By Dion Stergiopoulos
After a tough loss in round 9 on the road against the Canberra Gunners Academy, the St George Saints Mens White team returned home last Saturday 31 May to face off against 1st place Moss Vale Magic.
Eager to put last week’s loss behind them, the Saints disrupted the Magic early on defence, forcing some easy misses.
Saints centres Ross Aliferis and Jack Ticic, looked to be the bright sparks early on both ends of the floor in the first quarter leading from the front to give St George an early lead. Yianni Trikilis controlled the plays as point guard, showing his true basketball class.
Some hot shooting from outside last in the quarter saw the Magic take a nine-point lead heading into the second term (17-26).
The Magic remained hot from 3-point range to begin the second quarter, extending their lead beyond double digits.
The Saints could not get into a rhythm during the second period, with sloppy turnovers and rushed plays on offense derailing any chance of a comeback, with the Magic taking a 19-point lead into the halftime break (32-51).
The second half was more of the same with the Magic’s suffocating full court press, not allowing the Saints any room to breathe.
Three early fouls for the Magic looked to provide a glimmer of hope for a Saints charge, however the Saints defence continued to give up too many easy backets inside with Moss Vale staying one step ahead of the hosts.
The Magic continued to pile on the points, scoring 33 points for the quarter and taking a commanding lead, heading into the fourth quarter (51-84).
The final quarter was much of the same; the Saints looked dejected and frustrated on both sides of the ball with the Magic continuing to add to their already commanding lead, scoring at will from in the paint and from long range.
In the end it wasn’t much of a contest, with Moss Vale cruising to a massive 36-point victory (71-106).
Saints head coach George Aliferis said that there is more work to be done heading into another tough road trip.
“It was a tough loss, we always knew it was going to be a difficult game,” he said.
“We had them worried in the first quarter, however our inexperience showed in the second quarter… I was pleased to see we narrowed the deficit in the fourth quarter, but we do have a lot of work to do.”
Jayden Tanevski (sponsored by the Athlete Lab) top scored once again for the Saints finishing with 28 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, with Yianni Trikilis (sponsored by Jas Transport) contributed with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists and Ross Aliferis (sponsored by Valsamis & Associates) finished with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.
The Saints will head out back on the road following the Kings Birthday long weekend when they travel to face off against Port Macquarie Dolphins on Saturday 14 June.
