Youth League One Semi-Finals Previews

Youth League One Men 

Camberwell Dragons vs Sherbrooke Suns

Sunday 31^st July 1.00pm at Balwyn High School

The undefeated Camberwell Dragons take on the Sherbrooke Suns who are coming off an impressive win against Coburg last weekend. This game is expected to be a defensive battle with Camberwell being the best defensive team in the league going ahead against Sherbrooke who has proven to be the third best defensive team in the league across the season. Sherbrooke is going to need their very best defensive efforts if they are to slow down the Dragons who average over 100 points a game throughout the season.

These teams have faced off twice throughout the season, the Dragons taking the win by only 5 in their closest game of the season in round 13, before then handing out a heavy 50-point demolition in round 16, with Jackson Dean dishing out most of the damage with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Sherbrooke coach, Scott Gunther, will be hoping that he gets a balanced scoring attack like last week having 4 strong contributors hitting the scoreboard in Bourke-Doggett, Johnstone, Tielen and Manson, all having 14 points or more against Coburg. They will need that sort of contribution to stick with the Dragons.

In what guarantees to be a pivotal match-up in this clash, we see two start point guards go head-to-head as Sam Veitch and Jacob Bourke-Doggett face off. Veitch is vital in keeping the Dragon's offence running efficiently and hits the scoreboard himself with 12.4ppg to go with his 4.7apg and 1.3spg. Bourke-Doggett is the key to keeping Sherbrooke’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over, averaging 16ppg to go with his 2.5apg and 1.6apg. Will Veitch be able to restrict Bourke-Doggett’s ability to contribute?

Dragons are entering this finals series on the back of a tremendous season and currently hold a perfect record. Can they keep their run of form going or will the Sherbrooke Suns cause the upset of the season?

Statistical Leaders
Camberwell			Sherbrooke
Jackson Dean	21.8ppg	Points Per Game	Jacob Bourke-Doggett	16.1ppg
Jackson Dean	10.8rpg	Rebounds Per Game	James Manson	7.32rpg
Sam Veitch	4.67apg	Assists Per Game	Jacob Bourke-Doggett	2.52apg

 

Altona Gators vs Frankston Blues

Sunday 31^st July 1.00pm at Altona Sports Centre

The Altona Gators begin their finals campaign as they host the Frankston Blues who are coming off the back of a comfortable 33-point win against Collingwood in their elimination final. As is the case with all of Altona’s games, we expect this to be face-paced and a high-scoring spectacle as the best and 3rd best offensive teams clash.

In the two times, these teams have played this season it has been Altona coming out with the win both times, in round 11 by 6 points and then in round 14 by 13 points. In their round 14 battle, Frankston had a great distribution of scoring with 5 players scoring double digits. It was the three-pronged attack of Jake Afoa, Hamish Goodier and Marach Marach who did the bulk of the damage for the gators though with 20, 16 and 17 points respectively. Frankston coach, Duncan Berg will be looking at two of his leaders in Ben Perry and Vincent Monaghan to set the tone defensively.

A key match-up in this one is going to be between guards Hamish Goodier and Ben Perry. Both have been instrumental in their team’s success this season and will be wanting to be able to deliver similar results during the finals period. On paper, it appears that Perry is stronger offensively with 16.9ppg to go with his 4.87apg compared with Goodier’s 12.95ppg and 2apg, but will Goodier be the X-factor for the Gators as a lot of Frankston’s attention goes into big man Jake Afoa?

It would take a brave person to try and make predictions on this one. Based on the form across the season Altona will come in favourites, but is Frankston peaking at the right time of the year? Be sure to get down to Altona Sports Centre on Sunday in what is bound to be an exciting one!

Statistical Leaders
Altona			Frankston
Jake Afoa	22.05ppg	Points Per Game	Ben Perry	16.91ppg
Jake Afoa	12.62rpg	Rebounds Per Game	Henry Peirce	7.56rpg
Mayuol Makuac	4apg	Assists Per Game	Ben Perry	4.87apg

 

Youth League One Women 

Frankston Blues vs Pakenham Warriors

Sunday 31^st July 2.30pm at Frankston Basketball Stadium

The Pakenham Warriors are coming into this game on the back of an enormous 2nd half last week in their elimination final against McKinnon. They are going to need to start with that energy as they take on the 1st placed Frankston Blues this week who have been the dominant team in this competition all season, having the best offence and defence in the entire league.

These teams have gone to battle twice this season; with Frankston taking the game in round 2 by 4 points and then again getting the win in round 15 by 14 points. In their most recent game, it was Frankston’s Eliana Bravington (20 points, 16 rebounds), Mackenzie Mitchell (22 points, 4 rebounds) and Kassie Boorer (12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists) who did all the damage, contributing 54 of the teams 70 total points. For Pakenham, it was star player Alahna Arnason with 13 points and 12 rebounds who kept the game competitive for the full four quarters.

This time we see a key match-up between Alahna Arnason going head-to-head with Kassie Boorer. These two are both known in the league for their strong rebounding presence that compliments their scoring ability. Arnason comes into the game with averages of 12.7ppg to go with her 10.2rpg and on the back of a 16-point and 10 rebound performance off the bench last weekend. Strong defensive player, Boorer, does a bit of everything with 12ppg, 7.92rpg, 2.58apg and 2.17apg. This match-up will be an interesting one as the game plays out.

Whilst the most obvious call her would be saying the well-rounded Frankston line-up will be too much for Pakenham this week. There is a definite possibility that the Warriors Gallagher, Arnason and Sans rise for the occasion down at Frankston this weekend. Don’t write off the Warriors taking it to the Blues in this one!

Statistical Leaders
Frankston			Pakenham
Eliana Bravington	17.83ppg	Points Per Game	Rhiannon Gallagher	13.6ppg
Eliana Bravington	14.83rpg	Rebounds Per Game	Alahna Arnarson	10.26rpg
Lauren Tuplin	3.4apg	Assists Per Game	Ebony Sans	2.55apg

 

Bulleen Boomers vs Wyndham Basketball

Sunday 31^st July 3.00pm at East Doncaster Secondary College

The Bulleen Boomers get to begin their finals campaign after having the bye last weekend to prepare for their next opponent the Wyndham Devils. Wyndham is coming off a high-scoring 10-point win against the Craigieburn Eagles. With these teams finishing 2nd and 3rd in the regular season this game guarantees to leave fans on the edge of their seat throughout.

During the regular season, these two teams split the season series. In round 8, it was Wyndham who came out 14-point victors, before Bulleen sought out redemption in round 12, to snare the win by 12 points. In their most recent round 12 match-ups it was a double overtime thriller that saw Bulleen have just enough to get it done against Wyndham. It was Lilly Amor off the bench who provided the scoring punch with 23 points off 5/12 3-point shooting to go along with her 3 assists and 4 steals. Amor along with Aleisha Cadee (16 points, 5 rebounds) and Keira Lindemans (8 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) did the damage to Wyndham. Wyndham only had 8 players in that overtime game which may have been the reason Bulleen was able to take it out in the end. Wyndham superstar Lucy Oakford was a top performer with 27 points in the contest while Ayuen Akot also dominated with 16 points and a whopping 27 rebounds.

In a key match-up of the weekend, we expect Chantal Vitale and Lucy Oakford to face off at some stage in this contest. Vitale has been a consistent performer for the Boomers this season with averages of 9.57ppg and 2.24apg to combine with some sharpshooting from deep. Whilst Oakford has been a clear standout and is coming off an absolute monster 33-point game last weekend against Craigieburn, she is averaging 14.4ppg, 3.1rpg and 2.1apg.

This will be an incredibly tough game with both teams being deserving winners. Could we potentially see another double overtime thriller between these two? Get down to East Doncaster Secondary College to check this one out!

Statistical Leaders
Bulleen			Wyndham
Lilly Amor	10.1ppg	Points Per Game	Holly Dolny	16ppg
Keira Lindemans	8.76rpg	Rebounds Per Game	Ayuen Akot	11.57rpg
Chantal Vitale	2.24apg	Assists Per Game	Mackenzie Drew	2.25apg