By
Michael Weaver
The
enthusiasm for basketball in the Army has been revived by the
NSW Army team putting in a credible performance with a second
placing at the NSW Inter-Service Basketball Championships at Randwick
Barracks from August 28-30.
With
not even an inkling of a side a month prior to the tournament,
Sgt Peter Wade, 110 Sig Sqn at Holsworthy, was appointed team
manager by default and put together a team that finished with
very encouraging results.
Air
Force successfully defended its title to win the VSG Browning
Trophy, but not before Army turned the tables to win return matches
against Navy and RAAF after Army lost the initial encounters.
“I
found out through luck that the competition was on, so I put out
a signal to the world,” said Sgt Wade.
“I
also e-mailed and harassed people and went and talked to guys
I saw playing in the gym and eventually we got a team together.”
Down
by 17 points at half-time in the opening game against Navy, the
Army side came back to finish 18 points behind at full-time.
Army
then lost by just four points in its next match against the RAAF
after this time being down by 13 points at half-time.
Had
Army won this match, their wins in the two return games would
have won them the championship.
Sgt
Wade singled out two ADF-level players, Chris Grant and Matt Rogers,
as his best to that stage, along with Carl Teske, Derek Waterfield
and Dave Cooper.
Day
two saw Army in its return game against Navy and following the
encouraging second half in the opening game, Sgt Wade knew he
had the manpower to win.
“We
were able to get inside, we had speed and a couple of guys who
are able to use their bodies well and we got a lot of rebounds,”
he said after the seven-point victory.
Army’s
final game against Air Force reflected the improvement the team
had made with a stunning performance that left the opposition
grounded.
Leading
48-31 at half-time, Army put overnight strategies in to place
with Sgt Wade being thrown into the action with great effect.
Army went on to increase its lead in the second half to record
a convincing 25-point victory.
“Army’s
name is not written on that trophy a whole lot, so we’d like
to change that pretty soon,” said Sgt Wade.
ADF
basketballers can now look forward to the ADF Combined Services
Championships at Wagga Wagga from November 8-16.
|
Results
at a glance
|
Day
1
Navy def Army 96-72 (men)
RAAF def Navy 61-51 (women)
RAAF def Army 80-76 (men)
|
Day
2
RAAF def Navy 74-62 (men)
Navy def RAAF 56-44 (women)
Army def Navy 59-52 (men) |
Day
3
RAAF def Navy 78-62 (men)
Navy def RAAF 47-33 (women)
Army def RAAF 81-56 (men) |
