Sunday, 18th September, 2011

In a much improved display, the Sydney Uni WheelKings fought hard against the more experienced Brisbane Spinning Bullets before going down 83-64 in the playoff for 3rd. The undoubted highlight was young Josh Meoli having a breakout game with 20 points at 77% accuracy along with 9 rebounds.

The game opened with the WheelKings slow out of the gate, a trend that has been too common this season. Unforced turnovers proved costly as Brisbane scored freely in transition and established a 27-13 first quarter lead. The second quarter was very competitive and, with 3 minutes left until half-time, Sydney got within 11 points on the back of 2 quick baskets from Meoli. Veterans Liesl Tesch and Craig Cannane were playing some of their best basketball of the season and were doing it all at both ends of the court.

Unfortunately, the WheelKings lost the momentum in the third quarter, scoring just 13 points. However, it was Josh Meoli's time to shine as he hit 10 points in the period on 5 of 7 shooting. Despite Meoli's efforts, Brisbane now held a comfort 70-44 advantage going into the final term.

In their last quarter of the season, Sydney again mounted an attack with Meoli, Tesch, CJ Grogan, Kylie Gauci, Brad Grove and Stephanie Van Leeuwen all impacting the scoreboard. The WheelKings easily won the quarter 20-13 as they narrowed the margin to 19 points at the final siren.

Overall, it has been a solid season for Sydney Uni. There were a lot of changes with a new name, a new home court and several new players. The youth contingent of Grogan, Meoli and Oh-Chee gained another year of valuable experience, as did 2nd year guard Brad Grove. Rookies Stephanie Van Leeuwen, Tim Markcrow and Caitlin de Wit all got decent court time as they learnt the rigours and nuances of the game at the NWBL level.

Coach Hewson was especially pleased that his team made the finals ahead of the strong Sydney Razorbacks and Dandenong Rangers. "Our players put in a lot of hard work which will pay dividends in the coming years as the team grows. We had some good wins and some great individual performances throughout the season, and now we'll look to consistency as the next goal," he said after the game.

Hewson made special mention of the support again from Wenty Leagues who have been the major sponsor of the WheelKings for the last 10 years. Also, Sydney Uni have been fantastic with their hosting of home games and providing across the board assistance. Finally, a big thanks to Louis Richards who did most of the organising and announcing at home games, and to the staff at Wheelchair Sports NSW who organised flights and accounts throughout the season.

Sydney Uni 64: Josh Meoli 20 points, 9 rebounds; CJ Grogan 14 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists; Craig Cannane 11 points, 11 rebounds; Liesl Tesch 9 points; Kylie Gauci 8 assists.

Brisbane 83: Bill Latham 27 points, 11 rebounds; Agustin Alejos-Alonso 21 points, 7 rebounds; Adrian King 11points, 10 rebounds.

Full stats at http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/17/04/04/33/591TFWcJaMXTU/