PAOCBC Annual Report 2004
|
PAOCBC Annual Report 2004 |
|
|
REPORT FOR
THE PRINCE ALFRED OLD COLLEGIANS BASKETBALL CLUB Club Report for Season 2004
Off the court, PAOCBC stepped up its social output with the introduction of The Rookies Pub Night to welcome all new club members, the ever-growing Club Pub Crawl which was a rousing success, the 1st Annual Players' Player Dinner to crown the Saturday Players of the Year and of course The 12th Annual Basketball Club Luncheon. On a committee level Simon Miller step aside after 6 years as President - a position filled by the ego-maniacal Ben Palk. Simon took up the role of Club Treasurer, utilising his much envied accounting abilities. Sean Heylen and Andrew Williams continued as Club Chairman and Club Secretary respectively. In its second year in the A Grade, the Saturday A team consolidated and improved upon its 2003 season. The team added consistency and was genuinely competitive with many memorable team performances. The team finished the regular season with an 8-7 record in fourth place, making the A Grade finals for the first time in Club history. The team bowed out with a spirited and hard-fought loss in the elimination final. Sean Heylen, Simon Miller, Ryan Williams, Grant Nalder and Andrew Williams continued from 2003. Liam Golding returned to the A team after overseas travel, and Nathan Graham and Matt Williams were new additions for 2004. Grant Nalder improved on his 2003 and went back to back as the A's MVP. Ryan Williams was awarded Best Team Man for his great year and Matt Williams was named Most Outstanding in his A's "rookie year". The A's look forward to a successful 2005 campaign. With the emergence of a new C Grade, the Saturday B's were to play their basketball in Eastern Div 1 at the basketball Mecca that is Marryatville High School. The B's team was most affected by the movement of players, with 7 new players making a 10 man squad. After a slow start, the B's hit their straps during the middle of the season. In the last game of the season the B's had to win against the only team they had not beaten all year just to scrape into the finals. In a hard fought contest the B's won and finished 4th. In the Elimination Final the B's played arch-enemy Saints, and in a spiteful battle the B's won 28 - 24 - making it 4 - 0 against Saints for the year - a point that was not lost on them. In a clinical display of basketball the B's won their Preliminary Final by 21 points against the minor premiers, Phil Motteram with a season high 16. In the Final, the B's played Aldgate Baptist who'd handed them their biggest loss of the season only a month earlier. In one of the greatest games in Club history the B's destroyed Aldgate Baptist 50 -35. Ben Palk top scored with 11, Matt Just and Mark Powell with 10 and 9 each. In an up and down year, the B's came good when it counted and won their last 4 games against the top 4 sides. This was the first time the Bs had won a title and it even sweeter given it was the title the A's won only 2 years earlier. Ben Palk lead the team with 125 points, with Phil Motteram scoring 119 and awarded The Inaugural B's Players' Player Award. At the Basketball Club Lunch, Matt Just was awarded Most Valuable Player, Phil Motteram Best Team Man and Brad Daniel Most Outstanding Player. The Saturday C's had a disappointing season this year, sometimes struggling with a new mix of players after player promotions in a lopsided combined S3/S4 division. Towards the end of the season the "new" C team started to gel, working together and giving glimpses of what they were capable of. At the business end of the season, the Cs found themselves in 2nd spot of the S4 half of the division, but unfortunately bowed out in straight sets. With more time together this team is sure to shape up as a premiership contender. Ben Christie lead the team in scoring with 81 points, followed by Andrew Todd with 80 points and Cliff Hurburgh with 72 points. Mike Tye won The Inaugural C's Players' Player, with James Hill awarded Most Valuable Player, Andrew Todd awarded Best Team Man and Cliff Hurburgh awarded Most Consistent Player. The Monday team had a great year since moving from Wayville in 2003. The Monday squad was lead by Liam Golding (14.6 ppg) and Nathan Graham (18.7 ppg) and with the help of James Hill, Mark Henderson, Tim Wong and Peter Golding finished with a 16 win, 1 draw and 4 loss record. As they had done all year the Monday team came to play in the big games and won the Grand Final. Nathan Graham won Most Valuable Player in a club record setting year and Mark Henderson won Best Team Man. The "Crazy Wednesday" team moved to the Pasadena stadium for 2004 to face a mix of familiar and new opponents. The team comprised Co-Captains Andrew "A" Williams and Ben "Incredible" Palk, Crazy veterans Matt "Dazzle" Trim, Hamish "Red Myst" Saunders and Guy "Flair" Collins. The team lost much-lauded veteran guard Dave "DC" Cahill, but added the energetic Mark "S-" Lambert. Playing vital cameos throughout the season were Matt "Rough Justice" Just, Liam "Chad" Golding, James "Magic" Hill and Tim "Good viewin'" Ewen. After a 2003 premiership, 2004 was a challenging season, ending in a 12-11 record and a semi-final loss to end the year. Despite some testing competition, the team will be better for the experience - the Crazy style is by no means dead - and the adversity of 2004 will make this a better team for the 2005 season. Recognising his tireless efforts at both ends, Mark Lambert was awarded the MVP Award for 2004. For his unrelenting work on the defensive boards and dynamic offence, Guy Collins was named Best Team Man. Hamish Saunders' intense defence and inspired offence was rewarded with the prestigious Matt Trim award. The Thursday Squad's potential was demonstrated by fulfilling its destiny of back-to-back titles across the Summer and Winter season. The team was Captained by Andrew Todd and lead on court by Grant Nalder (11.1 ppg), Mark Powell (9.5 ppg) and the busy backcourt of Tim Wong and Matt Just. Guy Collins, Cliff Hurburgh and Mark Waters provided the spark to carry through to another flag. Mark Powell was named MVP, Tim Wong was Best Team Man and Mark Waters was named Most Consistent. Thursday night also saw the introduction of an all Rookies Team "Thursday Reds" at Pasadena. Thrown in the deep end with choosing to run their own team, the boys assured us they enjoyed the season despite only winning 3 games. There is some real potential in this team which could produce a future club champion. Tom Huxtable was named MVP, leading his team in scoring with 81 points, Matt Davis was Best Team Man and David Leung was named Most Committed Player. Liam Golding was named the 2004 PAOCBC Club Champion. The award recognises Liam's outstanding year for the Club, leading the Club in scoring with a staggering 509 points and 54 threes!! Liam was the leading scorer in the A's averaging 12.0 ppg. He was Captain of the Monday premiership side, averaging 14.6 ppg, and was part of the Thursday premiership side. Liam also lead the team in scoring in the A's back-to-back winning performance vs Saints in the Intercol. Since joining 6 years ago, Liam been part of the committee and an integral part of the club's social fabric. We are all happy to see him reach his amazing potential … and he is only getting better. At this year's luncheon Sean Heylen presented awards to Ben Christie, Guy Collins, Mark Waters, Ben Palk and Matt Trim for their service to the Club over 10 years and awarding each with Life Membership. Ben Christie is the Captain of the C's and has been for the last 6 years, winning the Championship 2 years ago. Guy Collins is one of the most liked and reliable Club members we have, plus an excellent basketballer. Mark Waters is the old sage of the Club, with the kind of respect that only age can bring, guiding all new members of the club. Ben Palk has been a member of all Saturday teams; A's through D's and captain of many of those teams. This year Ben took on the Presidency of the Club and has applied the same gusto he shows on the Court to leading the Club. Finally, Matt Trim has also been a member of all Saturday Teams, winning an A's Championship 2 years ago. Matt is the Club's leading 3 point shooter and was Club Champion in 2003, the first non-A's player to do so. All 5 members have been an integral part of the development and success of the Club. I would to take the opportunity to thank the team captains, scorers and other contributors to the Club, without whose efforts my own job would be near impossible. On a personal note I would like to thank Simon Miller for all of his efforts this year in helping me run this club. The time that you have put in has been invaluable. The Club's website www.paocbc.com continues to provide information such as contact details for Club members, game times, results and statistics as well as links to various sites of interest to Club members (including our sponsors). This year the site has added a number of photos and reports from Intercols, grand finals and the annual luncheon. The Club would also like to thank our sponsors Trims Menswear, The Queens Head Hotel and Cooper's Brewery for all their support. The Club trains on Tuesday evenings between March and September from approximately 6.30pm to 8.00pm at the School gym. There are teams playing on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in the winter season and currently on Monday and Thursday (at MARS) over the summer season. Any Old Scholars interested in playing for the Club can attend training or contact any one of the following for more details: Club President Ben Palk on
0405 249 794, 8112 0753 (work) or bpalk@ncml.com.au Ben Palk
The much heralded new gym down the road was the venue for this year's intercol, the Reds keen to avenge for 2 of the buzzer beaters that stole victory from them in 2003 and continue their form in the A's The C team played first, looking to win back the Trim Trophy after the disappointment of a buzzer beater last year. Saints got away to a good start, but the Reds never gave in, the game only getting away from them in the last few minutes. Unfortunately the final scoreline of 16-34 doesn't reflect that a win was within reach for much of the game. The B's were also looking to avenge the narrow loss in '03 and hit the court full of vigour. The B's started well and were 5 points up at the break. Saints stepped up in the second however, tying the game and holding on for slim 26-23 win. It was another close defeat for the B's and went against their 4-0 record over Saints in the regular season. The defeat of Saints in the finals went some way to ease the pain of their intercol loss and will only make them more determined for next year. After mixed results against Saints in the Saturday season, the Reds came in confident that they could go back-to-back in the Intercol. Saints got away to a flyer, but through tighter defence on key players and some solid ball, the A's got their game going to only trail by 5 at the main break. Using their height advantage and working to smart basketball, the A's pegged away and wore Saints down to take the lead. The Reds outscored Saints by 11 in the second half and won 50-44. Liam Golding top scored, with Nathan Graham piling on points in the 2nd half to expose the Saints defence. The Club relished in the A's back to back win. As is the tradition, both Clubs headed to Saints' sponsor pub for a few post-match drinks and a chat with opponents and clubmates alike. The A's were of course enjoying drinking from the coveted trophy, the disappointment obvious to those on the other side of the bar. The Club trains on Tuesday evenings between March and September from approximately 6.30pm to 8.00pm at the School gym. There are teams playing on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in the winter season and currently on Monday and Thursday (at MARS) over the summer season. Any Old Scholars interested in playing for the Club can attend training or contact any one of the following for more details: Club President Ben Palk on
0405 249 794, 8112 0753 (work) or bpalk@ncml.com.au Ben Palk
|
