling early to finish with 22 points with four triples, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. 

Peterson for the Redbacks was powerful through the contest with 27 points, 13 rebounds, five steals with Bickerton finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Brown fouled out of the match early in the fourth to finalise 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. The Waatu capatilsing on the turnovers best in the match with 12 points from turnover and winning the rebounds 68-52 with a 31-17 offensive rebound count the key statistic in the wrapup.    

The Women sit 10th now on the table with a 2-5 record but with a roadtrip against UNSW (8th) and Sydney Uni (2nd) coming up this week over the border in NSW – the Waatu can finish with a 4-5 record. If the teams around them in CU playing UWA (13th) & UNISC (12th), VU playing UTAS (1st), MUBC (11th) playing UTS (3rd) drop their games to teams this week – you just never know the Waatu may sneak into the final seventh or eighth place. 

It’s all in their hands as they head across the hay plains…                    

RD 6 Women AU Waatu 81 (Sabine 24, Winter 22, Whitton 17, Brooks 7) defeated RMIT Redbacks 74 (Peterson 27, Bickerton, Brown 15, Carr 10)

Kourani helps Waatu hunt second consecutive finals appearance with win over Redbacks 

The Waatu Men grabbed their fourth win of the season setting up a possible second consecutive finals appearance with a strong 101-91 win over the RMIT Redbacks at the State Basketball Centre.  

After another tight opening five minutes trading blow for blow – the Waatu reeled off a 10-4 run thanks to sharp shooting high school star Emil Kourani (Occupational Therapy) with 11 points and three triples. That resulted in seven triples to have the Waatu in front 31-17 after one. 

The Redbacks started the better in the second with an 0-11 run thanks to Matt Gardner but turnovers gifted Ayual Garang (Architecture) who turned it on in the second with nine points as the high shooting percentages continued. Harry Bruce all business as usual with 12 points consisting of three triples, three rebounds and two steals kept the Waatu in front at a decent arm’s length 52-40 at the main break. The highlight of the half a Kourani two handed putback off an offensive rebound one for the instagram reelers…

A 16-8 opening five minutes led by Kourani (eight points) and the starters contributing saw the margin hit a game high 21-point-lead 76-55. RMIT had to respond and did accordingly via Nick Woodall with 13 points and six rebounds in the term but the Waatu’s three point shooting stayed at close to 40 percent with a manageable 76-64 lead at the last change. 

Kourani started the fourth feeling unconscious from outside the arc as he fired off another triple but the Redbacks also found their own microwave in Baden Swoboda who looked threatening in the final term as well. Gardiner and Woodall cut it back to an eight point margin but the Waatu closed it out through their starters to seal an important win to be over .500 for the season             

Kourani had his best game of the season with 29 points including seven triples and 13 rebounds well backed up by Bruce with 26 points with five triples, six rebounds and four steals and Garang with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Plenty of role players had impact too with Isaac Hampel (Engineering) putting together 14 points, five assists and rebounds and Sam Davies (Nursing) with 16 points and eight rebounds. 

Woodall was the one who kept the Redbacks in it with 25 points, 14 rebounds and three assists as did Gardner with 22 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Nikita Yiannakoudakis “the football player” as he’s known as in the circles also was consistent all afternoon with 16 points and eight rebounds. The key statline for the Waatu that caused them to edge ahead was their 21 offensive rebounds to gain an extra 17 points.        

The Men sit 7th now on the table with a 4-3 record and with a roadtrip against UNSW (11th) and Sydney Uni (4th) coming up this week over the border in NSW the Waatu can finish with a 6-3 record. If the teams around them in UNISC (6th) playing CU (9th) & their other round match versus UWA (8th), UTAS (5th) playing VU (13th) drop their games in the correct sequence to teams this week – you just never know the Waatu may sneak into the top three and grab a possible inaugural home final… 

RD 6 Men AU Waatu 101 (Kourani 29, Bruce 26, Garang 16, Davies, Hampel 14) defeated RMIT Redbacks 91 (Woodall 25, Gardner 22, Yiannakoudakis 16, Jovic 8, Brennan 7)

Catch the Waatu’s seventh and final minor round games this week against UNSW and Sydney Uni on Uni Sports TV from Tuesday 1:30pm and Wednesday 11:30am.

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Eagles fly - Matt Debney first was spotted for LTU in 2022, he was back again from the tip against the Waatu - Photo provided by AU

Eagles fly in fourth to take out Waatu Women

The Waatu Women had every chance to take out their second straight win at home in the season – but the Eagles of La Trobe University flew in and swooped in the fourth to put them out of reach 76-116 at the State Basketball Centre.   

A hot shooting start from the Eagles Kayla Vitale was offset by the strong play inside from Petra Rychtarcikova (Architecture) and the return of Alice Sabine (Medicine) to level it out 24-28 after one quarter. The Waatu continued to go toe-to-toe with the Eagles who only had six available players but showed their ability to hang tough thanks to Emily Maltezos and Alana Poulton who had strong contributions in the first half. The Waatu left it at 48-50 at the half still very much in the game thanks to Sabine’s presence with 17 points at 50 percent and four rebounds. 

Poulton was the one who exploded for the Eagles in the third quarter dominating in multiple facets with 12 points and six rebounds along with Maltezos as they reeled off a 3-14 run at the start of the quarter to get out to a 51-64 lead. Some late points to Sabine cut it back to 68-78 however and it was still game on. 

That changed unfortunately for the home side in the final term with the Eagles captain Talia D’Agostino (11 points in the final term to finish with 21 points and 13 rebounds) leading them to a crushing 10-38 final term as they blew out the homeside – Vitale finishing where she started with nine final quarter points.

The Eagles had many winners in their six with Maltezos leading the way with 30 points at 63 percent with four triples and 14 assists, six rebounds and five steals backed up by Poulton with 21 points and 19 rebounds (six offensive). Maltezos and Vitale who finished with 24 points and four triples along with seven assists and rebounds created 28 fast break points for the visitors. 

Sabine was Waatu’s best on return with 25 points with 90 percent from the charity stripe, 11 rebounds and four steals backed up by Rychtarcikova with 12 points and nine rebounds and Georgia Winter with nine points and 11 rebounds. They helped create 27 second chance points from 37 offensive rebounds with 20 between the top three players of the match. 

The Women have another home game taking on RMIT Redbacks who sit at the lower end of the table – and have every chance to take this one out but need a big crowd Wednesday at the State Basketball Centre.              

RD 5 Women AU Waatu 76 (Sabine 25, Rychtarcikova 12, Winter, Brooks-Birve 9) defeated by LTU Eagles 116 (Maltezos 30, Poulton 25, Vitale 24, D’Agostino 21, Stafford 14)

Eagles continue flight up table at expense of Waatu 

The Waatu Men were swooped on at the start and were never able to recover as LTU completed the double with a comfortable 74-104 win.  

Harry Bruce (commerce) returned with a vengeance with 10 points in the opening quarter having an intriguing battle with the Eagles Sam Holland (six in the opening quarter) as both teams traded blows early. Matt Debney one of the few players left cover from their first home encounter in 2022 also solid with six points but LTU’s 0-9 run set them up with a 19-26 lead after one stanza. 

Debney however got rolling as he went for 12 points and six rebounds in the quarter as the Eagles capitalised on the Waatu’s turnovers with 19 points. Only Bruce and Ayual Garang (Architecture) were able to keep the Waatu in touch but a long way back with a 31-51 deficit at the half. 

Waatu levelled up the quarter score in the third thanks to Bruce and Garang again but were still having trouble containing Debney, Holland and Nick Day (10 for the quarter to finish with 16 points for the match align with eight rebounds) and Lorne Waldron (eight points for the quarter) as the Waatu still remained at arm’s length distance trailing 58-82 with one to go – Randy Shanklin’s group in comfortable control.

The last quarter gave us an opportunity to see the role players from both sides hit the scoreboard but both teams settled the result fairly early as the Eagles comfortably held their own in the final term. 

Debney was clearly best with 25 points at 77 percent and 11 rebounds and was highly efficient when it mattered but also gained plenty of support from Waldron with 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks and Holland with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists. Bruce was the clear best with 24 points with four triples and eight rebounds and put in effort all afternoon backed by Garang with 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.      

The Waatu’s fixture gets crucial with a must win match at home Wednesday against the RMIT Redbacks sitting just below them on the table – they’ll be hoping to be 4-3 heading into the final road matches of the blitz like season.                    

RD 5 Men AU Waatu 74 (Bruce 24, Garang 22, Hampel 8, Kourani 7) defeated by LTU Eagles 104 (Debney 25, Waldron 24, Holland 19, Day 16, Rotundo 9)

Catch the Waatu’s sixth round games this week against Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) Redbacks on Wednesday on Uni Sports TV from 11:00am.

NEW – PITCH TO THE PUBLIC 

It takes 4 hours a week to write, research and produce our content but we want to write extra content this next few months so we thought we’d pitch to the public

Four new $24 Shotclock subscribers will have one of two pieces produced on the topics of

“SA Schools shine on Gold Coast” (Australian Schools Championships 2024)

“The Powerhouses of SA School Basketball” (Looking at the last five to ten years of school basketball)

Eight new $24 Shotclock subscribers will have both pieces done for production

Please DM if you’d like to support another way than subscription

See if you can provide the assist we need to tell the South Australian Basketball story

All Episodes of the SA Shotclock available on podcasting platforms in the coming months – we apologise for the delay as logistics are sorted