Basketball Players Earn Respect at CBSQ Wildcard Tournament
For the first time in King’s Pimpama’s history, our open boys entered the CBSQ wildcard tournament. Our goal was to qualify for the CBSQ tournament and be a part of the biggest school competition in the country. The boys had to meet up at school at 6.30 am to be taken out to Northside Basketball Centre in North Brisbane. There were over 40 teams and only 4 spots available.
The boys were excited and well-prepared. Going in knowing that it was a long shot, team captains Emmanuel and Aldo were both positive and excited about the challenge. Coach Jordan said “We have nothing to lose, and no one expects much from us, so there is no pressure on us. We have trained and prepared as much as we possibly could have so all we have to do is leave it all out there on the court, stick together and have fun.”
We arrived at the stadium and watched the games before us. Everyone was quietly nervous but excited to get out on the court. With the exceptional work from Team Captain Emanuel Ferisa (who managed to secure our own personal changeroom for the tournament), we knew we were off to a good start. After a prayer from the players and last words from Coaches Jordan and Daniel, it was game time.
GAME 1 vs Kimberley
We started off trading baskets going back and forth before a corner 3 from Aldo Van Deventer and some great defence as a team kickstarted us to go on a bit of a run and stretch out our lead. To end the half Mania Morgan hit a deep bank 3 from almost halfway on the buzzer that sent the Kings boys into the half with a lot of confidence.
To start the third quarter Kings started to put their foot down and stretch out the lead. Leading rebounder off the bench Kaylen Simmons helped the team out off the bench grabbing 10 rebounds and a couple of assists. This game was a really great team effort with everyone chipping in and contributing.
King's Pimpama ended up winning the first game 41 – 14.
Game 2 vs MOB
Our second game was a tough one. It was against one of the toughest teams in the competition, Men Of Business (MOB). They were a tough outfit that showed off some really good talent. They had a lot of talent and representative players that we knew would be a really strong test for us.
The game couldn’t have started worse for us with a quick tip for a bucket in less than 3 seconds.
King’s were stung by the Zone defence and quick transition play that Mob showed in the first half. We went down by 28 in the first half. (MOB 30 – King’s 4)
At the half, some adjustments were made, and King’s were able to compete. Our goal was to win the second half, and we did. The final score was - MOB 40 vs. King’s 17. It was a great second-half performance led by Tobias Morgan. King’s showed a lot of courage not to give up. In the end, MOB were able to hold on to their lead and cruise their way to the finals.
Game 3 vs Loganlea
Loganlea were so big and strong that they looked like a rugby team, but the Kings boys were focused and prepared to put it all out on the line to make sure that they would secure a spot in the knockout rounds the next day.
The game was very scrappy and physical as expected. Kings’ boys were forced to take on some big bodies and found themselves down at the quarter. Some big plays from Tom O’Connor and tough defence from Emanuel Ferisa helped King’s grind out a tough win being down a key player (Aldo) due to fouling out.
The boys were ecstatic about the day as we had won 2 out of 3 games and secured a spot in the knockout rounds where we would meet at the same place to do it all again the next day. Kings 27 vs. Loganlea 23
Game 4 finals vs. Bremer
Knockout stages - Kings boys were focused and ready for their first game of day two vs. Bremer (Ipswich). Bremer had a lot of size with some big players that King’s had to guard. King’s were definitely outsized but that didn’t stop them from competing. Bremer led for most of the game and King’s were playing catch-up basketball. Back-to-back 3s by Tom O’Connor helped the Kings boys stay within range only being down by 6 points at the end of the 3rd quarter.
In the 4th quarter, Bremer caught fire and Kings had no answers. The effort was there but Bremer was too good in the end winning the game 40-22.
It was disappointing not to qualify in the CBSQ tournament but to be able to get into the knockout stages and compete against some really good competition has opened the eyes of our athletes and given them a clear feel for what is to be expected this time next year.
The tournament that was entered was an open tournament for all ages from Year 12. King's Pimpama students are only in Year 11 in 2023 and half of our team are in Year 10 so to be competing as the youngest team, winning two games and losing two games in total was a more than respectable outcome for our basketball program.
See you next year!
