Ivanhoe District – Years 5/6 Basketball Championships
On Thursday 25 August, the Buckley House girls and boys Years 5 and 6 basketball teams played in the Ivanhoe District Championships. This tournament was played in the new Ivanhoe Grammar Sports Centre which was very exciting for all teams involved.
This tournament was the first big multi-teamed event played in the centre and was always going to be a test case to see how our new facility coped with up to 20 teams. Well, we can comfortably say the day was a huge success and the centre was a big highlight for all players and spectators involved.
The tournament was played in great spirits with 10 schools in the Ivanhoe District primary school group all represented by a girl and boys team. The teams played Round Robin games during the day to see who would make the top two of their pool and go through to the semi-finals. The boys’ team won all four of their games to finish top of their pool and our girls’ team won three out of four to finish second. Therefore, they both qualified for the semi-finals later in the day. The girls’ team lost their semi-final to Ivanhoe East Primary School, just missing qualifying for the grand final. Even though they just fell short of making the final big game, the day was a huge success for the girls with the team performing brilliantly and combining well as a group. Thank you to Sam Wright for coaching the girls on the day, and making sure all the girls had a great opportunity to contribute to the team.
The boys team also played Ivanhoe East Primary school in the semi-final and were able to scrape through on a narrow one-point victory. It was a very tense game as we clung to a small lead with time running out. However, the boys claimed the narrow win and moved on to the grand final against the also undefeated St. John’s primary school. In what was a high-standard game the boys went into halftime one point down but showed amazing fight and great team spirit. They got off to a great start in the second half to get out to a six-point lead that they were able to hang onto deep into the game. In the end, they controlled the tempo of the game to ensure a narrow but exciting win when the siren went. Like the girls’ team, the boys were an amazing unit with all ten players contributing and supporting each other throughout the day.
It was great to see that both teams had lots of parents there supporting them. I know all our coaches and parents we’re very proud of the efforts of their children on the day, not just in the fact that they won many of their games, but also in the spirit in which they competed. Good luck to the boy’s team who get a chance to go on to further stages representing the Ivanhoe District at the Division level and possibly further.
John McInerney
