Hornets leave bears with a sore head

Sometimes people say the most unfortunate things (why else do you think I turn down the sound on the video).

Well, it wasn't my turn at Norths on Sunday.

Sometime during the first quarter when we were up by about five points, a voice can be heard on the video from the back of the stands suggesting Hills has stacked this team.

It is surprising that it has taken this long to hear this considering the dominance of the boys in the Sydney competition.

It is, of course, completely wrong.

Anyone who has read this blog from the beginning will know that Addam - after a year away from the sport - decided to play for Hills after doing trials elsewhere. The coaches and the welcome from the other players made it an easy decision. You can read about that here.

Mark and Thomas came from Penrith because they had played club games at Hills and  had made friendships with the other boys on the team during PSSA games. Every other boy on this team has always been a Hills player.

No one from Hills went hunting the boys and no special considerations were given to anyone on the team.

The Hills program is impressive and our coaches Delmas and Brett are basketball nuts who live for the game. They have both had a huge part in developing these players over the years and it is unfair to suggest they loaded this team with talent. This team is talented because they and the club nurtured these boys.

In addition we are very fortunate to have a wonderful group of parents who, along the boys and the coaches in this Hills team,  are really committed to the season and the game of basketball. It is an incredibly supportive group.

Anyway, that's the way it really is - now on with the game.



This game was an interesting one and despite an early lead, Norths gave us a brief scare when they came back at us towards the end of the first quarter and even took the lead briefly in the second.

We started the game playing half-court defence, with only the point guard pressuring the ballhandler. Initially Norths struggled to penetrate against our size while we scored on three successive possessions against a sagging bears defence. For some reason the bears stayed out of the passing lane and allowed us to move the ball from the strong to the weak side with ease.

Our first goal was off a nice inside / inside out play which gave Mitch an open mid-range jumper. The second came from a team defensive rebound and break-out by Arran that gave him an easy lay-up. It was the first of a huge number of fast-break points for him in this game as he led all scorers finishing with 28 points - - shooting 75% from the field.

On the very next possession Will bullied his way in from the top of key and picked up a three-point play.

In that time Norths scored only once and it looked like we were going to run away with the game until one of their guards started to aggressively attack the basket. He got to the free throw line three times in a row and sunk all six shots allowing them to finish just behind 17-14.

Norths then opened the quarter with two quick baskets and followed it with a three pointer and suddenly they were up 21-17.

Brett called the boys in, changed up the defence and the complexion of the game altered rapidly. Our high pressure defence forced repeated turnovers and suddenly we broke out to a nine point lead finishing the half up 33--24.

Thomas was a key part of this period and went on to have an excellent game. He matched his personal bests in steals, had one of the sharpest assists of the game off a break that he initiated from a stolen pass and also topped his personal best in rebounds.

The third quarter sealed the game as we started to catch the bears out with our two man trap. Mark was merciless in this part of the game, earning his nickname of Gadget with some great intercepts and flying rebounds.

Even when Norths broke free of the trap they struggled to complete as with a big man waiting under the basket and some fast transition defence the Bears players often had to change their shots.

On those possessions where we actually had to play a half court set up, Norths defence continued to give us options by not closing out the defender or moving into the lanes. They were fortunate we had an awful outside game, with Luke the only member of the team to shoot a three.

However they were very effective at picking up our first and second cuts.

Jayden got around this defence with a blink-and-you-will miss it drive off a sharp give-and-go play that had the Hills parents out of their seats.

We then started getting the ball down the centre on drives and interior passes giving Brane and Will some deep catches down low.

After that we didn't have to take our offensive pattern much further. It was interesting that we seldom had to go through a complete set as shown by the small number of shots taken by Thomas and Addam.
When we did get an interior pass to the four man late in the fourth quarter, we were unstoppable.

In the final quarter we scored 32 points, compared to Norths 6, finishing with a scoreline of 81-36.

However, it was a game that gave us an early scare and was a learning experience we can take to Melbourne in a few weeks.

Some quick congratulations are in order for the boys who earned or matched some personal bests. I'll be running these at the end of each report for the rest of the season.

Arran: 28 points and three assists (both matched previous personal bests)
Jay: 2 offensive rebounds
Mitchell: 7 assists
Jayden: 3 assists (matched personal best)
Thomas: 7 rebounds, 5 defensive rebounds, 1 assist, most efficient game (11)  and matched a personal best with 4 steals.