OT Thriller

Today marked the last of the competition games, with St Margaret's hosting Trinity College in the picturesque area of Orange County. The school has featured on the TV show the OC, and it is something out of this world. The gym is 2 years old and is impressive. The school even has its crest embossed in the Top Flight Basketballs used in competition!

The JV side comfortably defeated St Margaret's, as unfortunately their starting 5 was missing due to a State final for football being held tomorrow. However saying that the boys won by more than 35pts, and deserved the win and credit for playing in the spirit of sportsmanship, not looking to extend the lead at any stage... It was one of those games that every shot from every angle went in... pity this did not happen earlier in the tournament! Kyle Versteeg posted a double double (points and rebounds), Jon Allen played extremely well from the top, Francis Curro shot the ball well, Robbie Warren was as athletic in the key as ever and Kurtis Lisani knocked down good shots. The entire team played clearly its best game of the tour.

The varsity team got out to another slow start and unfortunately that cost the team in the end. After fighting back from 15pts at half time, the team took the lead with 1min 40secs to go. Jake Withers was on fire, D-mac was a monster inside and Banks played great defence. After drawing level Trinity had 32 seconds to win the game... With 5 secs left Daniel McDonald drove the lane for the ball to rim out, a second Trinity shot rimmed out and with 0.4 secs Josh McLaughlan tapped the winning basket in, only for the ref to cancel it out after speaking to his fellow official who originally cleared the basket. The game went to OT but the boys were still playing out the last few seconds, and we lost the game by 5pts.

To their credit the opposition were humble in victory and were gracious hosts. The food that was put on for the team was extraordinary. Every player was treated to a fine meal cooked by the parents. Again the school was impressed by our students and are hoping we will return to play their school in a couple of years time.... That could be the time for revenge for the OT!!!!!

With the last game being played out, the boys should be commended on their behaviour and attitude on court. Every school has been impressed with the way the boys have conducted themselves on the court. They have represented the College with pride and honour and have also represented Australia with distinction. The boys have made friends in the process, and have experienced something that would never have otherwise been afforded in Australia. The culture of basketball is something that can only be witnessed first hand to believe. Basketball is lived and breathed over in the USA and the boys have appreciated the experience. The competition has been top notch this time round. To compare the competition all the boys are astounded by the speed and level of intensity that they have not experienced before. It is easy to become a spectator, especially with the fundamental skills that the top teams display.

It will be nice to enjoy the last full day at Sea World and San Diego Zoo without rushing to a game in the evening. The boys will be happy about that one as well!

Chatsworth UCLA

Today the team ventured to Chatsworth HS. Chatsworth high school is a large public school who has finished top 2 in the last few seasons in their conference. The experience of this school will be remembered by the students. The JV and Varsity games were characterised by a fast paced opposition who pressed from the majority of the game. The JV team uncharacteristically lacked spark, and the varsity team again faced a very strong perimeter team who made open shots all night.

The evening fared better with a trip to UCLA. After bailing out the US economy via the team store in under 30mins the team headed to Pauley Pavilion to watch a top 5 ranked UCLA take on Loyola Marymount. With a Perth born player for Loyola starting, the boys were very interested to see how different college basketball is from the NBA. For many of the group the preference was college basketball over the NBA.

UCLA blew out their opposition early but the atmosphere - in particular the student section, will be something the students will not forget. With only 1 game to go the boys are nearing the end of the tour and are looking forward to seeing family and friends.

JV defeat Marin, Varsity hang tough

The boys began the day with a trip to Alcatraz prison. The group was astounded by the history of the island, and by the stories to come out of Alcatraz. The boys experienced an audio tour of the prison, and watched a 15min documentary inside the prison. Although the bitter wind and cold would be torturous for inmates, the general consensus was that Fremantle prison had harsher conditions... so Australia wins again!

The big feature of the tour for the boys was the much anticipated match up with Marin Catholic. The teams did not disappoint. At the beginning of the competition I asked the boys to play above and beyond the call of duty, to dig deep and find the x-factor that would help make a difference. The JV boys responded in kind. Playing almost perfect basketball the boys were exceptional. At one stage Marin JV had pulled away by 15 points. Nik Iliadis effectively made a 6 point play in a matter of 10 seconds to pull the deficit to 7 pts at the half. The game went to the wire, we finally got a break and with approx 1 minute to go Tom Crackel hit what effectively turned out to be the winning shot. The Trinity JV side upset the undefeated Marin school by 2pts.

The Varsity team came out strong to try and replicate the JV success. Knowing that two key starters were out for Marin Varsity the boys pushed the tempo and were hanging tough going into the break. But with 15 boys in their line up Marin pulled away in the final quarter but the score did not reflect the intensity and nature of the game. Mitchel Burger played extremely well.

JV wins consolation draw

Fresh from a solid performance against the top ranked team, the JV side motored through the left bracket of the consolation draw to win the consolation tournament comfortably. The team performed very well, with every player in the JV team scoring at least 4 pts. The final was characterised by solid defence, led by Kurtis Lisani with 4 blocks, Patrick Banks 4 steals and Nathan Booth double digit rebounds.

Unfortunately the Varsity team struggled to get out of 1st gear playing its first double header. The opposition shot above fifty percent from the perimeter and used superior height to advantage. The boys look to rebound quickly when we face Marin Catholic in our next fixture.

Heart breaker JV, solid Varsity win

The boys faced a fierce competitor yesterday at the Valley Christian tournament. Unfortunately we played the number 1 ranked team first up, who have won the tournament for the past 4 years. The boys opened up beautifully, with J Allen, Lisani, Iliadis, Banks playing great defence. As we progress through our games it is clear how fundamentally sound the opposition are. The opposition missed a total of 4 free throws from about 16 shot opportunities. The game literally went down to the wire but with the fouling to get close the end score was 9 pts down. A great effort from the boys first up. Versteeg and Warren played out of their skin, with Booth, McLaughlan and Curro playing great in the post. Tommy Crackel shot well from range and will be a difficult player to match up on for the opposition.

The varsity team looked strong v the Coast Union home team. We lead from the outset and were not headed off after a blistering start. A great game from Crackel and Jones helped us get through comfortably. D-mac took an accidental shot to the jaw and sat out for 3 qtrs. He is ok and played today. It was great for the boys to get their first win... They were pumped!

The accomodation is roomy and comfortable. The boys are happy with the extra space!

Mira Costa

After a lengthy sleep in the next day we faced Mira Costa HS. With a new 1million dollar football stadium constructed next to the gym, the boys expected the facilities to be matched by a high level of competitveness... they were correct!

The JV boys took the initiative early and played a great shooting game to the half, leading at several stages. Unfortunately after running out of puff in the third quarter the boys were out run and were defeated. The end score line did not reflect the nature of the game.

With four of their varsity players over 6'4 our varisty boys were facing some very athletic players. They were quick and played with intensity over four quarters. Again we were in front at the half. By the end of the third quarter the boys were out of puff and were steamrolled by a larger squad (14) and fitter players. The photos from this game are available at the following web site.
www.costabasketball.com (follow the prompts - atheltics basketball etc)

The coaches commented on great play from Iliadis and Banks from the JV game, and D-mac and Metcalf from the varsity game.

Day at Polytechnic HS

Today the boys were privellaged enough to visit a top end academic school, visit classes, and be entertained by the TNT dunk squad in the school gymnasium. Costing almost 44,000 US dollars per year to attend - the majority of the students are heading towards one of the 'Ivy league' colleges (Yale, Harvard, Dartmouth). According to a recent US survey this particular school was ranked in the top 10 academic HS in the US.
The boys attended a variety of classes and were well received by the students. At lunch the opposition coach secretly plotted our downfall by feeding pizza and ice cream sandwhiches for lunch, accompanied by sodas...and it worked!

The entire school came out to support the boys, with great support for Trinity. The gym was filled with approx 500+ students and staff... It was loud! The Varsity boys played first and unfortuantely were unable to get out of first gear and were defeated. The JV boys played a great game and were comfortable victors.

The staff mentioned on several occasions how lovely and polite our boys were on the day, and planned on writing a letter to our principal to stress the aforementioned.

After rushing to ESPN for a 10min dinner we walked accross the road to staples centre for the clippers v magic game. The boys were treated to a tour of the centre and were briefly allowed to view the shootaround from courtside. The game was close and exciting... I am hoping to recruit the next Dwight Howard to TC. He is big.