Basketball Report – Shore vs Newington

Saturday February 25th

T. B. Graetz

The showdown between Shore’s GPS first and seconds and the skilled and composed Newington squads was set to be a formidable encounter from the outset. The venue, Newington’s homecourt, a place renowned for being one of the most difficult courts to play on, demanded a high level of focus and determination from the boys and their respective teams.

Plagued by injuries from the previous week, the Shore firsts faced the challenge of the tough job ahead against the current GPS leaders, Newington’s firsts. The start of the game saw a competitive run from our boys, disrupting Newington’s offensive sets to contribute to some quick points in transition and onto the score board. As the game progressed, Newington’s composure and ability to penetrate the defence overwhelmed our ability to fight back, going down against a tough, hard-working team 93-49. Thomas Graetz led all scorers with 14 points.

For the seconds, the matchup was equally as competitive, fighting against the opposition with purpose, applying pressure on both ends of the court. The boys fought it out until the end, maintaining a relatively short point difference the entire game before eventually succumbing to a 60-49 deficit, with Ben Barry leading all scorers with 15 points.

Both games were fiercely competitive, with challenging conditions making it difficult for either team to establish their footing early on. Nevertheless, both squads fought hard, using their skill and teamwork to overcome the hurdles that lay before them. Such difficult matchups are a true test of a team’s resilience and ability to perform, and it is a testament to the calibre of both Shore and Newington’s GPS squads that they were able to compete at such a high level on this challenging stage. Next week’s matchup will be a GPS classic round, taking on Riverviews forces at their homecourt. With just three weeks left in the season, we want to see as much Blue and White Army support as possible, so if you have the chance to come and watch the boys play, do so. Some highlights of this week’s showdown captured in true fashion by photograph-extraordinaire, George Davis (Year 12).