Open A1 Basketball Grand Final Write Up
Open A1 Basketball Grand Final – Written by Gordon Armstrong
Trinity College 57 d. Concordia College 46
Trinity College’s excellent season was capped of on Saturday by taking out the grand final against Concordia, 57-46 at Nazareth Catholic College.
Victory ended Trinity’s run of outs in the premiership decider, losing to St Peter’s in 2023 and to Concordia in 2022.
Jordan Durant starred for Trinity to win the MVP award. He also topscored with 20 points with strong support from Deng Manyang (13 points), Talon Bomford and Shabani Kuyomba (seven points).
Trinity, which lost one minor round game to Concordia by three points, played a fine game and season, said coordinator Rupert Sapwell.
“It was all about the Trinity defence as we scrambled and disrupted Concordia’s patterns and created a 20-point lead in the second quarter,’’ Sapwell said.
“That was courtesy of some sublime long-range shooting by game MVP Jordan Durant and strong inside work from Deng Manyang. Concordia didn’t wilt, however, and created enough pressure to force a series of Trinity turnovers to come storming back in the third.
“The pressure continued to mount on us, we could not find a decent shot into the fourth quarter and suddenly it was a six-point game with seven minutes to go and Concordia had all the momentum. However timely buckets from Talon Bomford, Shabani Kuyomba and Durant’s fifth three pointer created enough breathing space in the dying minutes to secure our fifth A1 title in eight years.’’
The team will now play Glenunga in the state knockout champs.
Concordia also enjoyed a top season, narrow losses to Trinity and Sacred Heart the only minor-round blemishes.
Concordia coach James Adcock said he was proud of the way his team responded from a slow start to make the grand final. “After starting the season bottom of the ladder after round three our team found a lot of success, rallying together and improving week on week to earn a place in the grand final,’’ Adcock said.
“Trinity, however, outplayed us in the grand final securing victory by 10 points. Their length, athleticism, height and discipline on the defensive end was overpowering and allowed them to get a lot of easy points that contributed greatly to their impressive victory.
“The focus for us is now on state champs where we play Tenison Woods. The boys should be very proud of what they achieved in the SAAS competition.’’
Paddy D’Arcy again led the way for Concordia, while Luke Pfitzner and Darcy Wyman played strongly.
Other grand finals
Open A2: St Ignatius College 59 d Rostrevor College 50, MVP: Hayden Kerley.
Open A3: St John’s Grammar 53d Pedare Christian College 44, MVP: Max Pudney.
Mid A1: Concordia College 51 d Sacred Heart College 49, MVP: Oscar Zarin.
Mid A2: Rostrevor College 44 d. Cardijn College 42, MVP: Ryder McNamara.
Mid A3: St John’s Grammar 74 d. NMHS 21, MVP: Lenny Mitchell.