D Stands For Defence In Diamond Valley
Diamond Valley used its superior defensive muscles to beat Ballarat into submission
Through the first quarter Diamond Valley adopted a combination of full court press and half-court traps to set the tone, Ballarat wasn’t overmatched in size but more in strength as Diamond Valley converted off Ballarat’s turnovers turning them into fast break points on the other end.
Ballarat’s attempt to match Diamond Valley by employing full court defensive strategy was met with little resistance.
Ballarat’s defence improved in the second quarter coming up with consecutive steals on back to back possessions, but failure to convert on field goals lead to Ballarat relying almost singularly on free throw attempts.
In the third Diamond Valley’s Kristina Saaga came up with a block, steal and layup all on one possession which essentially summed Diamond Valleys effort through out.
Ballarat coach Duane Bodey expressed frustration with his players over their inability to effectively move the ball past half court and defeat Diamond Valleys press.
Ballarat’s lone outside shot came at 7:02 left in the 4th.
Diamond Valley was lead both offensively and defensively by Casey Paea and Kristina Saaga with 25 and 7 points respectively, to cap off a 52-27 victory for the U/14’s side.
In other matches Ballarat U/18 Boys defeated Casey 50- 36 and in U/16 Girls there was a draw between Ballarat and Frankton 52-52