By Dion Stergiopoulos
On the back of a horrible defeat in their return home in round 8, the St George Saints Mens White team went back on the road last weekend with a road trip to Canberra to take on the Gunners.
With a strong week of preparation, the young Saints team was confident they could come into enemy territory and upset one of the competition favourites.
The Gunners were keen to set the pace early and got out to a fast start hitting several three pointers from their key players, on the back of the vocal support from the home crowd.
Despite being down ten points at the end of the first quarter (25-35), the Saints were still in the game and believed they could make a comeback.
The second quarter was tightly contested, with the Saints’ defence and great shooting bringing the deficit down to single digits at the half time break (53-59).
The Gunners went on a roll to start the second half, with their senior players showcasing their experience against the young Saints side, further increasing their lead heading into the final quarter (71-86).
The final quarter saw the Saints fight back to try a pull off a major upset, bringing themselves within six points of the Gunners.
The Gunners were too strong in the end with their squad depth keeping them head of the Saints, walking away with the 15-point victory (93-108).
Despite the unfortunate loss, the performance from the Saints was well above their expectations and really put the pressure on Canberra.
Saints head coach George Aliferis was proud of his team’s efforts and believes they can match it with the best.
“I was proud of the passion and determination the boys showed today… even though we lost, we proved we can match it with the best teams in the competition,” George said.
Jayden Tanevski (sponsored by the Athlete Lab) was the Saints’ top scorer with 31 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Yianni Trikilis (sponsored by JAS Transport) finished with 27 points, 4 3-pointers, Jack Ticic with 24 points and Ross Aliferis (sponsored by Valsamis & Associates) was crucial in defence finishing with 8 rebounds.
The Saints return home this weekend to face off against second place Moss Vale Magic on Saturday 31 May.
Saints Youth League Mens hold off soaring Falcons
Elsewhere, the St George Saints Youth League Mens Red team travelled to Newcastle last Sunday morning to take on the Newcastle Falcons.
The Saints got off to a hot start early hitting five three pointers in the first quarter to take a slim three-point lead at the end of the first term (26-23).
The Saints ramped up the intensity in the second quarter, getting consecutive defensive stops to extend their lead going into the halftime break (47-39).
St George maintained a strong offensive output in the second half getting out to a double-digit lead, however some sloppy effort on defence put the Falcons in the bonus, allowing them to slow the game down and chip away at the Saints’ lead.
The Saints overcame a disappointing quarter offensively (12 points for the quarter), relying on their defence to close out the Falcons and put the game away.
A late run by the Falcons cut the lead to single digits but wasn’t enough as the Saints held on for the 78-74 victory.
Motheo (Shay) Semausu led the scoring for the Saints with 20 points off the bench along with Maper Maker and Jaxon Jon Frintzilas who both chipped in with 17 points apiece to help the Saints to victory.
The Saints now look ahead to this weekend’s double header, on the road to face Hawksbury Jets on Saturday 31 May then return home on Sunday 1 June against Macarthur Heat.
