Sutherland’s good start in Basketball’s 2007 Soul Masters Cup
The 2007 Soul Sports Masters Cup (Over 40's) tipped off over the weekend, with the North Sydney Bears defeating the Hills District Hornets 35-27 and the Sutherland Sharks defeating the Penrith Panthers 84-64.
Panthers Sylvester Wilson (#14 white) rises above the pack for a rebound
Based purely on those results, it appears highly likely that last year's grand final protagonists, the Sharks and Panthers, may also fight out this year's grand final, with both team's scoring potential seemingly well above both the Bears and Hornets.
The unknown quantity at this stage is the Bankstown Bruins, who will not play their first game until this weekend. The other unknown is, of course, the vagaries of player availability and injuries throughout the season, both of which factors have a significant impact in the veteran's competition.
Hornets Steve Urwin (#9) drives past an opponent: File photos from the 2006 Soul Sports Masters Cup - from Marion McNeill (www.photoexcellence.com.au)
Next weekend's round will be held on Sunday Sept 16 at the Bankstown Basketball Stadium, with the Bruins facing the Sharks and the Panthers playing the Hornets.
North Sydney Bears 35 (Parnell 14, Stokes 8) def Hills District Hornets 27 (Carroll 8, Urwin 6)
Sutherland Sharks 84 (Gaze 19, Lester 19, Vasic 17) defeated Penrith Panthers 64 (Spanos 16, Sutherland 14, Wilson 12)
Sharks 13s miss out
The Sutherland Shire Sharks under 13s went down 1 nil in a hard fought preliminary final last weekend. Their victorious opponents, the Marconi Stallions, now go on to take on the Blacktown City Demons in the grand final next weekend.
The 13s team was the Shire's last representative in the premiership race.
Blacktown City Demons are the most successful premier youth league club with four teams in the five grand finals, closely followed by Marconi Stallions with three teams.
Malone’s right above the water.
Sutherland Leisure Centre (SLC) Aquadot member, Erin Malone, has the underwater world right beneath her, after producing some outstanding performances in all her major swimming competitions this year. Malone was a prominent figure at the recent Australian All Schools Championships held in Hobart, racking up an astounding seven championship medals, just days before her HSC trial examinations.
The 17-year-old, who is currently completing her final year of schooling at Kirrawee High, has had a busy year intertwining her studies with her hectic swimming schedule, leaving very little time for her own pleasure. Despite this and having to battle illness prior to the swim meet along with a clump of study for exams, Malone didn’t let the outside-world get to her as she effectuated an impressive display of swimming, with five of the seven medals shining gold, along with one silver and one bronze.
In what would be her last All Schools swimming competition, study was the least of her worries, with the school girl claiming the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke trio - the highlight of her performance.
“Australian All Schools this year was pretty amazing because I went in thinking I was pretty unfit so to win the breaststroke swims was absolutely awesome but to win the 200m individual medley was also pretty cool,” Malone said.
Schools across the country have competed in swimming meets throughout the year and the best swimmers were selected from each event to go through to the next stage. The Australian All Schools Swimming Championships was the culmination of all school events.
Having won the 200m and claiming second spot in the 100m breaststroke at the Australian Age Swimming Championships earlier this year, All Schools was just another step closer towards Malone’s preparation for the 2008 Australian Championships (Olympic Swimming Trials). Once her HSC is completed, Malone is set to knuckle down and commit to her full training schedule in order to be at her peak come early next year.
“I’ll still need a rest but because I missed parts of training due to school anyway, it will be good just to be able to complete full training sessions rather than missing parts,” she said.
Asked whether she had any expectations or goals for the trials, Malone said she just wanted to continue training hard and would be satisfied with breaking her personal best (PB) times.
“I’d really like to make a final and it would be awesome to hopefully clock a time under my PB’s for the 100m and 200m, but at the end of the day all I can do is train as hard as I can and give it my best,” she said.
“Things don’t always work out as you plan, and you have to expect the unexpected and be prepared for the worst but then again my favourite quote is don’t wait for it to happen because it probably won’t, you have to make it happen… so I guess it works both ways.”
Keep your eyes peeled for Malone at the 2008 Telstra Australian Championships which will be held in March next year at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Homebush.
Story by Reece Carter. More Stories?
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