With a 5-0 record in VC, the boys went into the Gold Star Classic as firm favourites and with a weight of expectation on their shoulders.

The first day of competition proved a mere formality with the Geelong boys registering comfortable wins against Wangaratta, Moe and Castlemaine by an average of around 50points.

Going up against cross town rivals Corio Bay, Mildura and fellow VC competitors in Maffra, we knew the second pool stage was going to be a little more difficult. Thankfully we got the day off to a good start with a 30point victory over the Stingrays. Mildura pushed us for the most part of the game, however despite playing well below our best basketball we managed to come away with a comfortable 18point win. We went into the Maffra game knowing that a win would put us into the semi finals and a group huddle and address before the game showed how focussed and committed we were to advancing through to the finals. We jumped Maffra early and set up a comfortable lead during the first half, however a good fightback saw us only leading by a handful of points. After reminding the boys what we were playing for, we turned up the intensity and progressed through to the semi final.

The semi final was exactly what it should be, a hard, tough battle that came down to the wire. Albury showed why they are the best Country team in NSW and lead for all but 1 minute of the game. The boys showed tremendous spirit in coming back from 4points down with only 1:20 remaining with some clutch shooting from the foul line and a beautiful charge taken under the basket got us over the line and into the grand final against Bendigo.

With little time between the semi and the title match, we started off slowly letting the Braves jump out to an early 7-0 lead. Once we got a defence and running game going, we were able to reduce that deficit and go into the break holding a slender lead. The second half was an incredibly captivating 20minutes of basketball with both teams going basket for basket and neither managing to get out to a comfortable lead. Late in the game we found ourselves in a similar position to the Albury game, however this time we were down by only 2 with 1:17 remaining on the clock. It was once again a brilliant defencive effort resulting in a charge taken under the Bendigo basket and some clutch shooting from the foul line which gave us a 1point lead with 2.53seconds to go. The ensuing miss off the second free throw saw a fight for the rebound and the clock run out before anyone could take possession of the ball allowing us to hold on and win by the slenderest of margins.

All 10 players contributed at some point throughout the weekend and should all be immsensely proud with what they have achieved. The support the team received from the parents during the game was exceptional and it was the loud cheering from the sidelines that got us our last three wins.

I would like to thank everyone from Basketball Geelong for their messages and phone calls of good luck and congratulations, Rod Boone for making the trip up to support the boys, Linda Rickett who came up and scored for us every game, Annette for a phenomenal effort all weekend as team manager and Brenton who did a sound job as Head Coach on the first day and for backing me up when he slotted back into his role as Assistant Coach.

 But most importantly I want to thank the great group of boys who despite some setbacks over the course of the weekend, stood together and played some fantastic team basketball.

We are all so proud of you.

Coach - Chris Clyne