Comets flame out against Hornets defence

The boys were joined courtside by a special guest thanks to the wonders of the internet and Skype (we're expecting an advertisement for that free plug Skype managment).

Yes,  Leanne "cybergirl" Bannatyne was given a good perch at the end of the court and watched the whole game from the laptop.

And what a game it was.

Our coach Brett has been challenging the boys in a variety of different ways over the past two weeks.

In this game he had the boys mix up the defence.

It was an effective strategy so that even when the Comets got inside they were shooting among the trees with our bigs standing tall.

At the other end, the boys let the offensive plays develop, allowing the attacking set to run its course and looking inside to give our bigs good shots down low.

We finished that quarter up 17-7 with 12 of our points coming right under the basket.

In the second quarter the Comets started to pressure us along the full length of the court. This would develop through the course of the game with double teams on the ball handler but in general thanks to some great work from Mitch, Arran, Luke and Jayden there were very few turnovers. In fact quite often the speed with which they broke the traps disrupted the Comets defence.

On the offensive end Will continued to combine his mid-range jumpshot and strong big man game - top scoring with 14 points. He also shot a perfect four from four at the free throw line.

Brane also got his body in great position and regularly bullied his way to the basket. He also found himself at the the free throw line and came away with 12 points.

Addam, after some advice from the coach, went after the ball with both hands on the rebound and had a strong second half on the boards.

Shooting guard Jay is developing his three point shot nicely but he also had some incisive drives and he was unlucky not to come away with more points.

Defensively Mitch and Mark were outstanding, often disrupting passes and forcing the Comets to reset.
This was a rugged, not particularly pretty game but it was one where we often played to our strengths and handled the increased pressure very well.

It was clear Brett and Delmas intended to made the boys work hard. We came away with a 59-42 win and while it may not have been as convincing as some of our previous victories, the boys were tested and came through it well.

Gosford Rebels come to training

Gosford Rebels - the toughest NSW team we have faced this year - have been having a similar season to us, regularly destroying teams by massive totals in their competition.

With Melbourne just two weeks away for us and a big country championship at the same time for Gosford, we both needed a tune up against some tough defence, so they came down for a game against us on Thursday.

We were down one player, Thomas, but despite some injuries Luke (knee) and Brane (fractured toe) came back into the squad.

It was a great match-up and it was the first time the boys had to really work to penetrate a team's defence. It was also a very cagey game, with both coaches seeming to keep their offensive and defensive plays close to their chest.

We won the match-up 37-24 but it gave us some food for thought.

The Rebels have fantastic transition defence. We were often a bit slow in releasing the ball after defensive rebounds. It meant we had to go up the court under pressure and move to the half court offense a lot more and work it right through.

With Gosford pressing us really tightly and filling he lanes this was quite an ask. Early in the game we over ran the 24 second clock twice and also turned over on deep passes.

In addition, our cutters were not getting as open as usual partly because of Gosford's tight and quick defence but also because we left space on our screens and forgot to brush shoulders to break to open space.

Defensively we were very tight and the help-defence down low was particularly good, making Gosford change shots when they did get close to the basket.

On offence, Gosford made us hurry. At times we got ourselves into awkward positions mid court because we were pushing the ball unnecessarily fast even though the Rebels defence was set.

We were caught out a few times on a half court trap but the great majority of our turnovers came from careless passes under pressure or through rushing up the court.

It is important for our boys to understand that it is more important to get the ball up the court safely rather than quickly and be aware of the halfway line. We have a good half court set and if the fast break is open to us, we just need to set up at the top of the key and work it through.

Afterwards, the boys and parents got together for pizza and some fantastic cupcakes brought by one of the Gosford mums to celebrate the birthday of a Rebels player.

Hopefully sometime this season, we can get up to Gosford for a return game. It is just going to be difficult to find the time as the second half of the season closes in.

Meanwhile, we wish Gosford good luck at the country competition. I'm sure we will be meeting again before the season is out.

Panthers declawed by swarming hornets

In a, sometimes, tense game and with a vocal home crowd, the boys had to tough it out against an uneven foul count in the first half before solving the problem by not letting the Panthers cross halfway.

We started the game with an almost perfect execution of a play from practice. Arran set a low screen for Mark who cut to the top of the key to take a crisp pass from Jay and nail an open shot from the free throw line.

The next goal came from a full length of the court pass from Mitch to Arran who was right under the basket. Luke would duplicate this twice in the course of the game, picking up players deep in the key from the other end of the court.

A little later Jay made a slashing drive from the top of the key between two players to get a nice basket on a reverse lay-up. It was almost a game of copycat when in the same quarter Jayden made a terrific backdoor cut and finished with a reverse lay-up.

Penrith parents cheered on their team loudly and tried to wind up our boys when things didn't go our way but that didn't stop the Hornets from scoring at will.

The only thing keeping Penrith in the game was a succession of free throws. Eight of their 10 points in the first quarter were scored at the free throw line.

However by that time we had already scored 21 points with six different players contributing to the total.

The foul count in the second quarter continued to go Penrith's way but the Hornets were piling on the points and dominating the boards. Will in particular was a monster, leading all rebounders with 14 rebounds, six of those on the offensive end. Addam had five offensive rebounds and Mark had four but both only had seven in total each.

As the second quarter wore on there were two fabulous steals close to the basket from Mark and Thomas who ripped the ball out of players hands and stepped in to take an easy basket.

Then we changed up our defence and started to play the two man trap. For the first time in the game we got  Penrith into a penalty situation.

In the third quarter we turned up the intensity on the two man trap and stormed away again putting Penrith into the penalty a couple of minutes out from the end of the third quarter. The Penrith crowd were quickly silenced as the scoreline climbed to 75-21.

In the final quarter Brett worked some new offensive patterns and returned to a half court defence. The scoring slowed but we still came home with a convincing 92-32 win.

Unfortunately Luke injured his knee in the final quarter when he collided with another player after being take out of the defence by a Penrith screen. At this point in time, it is unclear how long the injury will keep him out of play.

We already had Brane out of the game through injury after he fractured his toe in a soccer match earlier in the week.

It will be an interesting week as we are likely to be down two players in our practice game against Gosford on Thursday and then in the rep game against the number two ranked Sharks team on Sunday.

How we travel in these two games will certainly indicate the depth of our team.


Personal Bests
Luke: Assists - 5.
Mark: Field goal percentage - 61.54% (8 from 13). Total points - 18. Game efficiency - 21.
Will: Total points - 18. Defensive rebounds - 8. Total rebounds - 14. Deflections - 2. Game efficiency - 23.
Mitchell: Equal personal bests in assists (7) and deflections (7)
Jayden: Steals - 5. Equal personal best in assists (3).
Arran: Free throw percentage - 80%
Addam: Assists - 5. Steals - 3. Blocks - 2. Equal personal best in points (10).

Team bests
Team shooting percentage: 56.72%
Total team assists: 27

Hornets selected for national tournament

Hi All,

Just a quick update for readers of the blog.

We have been selected for the National Junior Classic in Melbourne. Sutherland Sharks and Alexandria Comets have also made the cut.

Other interstate teams include Canberra, (ACT) and four teams from South Australia - Sturt Sabres, Eastern Mavericks, Forestville Eagles and Norwood Flames.

Clearly the selections are from the capital cities, otherwise it would be hard to see how Gosford City Rebels didn't make it. They gave us a hell of a run in the pre-season and as you can see here, they are completely dominating their league on the Central Coast.

It will be good to catch up with them when they come down for a friendly in a couple of weeks.

Our next game is against Penrith from 10am at Penrith. The score will go up Sunday night with the match report to follow.

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.

Hills Hornets v a never say die Hornsby Spiders

Hornsby Spiders came to this match prepared for our full court press and with a plan to play tight defence at the top of the key to take out Hills passing lanes.

Despite committing to the plan with great intensity, the Spiders couldn't match Hills size advantage and crisp execution at both ends of the court finished it early.

Within the first few minutes we had taken an 8-0 lead catching Hornsby out with fast transition play or when we set up our half court sets, coming off screens at speed and making fast cuts to the basket.

It gave us plenty of open looks and the whole team shot over 50 per cent from the field.

We also dominated the boards allowing Hornsby only two offensive rebounds through the entire game.

Unlike some of our previous games, we kept our foot on the accelerator throughout this game, scoring 30 points in the final quarter to Hornsby’s four. It was the kind of full-game intensity we needed because in four weeks the Hornets will travel to Melbourne to take on the best teams in Australia as part of the National Classic held on Queens Birthday long weekend.

Our next game is against North Sydney, the number three ranked team in the Sydney Junior Championships. In the pre-season Coastal Classic at Gosford, North Sydney constantly challenged our defence, scoring 41 points.

This game at Norths stadium should give us an indication of how the team has developed through the first half of the season.

Hornets clip Sea Eagles wings

The Launch My Business Hills Hornets Under 14 basketball team had its worst shooting game of the season but still managed to demolish Manly Sea Eagles by more than 50 points with outstanding defence leading to a 63-8 victory.

Full court pressure led to 33 steals but even when the Hornets resumed a half court defence they still stifled almost everything the Sea Eagles threw at them. On five ocassions the 24 second clock expired before Manly could even take a shot. The Sea Eagles finished the match with just eight points, two of these coming from free throws in the last second of the game.

Key to this defensive effort were Mitch, Luke and Mark who put enormous pressure on their opposite numbers and picked up steals. The big men, also helped form double teams at the top of the court with Addam and Arran proving to be particularly difficult to get past while Brane was an intimidating presence under the Hills basket.

Hills Hornets needed the tough defence, with most of the team struggling to sink the ball, even missing wide open lay-ups. Jayden hustle plays around the basket picked up some of the slack and helped the Hornets to reset after failed shots attempts and he made some great passes to team mates.

However, not everyone was off their shooting game. Thomas, Jay and in particular Will – who had an outstanding match in all aspects of the game – shot more than 50 per cent from the field.

Despite the margin of victory, this was one of the uglier games of the season so far. With a major trip to Melbourne looming and some tougher competition ahead, the boys recognise they have to work on the offensive structure if they want to win against the best teams in the country.

The next game is against the Hornsby Spiders at Hills Stadium

Boys through to the Talented Athletes Program

Congratulations to the boys on the team who made it into the Basketball NSW and Sydney Academy of Sport Talented Athlete Program.

Everyone who tried out from the team made it.

Those who didn't try out were Brane, who was on holidays, and Jayden, who was too young. Both would clearly have made it had they been there, giving us a perfect 10.

In the meantime, congratulations to Mitch, Mark, Arran, Addam, Will, Luke, Jay and Thomas (who got in even with a bad ankle). See the complete list here.

Oh, by the way, the comments are now working, so feel free to type in any thoughts.

Arran in the spotlight

Hi All,

Just a quick note to highlight that Arran has been nominated in the Hills Shire Times Junior Sports Star.
Online the headline says Annan Bannatyne but I reckon a quick phone call tomorrow morning will sort that out (and it did -thanks Pranesh).

You can catch the story on Arran here.

But when it goes it reads as follows:

VERSATILE athlete Arran Bannatyne, who excels in basketball, rugby union, running and swimming, enjoys the challenge and excitement each sport offers.

The year 7 Oakhill College student, who has been playing basketball since he was five, is this week’s Hills Shire Times Junior Sports Star nominee.

The 188cm youngster represents Hills Hornets and is the captain of the division one under-14s team.

Arran, 12, was selected to play for the NSW Primary Schoolboys team last year at the national championships in Newcastle.

“I attended the championships but did not play because I had a broken collarbone,” Arran said.

For the Hornets Arran plays as a shooting guard or small forward.

“I like to play in the small forward position because you get opportunities to score as well as chances to be creative.”

Arran has won the Barry Wheeler trophy for the Castle Hill Primary School Sports Association zone.

Arran has been selected to take part in Basketball NSW/Sydney Academy of Sport’s talented athlete program NSW Metro under 14/15 boys camp in July.

In June Arran will compete in the Combined Independent Schools Cross Country run.

He has also competed in the Independent Sporting Association swimming carnival.

Also a happy birthday to Mitch (June 25), Addam (June 27) and Will (June 29) who all hit lucky 13.

Next game, Manly at Manly.

Comets knocked out of orbit by Hornets

Here is a late breaking addition, Pranesh has sent through the best photos he took from our first game against Penrith. You can see them here. 


Hills Hornets Under-14 Division one basketball team systematically dismantled the City of Sydney Comets 82-26 in their latest regular season game in the Sydney Junior Championships.

In an almost clinical performance, the Hornets picked apart the Comets defence mxing up half court offensive sets for easy lay-ups or by nabbing fast break points off pressure defence.

The passing game mixed with strong cuts from the top of the key even gave the smallest player on the team, Luke McArthur, the opportunity to lay in a couple of easy shots right under the basket while the defenders were looking the other way.

In this game, the Hornets started strong not letting the Comets score at all for the first three minutes of the game. By the second quarter, the Comets were already slumping as Arran Bannatyne consistently ran the length of the field for easy baskets hitting six from six off long passes from Mitchell Evans, Jayden Prakash, Thomas Cowell and Addam Stone. He finished with 22 points sinking 10 shots from 12 opportunities. 

It brought a smile to the face of assistant coach Delmas Green, who had berated the boys at training the day before for missing easy lay-ups.

At the same time Mark Morian and Jay Green were picking off passes and making slashing drives.

This was also the first regular season game that the Hornets had their big man game working to full effect. Will Pearce and Branislav Gligorevic used their bodies to create space to pull down rebounds and post the opposition. Our six footers dominated the boards and the scoreline.

By the end of the third quarter, beaten up down low and picked off in the open court, the Comets were facing a 60-18 scoreline.

From then on it was an easy run for the Hornets who have now scored 235 points in three games and have let in only 80.

In some further good news for the boys - who have their eyes set on playing in the national tournament at the end of this year - last week they gained their first sponsor Green Civil Con.

The next championship game is at 12.15pm on April 18, when they take on a tough Bankstown team at Hills Stadium.  

Hornets sting sharks

As reported in the Hills Shire Times, March 23, 2010

Hills Hornets U14M vs Sutherland Sharks at Sutherland

March 21, 2010

Win 67-32

Last week, against Penrith we had a size advantage inside. That advantage evaporated against Sutherland who had two very big men down low.

Adding to that we were missing one of our own bigs, Addam, who was out with an ankle injury.

We started slowly letting the Sharks score the first five points before Arran scored off a fast break. Then Mitchell got open just inside the three point line and dropped a deep two on the Sharks. Another offensive rebound led to an easy bucket and then we set up a play for Jay who beat his man off the dribble collapsing the defence before kicking out a beautiful pass to Thomas who dropped in an ice cold two.

After that, the first quarter became a dogfight, and although on the wrong side of a 7-1 foul count, great passes inside by Jayden and Mark to our big men gave us some easy points. That said, our help defence was a bit off early and we let in a couple of easy baskets when we missed some back door cuts. Despite this we finished the first quarter ahead 14-12.

In most of our games this year, the Hornets have broken out in the third quarter. We didn't wait that long this time. Changing up the defence we started to put pressure on the ball all the way down the court, picking up a rash of steals that led to easy buckets.

This pressure defence also prevented Sutherland from driving and getting fouls that constantly saw them at the free throw line in the first quarter - at least until the last three minutes of the quarter when we hit the limit.

We came out of that quarter down on the foul count again but well up on the scoreboard 38-19.

That lead was well and truly consolidated in the third quarter, thanks to more steals in Sutherland's half and some great top of the key defence by Luke and Mitch.

As we continued our dominance with some tough play, Will made a great assist down low after rushing in for a rebound and later Brane used his body well to score inside as we accelerated away to a 67-32 victory.

Next week we take on the Comets at Alexandria.

Penrith Win as reported in Hills Shire Times

Despite a shaky start, Hills Hornets under-14 men stung Penrith Panthers 86-32 in an, at times, fractious game.

Penrith started by scoring the first five points while the Hornets missed some easy open looks until Will Pearce made a great three point play, sinking a shot under the basket and getting fouled in the process.

After that it was all one way traffic, including a dominant defensive third quarter where Penrith didn’t score at all from the field, picking up their five points from that quarter at the foul line.

Not that Penrith ever gave up, they were fierce competitors with a never-say-die attitude but they had no answer to Hills control of all aspects of the game. When the Hornets weren’t dominating the rebounds they were picking off passes and forcing turnovers off the dribble with some full court pressure defence.

The under-14 men had already made a statement as the team to beat in NSW for their age division when they won the pre-season Gosford Classic. This first game of the Sydney Junior Championships confirmed that status.

The most important game of the year

Parents versus Under-14s Game.

Reporter: Sam Slick

See all the photos from the game here.

The inevitable challenge from a very confident U14 boys team and an even more cocky coach eventuated with the heavily promoted fixture taking place on Sunday, April 7, at the Hills Basketball Stadium.

As team lineups arrived it was clear the boys were somewhat surprised and put off by a very tall and talented parent group which comprised all manner of relatives and siblings.

The U/14 coach was beside himself and questioning the eligibility of certain players but ultimately conceded it was all too late for technicalities, the war of words was over and it was time to walk the walk.

The 14’s lineup was as strong as anything the crowds had seen this season but the parents five looked super with big Del, legend Kurt and strongman Sam supported by rookies Shane and Jenny.

A blistering start in the first quarter saw control of the game well and truly in the hands of an ageing lineup with Del and Kurt imposing their domination on all facets of the game.

The second quarter was much the same story which allowed for easy rotation of all players on the oldies team.

Their was no sentiment in the match ups as Arran B made a strong drive to the basket and sent dad Dave sprawling out of court. Clearly an offensive foul this was a 50-50 call which was given in favor of the young pups and drew attention to the young referee on duty who was clearly influenced by the 14’s coach.

“Champagne” Louis was robust in defense while Meg Mac was everywhere in offence and cheered on by her legion of Mac supporters.

Yago played with great passion and commitment to winning and demonstrated great skills with his finishing and drives to the basket. The veterans had done their job and now pressure was being applied for the coach to make a cameo appearance.

The 14’s were struggling for answers and some cheap trash talking from the coach failed to lift the spirits of the boys.

The half time address by the 14’s coach was quite emotional and was in complete contrast to the oldies who were either talking shop, texting on the mobile or enjoying liquid refreshments of a sort. The oldies coach simply rearranged the lineup and took a five minute break to savor the scoreline.

New lineups from both teams saw the third quarter become more of a contest and provide new hope for the 14’s. They obviously responded to the coach’s call for a better effort and their self belief reappeared with some fine perimeter shooting from Brane and great finishing from all the boys.

Whilst John Mac’s smooth shooting technique impressed the large crowd on hand the rest of his teammates knew it could be some time before his shooting percentage got into double figures.

An appearance on court at the end of the third quarter by the oldies coach had no effect on the game whatsoever and did little to inspire fellow teammates although it did up the ante by the opposition coach in the trash talking stakes.

An appearance on court by the 14’s coach had little effect either, didn’t trouble the scorers for a moment and merely served to confirm he is playing at the right level in club competition.

The fourth quarter saw a great fightback from the 14’s and the coach had something to crow about. The oldies continued to rotate players but with the intensity dropping the contest was becoming an arm wrestle and the title was now up for grabs.

Despite being five points down with three minutes remaining there was no panic from the oldies troop and the coach calmly threw himself in for the money minutes. Responding with a cool left hand jump hook on the break the oldies coach was beginning to get his confidence and show glimpses of yesteryear’s heroics.

Despite the opposition coach’s frustration at such cheap layups the 14’s were still in front with just over a minute to go. However some classy construction play from the experienced D and K engineered a wealth of points for the oldies in the dying minute and was enough to secure victory with the final score 66-60.

The game was played in great spirit and a delicious BBQ lunch followed at which the bragging rights for the oldies commenced with great fervor.

The 14’s showed and continue to show commendable attitude when the game is discussed particularly when the final scoreline is mentioned.

Big D shows commendable reluctance to over mention the scoreline as well (once a week should do it now D) !!!!

Read it and weep,

Sam Slick.

Gosford Coastal Classic

On a hot and very humid weekend, Hills headed north to Gosford where we had our first games against some of the NSW teams that we would be playing in the season ahead.

Neither Manly, Bankstown or Sutherland made the journey but we were able to have a good look at Hornsby, Penrith, Alexandria and Norths.

PENRITH

The Panthers may have been a small team but they played with plenty of heart.

However, there was not much they could do against our complete control of the boards. They also struggled to cope with our full court pressure defence which constantly forced turnovers.

At the end of the first quarter Penrith were down 15-0 but they hadn't given up.

Late in the second quarter they hit a few outside shots and picked up some free throws after driving into the heart of the key. Despite getting a score on the board they were unable to stop us, particularly down low.

Brane, Will and Addam scored down low, while Arran decided he would be a point guard for a game and came away with nine assists.

On the outside Jay was on fire, dropping 12 points, many from the top of the key.

As the score continued to grow, our lock-down defence kept Penrith out. In the third quarter the Panthers did not score one point from the field.

In the fourth quarter and with the score at 61-16, Brett and Delmas decided to work through some variations on our offensive plans. Penrith scored as we worked through the new offence but we still finished with a 62 point difference coming home 87-25.

GOSFORD 2

Canberra were supposed to send up a team but when they pulled out at the last minute Gosford's division two team stepped up to fill the void.

Not surprisingly this was a blowout game.

Again we dominated the boards, again we got an extraordinary number of steals with Mark snatching eight by himself and again we had an opportunity to work on our offensive patterns.

We finished this game with an 89-17 win.

NEWCASTLE

Newcastle had length but their big men were too slight and lacked the skills of our own.

We were able to dominate them in all facets of the game. By half time it was 52-8 and Newcastle would only score another 9 as we went on to win 89-17. To this point, Hills had yet to be tested.

HORNSBY

The humidity disrupted the Hornsby game, causing a number of stoppages with the refs having to regularly wipe the floor when players slipped and fell.

The slippery conditions didn't stop Luke who showed what defence at the top of the key was all about in this game. He was constantly picking pockets off the dribble and snatching clean steals after using his acceleration to get into into the passing lane.

He set up may of the fast breaks that gave us the easy buckets later in the game.

We needed it early as we struggled to hit baskets, often shooting off balance as the Hornsby defence got quickly to their players. We came away with just 12 points in the first quarter despite plenty of shot opportunities.

In the second quarter we started to find our pace but Hornsby continued to hurry us through our plays and they fought hard for loose balls.

But in the fourth quarter we overwhelmed them, accelerating to a final score of 71-20.

NORTHS - SEMI FINAL

Just a minute into the game Norths called a time-out after we dropped in two easy goals. The first went to a streaking Mitch off a long pass from Addam. The second from Will who had dropped down to the low block and picked up an easy pass from Mitch who saw that Norths had left a mouse in the house to guard our big man.

After the time out North started to isolate defenders and work down low but had problems completing. Some loose passes from both sides led to a strong of turnovers before we settled again. We started picking up points as we stepped in for weak-side rebounds and picked up some simple lay-ups.

A pleasing component of our defence was that Norths could not get any fast breaks as Hills got quickly back on defence every time.

A lucky three-pointer towards the end of the first quarter kept Norths in the game and we finished it ahead 13-8. A close score but we still looked like we were in control.

It was more of the same during the second quarter although it started to become apparent that Norths were struggling to defend off the dribble with Jayden, Jay and Mitch all penetrating deep into the key. But the scoreline was still relatively tight at half time with Hills up 33-25.

However, our classic third quarter surge kicked into action and Norths leapt ahead 44-31.

That surge broke Norths back and, despite not playing one of our best games, Hills came away with a convincing 61-41 victory that put us in to the grand final.

However that grand final was almost called off when the Gosford courts looked like they might become unplayable because of the humidity. But it wasn't going to stop Gosford or Hills, who had a long history against each other and decided to play to really test themselves against quality opponents.

GOSFORD - GRAND FINAL

This was a cracker of a game played in sultry conditions that had the ref spending a good half of the game wiping the ball and the floor.

We also lost our most aggressive defender Thomas in the second quarter to a nasty sprained ankle after he came down hard on an offensive rebound.

The game was physical, fast and skilled. Early on Gosford used good ball movement to get behind our defence and with back cuts and baseline cuts got open looks close to the basket.

Jay returned it in kind with a number of crucial drives and on one particular occasion as our big men moved out to the three point line taking their markers with them, he ankle-broke his defender, made a penetrating drive and finished with a layup one step ahead of the rushing defence.

We hurt ourselves at times in this game by not boxing out on the defensive end, giving Gosford second and third shots and they often made us pay.

The game stayed tight the whole way until our usual third quarter surge.

First quarter: Hills 13 - Gosford 8

Second quarter: Hills 21- Gosford 18

Third quarter: Hills 37 - Gosford 26

Against other teams this would have been a comfortable buffer but against Gosford it was anything but.

Gosford kicked up the defence and it took a great fake and turnaround jumpshot from Mitch to score the first points in the final quarter. In the meantime we had brought out the great wall again - Arran, Brane and Addam.

Addam worked particularly well on the defensive end, boxing out and often only allowing Gosford one shot and getting the team moving with good outlet passes.

Gosford were quick to get back and we had to work our half court offence but Hills were remarkably patient and worked the ball slowly to set up plays and take good shots.

Early in the final quarter Gosford changed up its defence and tried to get a two-man trap with full court pressure. Fortunately we were able to avoid the trap and made strong plays to the basket through the broken defence.

Brane was quick to get to the low block when the trap was broken and it paid dividends with a foul on a missed shot. A little later Jay made a strong baseline drive and put in a simple basket unopposed.

Next time up Addam found himself with a mouse on his back and a perfect high arc pass from Jay turned into an easy basket.

Gosford scored with foul shots after a strong drive but got jammed up by our bigs who made successive stops before Will got down low and took a great lofted pass from Mitch over his defender for an easy basket.

Piece by piece we were moving away.

When Mitch made a steal and scored on a full length of the court fast-break, he sealed the game.

We came away with a 51-34 win and stamped our authority on the Classic. That said, Gosford were down a key player and are undoubtedly going to take it right to us when we next meet.

Pre-season in Melbourne

Eltham Dandenong Tournament

Australia Day Long Weekend

Unfortunately, this year Basketball NSW didn't organise a trip to Victoria for the pre-season, so we were the only representative team from NSW.

Melbourne has consistently produced the strongest teams in the country, which is why our coach Brett said it was important that we made the tournament. He also said - just a little hopefully to the boys - that he could count the number of times his teams had one in Melbourne on one hand.

By the end of the weekend Brett definitely needed two hands to count the wins and may have to resort to taking off his socks and shoes when we return to Melbourne over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.

Hills flew into Melbourne under the radar as in the past most NSW teams at this age group have been easily rolled by the powerful Victoria teams. In addition most of the Victorian teams already had two months training and game experience on Hills.

Watching the pre-game warm-ups of the other teams, it was apparent that they weren’t expecting to be pushed as they laughed and joked around. By contrast our boys had their game faces on and generally had already dropped straight into the warm-ups without being told to by the coaches.

KNOX
Our first game was against Knox, a club that has consistently produced some of the strongest teams in the country.

It was a tight tussle in the first half with the scoring see-sawing. However in the third quarter, in a pattern that would recur through most of the tournament, we began to break away. Our big men – particularly Addam and Arran – worked well down low scoring at a high percentage. At the top of the key Mitchell was outstanding picking up steals and setting up plays off fast breaks.

As a group we had very evenly balanced scoreboard. Perhaps our only concern were some loose passes caused in a large part by Knox’s in-your-face defence, but when we slowed down and worked through our offensive patterns we were very effective indeed.

We finished the game with a 32-22 victory against a stunned Knox team.

KILSYTH

Our next game was one of the most physical of the tournament. We came up against a tough Kilsyth team that wasn’t afraid to bang bodies down low.

In this game we keyed off some mismatches generated by our length and Will played a great inside game, sneaking in behind the defence to get some key buckets down the stretch.

This was a game where the boys played a great brand of unselfish basketball with assists spread throughout the team.

Once again our key plays came in the third quarter, where we jumped away. The great depth in this team could be the reason for this as it allowed Hills to play at a constant high-intensity for the full 32 minutes.

On the second day we expected to be a marked team with our unexpected results. However it didn’t appear that the news was getting around, because once again teams seemed to be very casual through their warm-ups.

MCKINNON

We played McKinnon at 11.30am the next morning. This was a blow-out game, where were a step quicker in all facets of the game.

McKinnon had already been on the wrong end of the blow-out scorelines the previous day and we added to their woes getting to the basket at will. The whole team shot an extraordinary 57% from the field.

Brane and Mark had contrasting styles but both feasted down low. Mark’s consistently snatched offensive rebounds with his speed while Brane used his strength to create space and make easy shots down low.

At the same our point guards were on fire at the top of the key, with Jay and Luke dropping shots from beyond the arc every time the McKinnon defence tried to collapse on our bigs.

This was undoubtedly our most efficient game of the tournament. We finished a dominant performance against McKinnon with a scoreline of 71-27.

MELBOURNE 2

The fourth game in our division was against Melbourne 2. Melbourne had gone down the day before to Sturt on a free throw called as a result of foul from a hail-Mary heave in the last one second of the game.

This was an emotional game, with Melbourne 2 out to recover from that loss and force their way into the semi-final.

However, they were up against Hills boys were fired up from their success and with a point to prove in Australia's basketball capital.

The game was an arm wrestle throughout the first half with both teams playing tough defence, coming in at 15-15.

Jayden was a key defender at the top of the key and made some explosive drives to the bucket that set Melbourne back on their heels.

Once again the third quarter proved to be the decider. Brett put in the great wall of Hills -Arran, Brane and Addam - who turned the game with some aggressive offence and defence. A couple of key blocks by Addam and a three point play by Brane took the wind out of Melbourne and we started to build a solid lead.

By the fourth quarter we were completely in control and finished the game with a 46-33 win.

Despite their despair at the loss, Melbourne 2 actually made it through to the elimination finals based on a points for and against.

STURT (SA)

In the meantime, with four wins under their belt Hills stormed into the elimination finals where they came up against an old foe, Sturt from South Australia.

This was a war, with the lead constantly changing hands. In the final quarter the score was 31-29 to Hills when Mitch made a looping pass behind the defence that was picked up by Will. He was fouled on the shot but sunk both.

A few seconds later off the back a steal by Mitch and a fast break by Jay, we were fouled again on the shot and Jay nailed another point.

After getting another stop and then starting to run through our offence, Arran took a pass from a give-and-go move missed the contested layup, pulled down a rebound and then fought hard against an equally tall opponent who fouled him. Arran iced both free throws and suddenly the score was 36-29 in our favour with 1 min 32 secs to go.

That passage of play was enough to seal the deal and we finished with a tight 39-30 win giving Brett a handful of wins.

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES

In the semi final we came up against the Diamond Valley Eagles.

This was a team that were physically bigger and stronger than Hills. They were able to take on our boys inside and we struggled to get boards at both ends of the court.

Under pressure, we found ourselves hurrying our shots and letting the Eagles get inside almost at will. At the end of the first half we were down 23-8.

That was when Brett had a talk to the boys about keeping focused, to dig deep and fight and not give up.

While we never recovered from the first half deficit, we won the second half 22-18.

Gadget (aka Mark) turned out to be a real mismatch issue for the Eagles. His agility and length made him a serious problem for the Eagles, as he picked up rebounds at both ends of the court and was able to get into clear space to take unchallenged shots.

We finished on the wrong end of a 41-30 scoreline but discovered that when we knuckled down we could come back against tough teams no matter what there size. We left with a real sense that we could indeed beat the Eagles.

Hills came out of the competition ranked third behind Melbourne 1 (first) and the Eagles (second).

This was an impressive early result and one we can certainly improve on when we return to Melbourne on the Queens Birthday long weekend.

It was also great preparation for the Gosford Coastal Classic where we would get our first look at some of the teams we would come up against in the Sydney Junior Championships.

Silver Fern Challenge

Penrith Basketball Stadium

Tuesday, January 12, Wednesday January 13

Apologies for being so late with this.

We had our first test of the year on an incredibly hot weekend, where the temperatures rose into the high 30s outside according to the weather bureau but seemed significantly hotter inside. Those parents who made the games were soaked with perspiration just sitting down.

During this first pre-season challenge we came up against three Under-15 teams, two national teams from New Zealand and a Sydney team, ironically named on this hot day the Macarthur Heat.

The Heat was our first opposition but despite the age difference in their favour this quickly became an extremely uneven affair. The Heat team was undersized and underskilled despite being older. It was very quickly apparent that they would offer little resistance and their only points camen from the free throw line in the first half.

Our coach, Brett, saw it as an opportunity to blow away the cobwebs after Christmas and it gave our big men a chance to dominate down low. Working on the inside we were able to get a lot of good looks by exploiting the mismatches and came away with a shooting percentage of 59% and a scoreline of 88-5

The second team from NZ, Rata, had both size and speed. This was the best of the two New Zealand national teams and they challenged us physically and took away the height and strength advantages that we had over the Heat.

For most of the game they allowed us to come up the court and play a half court game. However once we had moved over the half, they closed out our perimeter players and pressured the ball. We found ourselves hurrying and occasionally being physically handled. That said, when we ran the offensive pattern we got some great open looks.

While we lost, it was not an embarrassing loss by any stretch of the imagination with a final score of 67-38.

Just ask Sam Slick...

Our third game on a fractionally cooler day was against the second of the Kiwi teams, Kauri. This was a close game all the way through. We had three key advantages in this game, we were quicker on the drive, we were given enough room to make the extra pass and our fitness. Our fitness particularly counted in the last few minutes of the game.

Hills certainly seemed to control this game in the open court, but had we hit our free throws we would have won by even more. We hit only 7 of 24 free throws (29%) , giving us a lower percentage than we had in the open field with opposition players in our face (41%).

The final score was 43-37 against a very big team.

As an early season start, this was a great trial run for the boys and we came away with some great results against some challenging teams.

Our busy January

Hi All,

This is just a quick update of what we have coming in the January (and the Central Coast Classic in February). Lets use it as our one stop schedule.


SILVER FERN CHALLENGE -under-15s for us
Penrith Sports Stadium, Herbert St, Cambridge Park. Ph: 4731 3222

Tuesday January 12
12.30pm - Macarthur v Hills

4pm - NZ Rata v Hills.

Wednesday January 13
12.30pm - NZ team (probably Kauri) v Hills


Sydney Cup, Monday, January, 18 - Wednesday, January 20

Eltham Tournament, Friday, January 22 - Sunday, January 24

Gosford Tournament, February 13 - 14

Hornets under-14 v Hornets under-16 - Pre season

Loss: 72-43 (45 if you count Jay's buzzer beater)

With barely two weeks under our belt, this preseason test highlighted the promise of our team.

Playing against a much more experienced opponent that had at least seven members from last year's under-14 division one team, the green machine repeatedly penetrated and gave the under-16s some real scares.

By contrast the under-16s relied heavily on their three point shooters who were devastatingly accurate from beyond the arc. Take them out of the equation and this game could have gone either way.

One of the areas of particular note was the way the scoring was spread around the team. Almost everyone contributed to the final total.

Our tall timbers also showed their defensive worth with five blocks. Even when they weren't knocking balls out of the air, they were changing shots. That is why the under-16s preferred to rain threes rather than penetrate.

It will be interesting to see how the boys go as they learn to trust each other more and, even more importantly, trust the offensive structure. When we worked patiently within the structure we got some great open looks or were able to work our very effective power game down low.

When we moved out of the structure, we started to turn over the ball with dangerous passes across the key. Of our 37 turnovers against the under-16s, who played an in-your-face high pressure defensive game, the great majority were from long passes across the key that weren't part of our offence or because of over-dribbling.

There is no doubt that once the boys start to read the multiple options and play the structure to its completion, rather than rely heavily on the first cutter option, this team will be a handful and have an extraordinarily good field goal percentage.

After the game there was a real feeling of confidence among the parents and all of them seemed to be eager for our boys to take on the under-16s again.

There is also a sneaking suspicion that if we take away the under-16s outside shots and get our offence running smoothly then our boys could give the under-16s a nasty sting.

Hills Hornets - the final selection

This blog is written by Addam's dad, Alvin, so for this first entry it is written from my perspective.

Don't worry, over the coming weeks this will be much more about all of the boys on the team and more of a general description of what we are doing.

Just at the top I have to say Addam tried out for a couple of teams this year after having a year off from reps in 2009. Prior to that he had played ever year in under 12s from 2005-2008.

For us, have always been about finding the best coach and the best program.

Within half an hour of the first session of the representative trials at Hills, it was clear that the Hornets were streets ahead in this department.

What really stood out for us was how much the players we had come up against in the past had improved.

Then there was the way the session was run, with quick decisions and almost like a training camp. Every player that walked out of the under-14s trials learned something new.

When Addam climbed into the car after that session he looked at me and said, "Dad this is where I want to be".

Without appearing to be immodest, we had no doubt that Addam would have made a division one team in most clubs in Sydney. That is, any club except the Hornets.

This is a scarily good team and the first one that we have seen that doesn't have at least a couple of passenger players. Every boy here would be a starting five in any other under-14, division one team in Sydney.

I think more importantly, there doesn't appear to be a sense among the boys that it is all about individual scoring. We have always taught Addam to be a passer - I think because his mum adores Magic Johnson - and this team seems to think the same way.

We are really looking forward to this year, even though we know it is going to be a tough one.

As the weeks go on, I will get photos of the boys - and occasionally imbed bits of video from the games. I may even be able to knock together some team stats to go with all of this (sorry I'm a stats nut who double checks everything on the video - much to my wife's chagrin).

Anyway, it's great to be a part of this and we look forward to the season ahead with this team.

The 2010 Hills Hornets Team includes:

4. Luke

7. Jay

8. Mark

9. Will

10. Mitchell

11. Jayden

12. Arran

13. Thomas

14. Branislav

15. Addam