After a slow start to the tournament in game 1 against Bullen (who eventually won the age group), the U16.1 Boys Falcons were admirably able to regroup and comfortably beat a quality team in Eltham (who have already qualified for Vic Championship) in the game 2. The Falcons were well supported with standout games from Patrick Stanton and Max Pertzel with solid defensive contributions from Mitchell Horne.
Game 3 saw the U16.1 Boys surrender the lead to Hawthorn in the final minute, a lead which they held 39 out of the 40 minute match. It was a tight contest, and the Falcons nearly managed to steal the game back with a super effort by Kris Kirton on the buzzer, the first attempt unfortunately rimmed out and his 2nd and 3rd efforts were strongly contested. Despite the lose the team showed great improvement. Previously, in Phase 1 of grading Hawthorn had beaten Waverley by 18-points.
In its final pool game the U16.1 Boys were facing a Blackburn team who had beaten them by 35-points in a preseason practice game. Only a win by more than 6 points would qualify the team for finals. After a fast start, the Falcons held on to a 3-point lead at the half. With Blackburn looking more comfortable with the contest, the Falcons remained resolute and built a match wining 15-point lead. The final result saw the U16.1s take the victory by 10-points and qualify for the finals.
Stand out games were had be Mitchell Horne, James Perrin.
The Quarter Finals was against Diamond Valley a team who have also qualified for VC. Again the Falcons got of to a solid start were were slowly overtaken buy a very well organized DV team.
Diamond Valley took the lead with minutes to play and looked the likely winners, until a strong fight back at the close saw the Falcons get within 1 shot of the tie.
After some solid defensive by Cater Dickinson, the Falcons came up with the ball and took shot to tie the game with the buzzer blaring. There was suspicions of a foul, but in the end the shot rebounded off the iron, and Diamond Valley deservedly took the spoils.
The team made great strides towards achieving its first goal of qualifying for Victorian Championship over the cause of the tournament. Achieving the finals was a good result and a step in the right direction.
The team is hoping to build on this momentum, as phase 2 of qualifying comes around in the next few weeks, and do what it can to qualify for Vic Championship
Congratulations to the boys and best of luck with the season ahead, it will be hard work, but it will be fun and rewarding!
Coach Anthony Dimitracopoulos
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