CROSS OVER DRIBBLE

United at the SBC - A first home game at the new State Basketball Centre set the scene for the home opener - Photo supplied by Adelaide Uni Sports and Recreation  

Alice brings Wonderland for Women

The Waatu Women had a win last Wednesday as they won only their second game in existence and first ever home win with a thrilling 75-71 result at their new venue the State Basketball Centre.   

It was driven by a phenomenal third quarter by Norwood Flame Alice Sabine (Medicine) who found chemistry with fellow Flame Jemima Whitton (Viticulture and Oenology) and Warrior Georgia Winter (Veterinary Technology) to produce a 24-11 third term.

It began with the away side with Maali through Jenna Teasdale opening proceedings with an impressive eight points and six rebounds, a team rebound count of 10-18 and a 15 point margin at 4-19. The fightback started just over halfway through the quarter as Winter (eight points) drew the margin back to 10-23 after one. 

The second was much closer with Sabine beginning to insert herself into the game with multiple second chances created through controlling the glass with a turnaround of 14-9 on the boards to bring it back to 24-27. Whitton with sharp hands also blended together the offence to bring it back to 28-42 at the half.

That’s when Sabine sparkled for the start of the third quarter. She reeled off ten points, eight rebounds with four offensive boards dished continuously by Whitton with four assists. Both along with their Waatu teammates stopped Teasdale and the other Maali bigs – but Teasdale and her co-captain Zoe Shanahan managed to keep them from conceding the lead holding onto it just 52-53 with one to play. 

The final term was full of nervous tension for the home side but also the chance to create some history with Central Districts Lions Meaza Otto (Health and Medical Science) going head to head with a cameo from Maali’s Caitlin Lea. Otto’s eight final quarter points along with Winter who consistently kept the scoreboard ticking over gave the Waatu the lead for a total of 1:59 in the game. The ability to shutdown Teasdale and Ruby Hamilton ultimately proved the catalyst as Otto and Winter calmly slotted free throws to seal the result. 

Sabine was superb and narrowly missed out on the New Balance UBL player of the week with 23 points with a perfect 8/8 from the stripe, 21 rebounds (eight offensive) and eight assists, Winter not far behind with 24 points and five rebounds no doubt leading the way for the club MVP early in the season. Whitton nearly notched a triple double with eight points, seven rebounds (four offensive) and six assists. The Waatu wrestled the rebound count back 53-40 (a 43-22 turnaround) in the finish and grabbed 21 assists.  

It was an impressive coaching performance from Scott Freer and his coaching team to turn the game at halftime the way they did. The Women next take on the Zoe Banks and Hope Brooks led UTAS this Wednesday in a first UBL trip to the “Island”.               

RD 3 Women AU Waatu 75 (Winter 24, Sabine 23, Otto 10, Whitton 8) defeated UWA Maali 71 (Teasdale 22, Hall 10, Hamilton, Shanahan 8)

Waatu continue winning ways to complete historic home double 

The Waatu Men buoyed by the previous result took all momentum into their clash and despite a small comeback in the late third quarter – proved too strong as they went 3-1 in the season 108-94 in a convincing home performance at their new venue the State Basketball Centre. 

Minus Norwood Flame Darcy McNamara (Education) – Emil Kourani (Occupational Therapy) got the scoreboard moving once again with some early hits (eight in the opening quarter) and then got some great assistance from West Adelaide Bearcat Harry Bruce (Commerce) and Central Districts Lions Ayual Garang (Architecture) with nine points a piece as they dealt out the business in the opening term 30-22. 

The scoring was free flowing and with Bruce mastering all on the floor (10 points for the quarter) and Garang continuing to build on his numbers (fours points and three assists) – the Waatu answered all the challenges from the Maali. Even Sam Davies (Nursing) with six points and Bailey Nathan (Computer Science) applied degrees of pressure at both ends to surround Kourani’s seven for the term. The Waatu with a compelling 67-54 lead at the half shooting the ball at 62 percent.

The Waatu continued their dominance through Garang and Kourani who pushed the margin out to its biggest lead of 24 points. A small turn around from the Maali saw them back within slight striking distance thanks to Ben Thorp and East Perth Eagle Joe Harwood that gave the away side a glimmer with an 86-72 scoreline leading into the fourth. 

Bailey Nathan helped close it out with 11 points in the final term to go near his career high of 24 points with the Maali’s first match best Korede Oyemade with 12 points in the final term to put some wallpaper over cracks as the Waatu sealed their third win of the season and a historic double for the club.

It was hard to split the impact of the Waatu as several got the job done with Harry Bruce leading the way with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists but with numbers that did not tell of the influence he had on the court. Ayual Garang was the stats sheet stuffer with 21 points at 75 percent from the field, 11 rebounds and seven assists and Kourani was the sharpest shooter of the afternoon with 25 points at a high clip of 50 percent. Add to that Nathan’s 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Issac Hampel engineering seven points and eight rebounds – it was an impressive set of numbers from the Scott Freer led Waatu.

Harwood was strong for the Maali with 21 points and six rebounds while Oyemade did finish with some big numbers in the second half of 19 points and 13 rebounds. The Waatu travel to the “Island” to take on UTAS for the first time and will have to deal with the likes of Alex Bestwick and Zach Collins who have taken out multiple POTW’s as well as famous sons of NBL names such as Nash and Bruton.                      

RD 3 Men AU Waatu 108 (Kourani 25, Bruce 23, Garang 21, Nathan 20, Davies 10, Hampel 7) defeated UWA Maali 94 (Harwood 21, Oyemade 19, Thorp 14, Morgan 15, Barrett 11)

Catch the Waatu’s fourth round games this week against University of Tasmania (UTAS) on Wednesday on Uni Sports TV from 11:30am.

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Meera Coburn (pictured left) caused problems once again for the Adelaide Waatu in their road trip to Victoria last week - Photo supplied by Adelaide Uni Sports and Recreation  

Winter storm not enough to overcome Falcons

The Waatu Women’s first win in their history came against the Falcons in 2023 but ran into a solid home unit first up on Tuesday afternoon 83-67.  

The home side got the flying start led by Demi Thompson with only Georgia Winter keeping the Waatu in it – raining in three triples in the first term. Tara Elliott however was on fire for the Falcons firing the Ballarat based side to a 30-13 lead at quarter time.

The Norwood Flames duo lit up for the Waatu to start the second as Jemima Whitton and Alice Sabine began a big rise for the Waatu. An unanswered 0-9 run was further capatalised on by Winter with another triple and inside drive to get the Waatu back to a 41-35 scoreline. The 11-22 quarter was their most productive of the season so far.

Sabine started off the third quarter keeping the Waatu in it and had some help from pocket rocket of impact Raima Johnson (another quick spell of scores with five points). Sarah Augustine however for the Falcons was causing all sorts of problems with Winter closing the gap with her fifth triple of the afternoon. After trading layups Elliott broke the deadlock in the quarter with a dagger to give the home side a 66-57 lead heading into the last.   

A 7-2 start was not ideal for the Waatu to open the fourth and despite some Whitton and Sabine scoreboard pressure – the Falcons with a couple of last quarter Thompson triples just pushed it out a little too far for the Waatu to reel it back in as they fell 83-67. 

RD 2 Women FED 83 (Collins 21, Elliott 16, McKenzie 15, Thompson 12) defeated AU Waatu 67 (Winter 19, Sabine 18, Whitton 10, Rychtarcikova 9)

Record win uncovers gold from beyond for Waatu Men

The Waatu Men notched their biggest win of their time in the UBL with a thumping 30 point win laden with plenty of hits beyond the arc 89-119. 

Emil Kourani kicked things off with a triple to open proceedings and backed it up with another two plus an impressive spin move drive to have 11 for the term. Ayual Garang joined the three fest with two of his own – new inclusion from the Norwood Flames and 2023 ANZAC Day Medallist Darcy McNamara finishing the quarter with a buzzer beater triple beating all kinds of pressure. The Waatu leading 26-33 with seven triples in the opening term.   

McNamara showed his recent preseason form for the Flames was no accident as he lit up for another to start the second term with Kourani following up to begin a 0-8 run. The Falcons Austin MacKenzie showed resistance but the Waatu rode Garang in the second with a triple and some transition coast to coast work. Harry Bruce put the finishing touches to the quarter with a pair of triples and a put back shot to turn a 3-17 run into a strong 46-66 lead at the half.  

It was Bruce’s turn to show the spruce with back to back triples then McNamara feeding Bailey Nathan as the Falcons burnt timeout 55-74. Kourani made a cutting reverse layup, Garang got busy defensively with a block from behind before feeding Bruce for another two. McNamara drained another triple then fed Sam Davies to make it 75-87 at three quarter time. 

The triple treat continued in the fourth with McNamara again but the Falcons pushed it back to 82-92 and a little concern was sweeping coach Scott Freer. A steadying timeout saw Bruce and McNamara emerge with back to back triples before Bruce brought up the 100 with a contested finish in transition. The bench got plenty of burn with Isaac Hampel grabbing a floater and Patrick Moriarty grabbing a triple as Davies and Kourani finished it with soft touch and slams – capping a record win for the Waatu Men. Twenty triples in all led to the 119 scoreline, a record in the past three years of UBL action for the Waatu.      

RD 2 Men FED 89 defeated by AU Waatu 119 (Bruce 27, McNamara 23, Kourani 17, Garang 13) – Individual Finalised Scores to Follow

Winter scorches Melbourne early but “Slaylah” Leila leads Black Angels to win  

The Waatu Women showed their competitiveness in season 2024 pushing Melbourne University hard at home with an 80-67 loss on day two of their roadtrip. Georgia Winter continued her stellar form from the week lighting it up early for the Waatu.

With a change of Petra Rychtarcikova into the starting five, Winter took advantage of the early space as she nailed her first triple and dropped one off the window. Meera Coburn of the “Black Angels” who had grabbed 7 points and 16 rebounds the previous time they met and one of the only members left from the squad of 2023 was at it again early with buckets, assists and boards – feeding Lara Essex for multiple attempts. Not to be outdone Meaza Otto with some impressive finishing including a driving layup heavily contested. The quarter however belonged to Winter who drained a WNBA range triple then took a left handed hook drive but it was NBL1 South Melbourne Tiger Leila Davis for the home side on the buzzer that left the score in favour of MUBC 27-23 after one.     

Winter clearly still didn’t register on the scout as she got open another three then got a shooters roll on her drive before draining another three. Only Otto’s faked handoff and score left it 0-10 to open the second with a timeout to Melbourne. Davis and Essex responded for the home side setting up Melbourne with multiple looks and trips to the charity stripe with Victoria Poulos forcing a timeout the way of the Waatu 36-35. Rychtarcikova got a nice finish underneath but would not be allowed a second time as Coburn began block city for the “Black Angels.” A Jemima Whitton triple and Flames teammate Alice Sabine with a charge absorbed kept them in touch at half time 44-40 and right in the contest. Winter controlled everything for the Waatu with 21 points at the half with Davis just behind her for MUBC with 16 points. 

Despite clear instruction at half time not to lose her – Winter blew off her defender for another triple before MUBC strung together a strong run of 2-8 through Aimee Wookey, Davis andKnox Raiders product Colby Rough. A circus trick from Raima Johnson created an and1 opportunity but Davis and Rough were hard to stop for the home side. Whitton and Sabine closed the gap for the Waatu and Winter’s seventh triple kept them in touching distance 63-56 with one to play. 

The message got through to the “Black Angels’ with their defence shutting down Winter but opened things up for Sabine to take it coast to coast. Davis and Coburn however had the final say with Davis sealing things off with 12 points and Coburn almost having as many points as blocks despite Ellamay Brooks-Birve’s late bank triple helping bring the Waatu closer in the finish 80-67.   

RD 2 MUBC 80 (Davis 29, Rough 15, Essex 14, Coburn 9) defeated AU 67 (Winter 30, Otto 11, Whitton 8, Brooks-Birve 5, Sabine 7)

Mc-Matchup worth the price as Melbourne power home 

All you had to know as those of the Mc-variety were the serve of the day as MU and AU tried to outgun each other from beyond the arc – with the defending 2023 champions Melbourne at home just out lasting an out of gas Waatu men 101-78. 

The “Black Angels” missing Nunawading Spectre Dihan Wiggett began things with Josh McNally draining a triple – the bigs of Melbourne already causing the Waatu trouble in Melbourne Tigers Will Amos and Camberwell Dragons Matt Power. Adding the spice though was McNamara who off the back of Tuesday’s debut performance went toe-to-toe with McNally as he fired for 12 points with three triples of various fadeaway, difficulty and included a four point play he converted. McNally leaving the home side in front at quarter time 30-21.

Amos continued his damage to start the second with Harry Bruce keeping the Waatu in touch with a clock beater then a triple – but again Power and newly entered Waverly Falcon Harvey Moore kept MUBC in front 43-26 with a 13-4 run. Bruce reeled off back to back triples in response but McNally and Power with 14 points continued to be a pain as Melbourne led 54-49 in a tight one at half-time. Bruce owned the second with 15 points in the quarter.   

McNally and McNamara went at each other again in the third with triples answering each other but the height of Melbourne Tigers Kai Garnaut, Power and co was starting to wear down the second day road trip Waatu. Even McNamara driving against up to three players found himself locked down as Melbourne took a 77-62 advantage into the last – a 23-13 term.  

McNally nailed another triple to open the fourth and after foul trouble in the first three quarters Ayual Garang emerged with an and1 in transition then hit a circus floater shot for another and1 to cut it back to 80-68. Amos ran amuck from that point on as Melbourne pushed themselves out – Lachlan Maddern sealing comfortable victory with a pair of triples. Kourani dropped a couple of  triples and a one handed slam in the final term to make the Waatu’s scorecard look more respectable in the finish 105-78.  

RD 2 MUBC 105 (McNally 22, Power 20, Amos 26, Garnaut 12) defeated AU Waatu 78 (McNamara 22, Bruce 19, Kourani 13, Garang 11)

Catch the Waatu’s third round and first home games this week against University of WA on Wednesday on Uni Sports TV from 11:00am or catch it live at the State Basketball Centre.

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 will be available on podcasting platforms in the coming months – we apologise for the delay as logistics are sorted – you can download to listen anytime on your personal devices.