by Eltham High School Journalism student Lachlan Everett
NBL1 Women
Eltham Wildcats 74 def by Ringwood Hawks 85
Top performers: C. Schweers 26 points, V. Panousis 19 points/6 assists, C. Brook 9 points
6°C weather on Saturday night at Eltham High School didn’t stop the Wildcats starting with Maggie Mulligan and Vanessa Panousis connecting on a lay up from the jump ball to set the tone for the early part of the game. Gillam & Brook were strong defensively for the Wildcats. Ringwood’s Cassidy Mihalko and Megan Mullings took the momentum late into the quarter making difficult shots and locking down on defensive end.
The Captain for the Hawks Danni Bone scored 9 in the second quarter with the help of Mihalko and Mullings (10 rebounds between them compared to ELT 14 total).
Chelsie Schweers hit big 3’s early in the third quarter while Chelsea Brook played great defence and knocked down some big shots to get momentum.
Mullings for the Hawks was consistently able to control the game in the paint on both sides of the court (12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 22 points). Vanessa Panousis and Chelsie Schweers were the driving force on offence with both knocking down shots from the perimeter keeping Eltham in the game. The Hawks were too good down the stretch and took the win behind their assists, rebounds and field goal percentage (54.4% compared to our 45.8 %).
NBL1 Men
Eltham Wildcats 107 def Ringwood Hawks 89
Top performers: A. Doyle 31 points/7 assists, G. McKay 21 points/ 8 rebounds, B. Waldren & D. Schaffert 17 points
Ben Waldren started the game with a 3 point basket while Adam Doyle netted 10 points and an electric alley-oop pass to Josh Skyes. Ringwood made five 3’s in the quarter to keep the game close while Ringwood Hawks veteran point guard Matthew Snow dished 4 assists.
The second period saw David Schaffert and Adam Doyle shoot the lights out combined with the inside presence of Josh Sykes and Geremy McKay to grab momentum and a 13 point lead going into the main break (56-43).
The third quarter Ringwood’s centre Adrien Sturt hit deep 3’s but with McKay, Doyle and Schaffert controlling the offence for Eltham it kept the Hawks are arms length and a 16 point lead going into the final term.
The fourth quarter was academic with Eltham controlling the final ten minutes securing a very impressive 18 point win. Doyle praised the young guys in Sammy, Moonez and Ovie for their performance on both ends of the court.
