ARTICLE BY ROY WARD
FOR many years Waverley Falcons under-18 sides weren't considered in the top echelon in Victorian junior basketball.
In odd seasons the Falcons fielded strong sides but for the most part they were middle of the rung, but that has changed following the Falcons' win in the under-18 boys competition at the National Junior Classic on Queen's Birthday Monday.
The Falcons beat South Australian club Sturt 72-56 in the gold medal game at Dandenong Stadium and the victory was an important one for the Falcons, who entered the competition as favourites after entering the long weekend on top of the Victorian championship.
The Classic is an invitation-only tournament that brings together the best club sides in Australia in under-12s, under-14s, under-16s and under-18s in boys' and girls' divisions.
The Falcons' win comes after five straight years of strong results at under-18 boys level in both the Classic and Victorian championship play.
Falcons coach Eric Minerve praised his players for withstanding the pressure of being favourites in a very strong field. "This is where a changing of the guard is happening," he said.
"When people spoke about Waverley 10 years ago no one put us in the top sides. In the last five years we've now produced the highest-performing under-18 team in Victoria. Every year we have had a top-four side. We've won some Classics and VC titles.
"In the past when we had been successful it was when no one expected it. This time it had a different mentality because we were targeted by other teams. They were prepared and we took everyone's best hit, yet still prevailed."
Sturt, which beat the Falcons comfortably in last year's Classic, pulled away to a 15-point lead in the gold medal game before the Falcons forced themselves back into the match and took victory in the second half.
"Sturt was a smaller athletic team so they tried to run and expose our bigs on the perimeter by getting them into one-on-one isolation," Minerve said. "They disrupted us a bit at the start but we addressed those problems during the game.
"We went to our centre, Matthew McCarthy, and our best guard, Deng Adel. They are our strength and when they started to make plays then other players started to contribute.
"Matthew won the game most valuable player award, but I would have loved to see it be a dual award because they were equal with each other.
"Deng drew double and triple teams at times, so was able to dump off to Matthew for dunks."
The Falcons have also done well in developing teams that bring players from the Sudanese community into their club.
"We have done a lot of work with families in the Sudanese community in five years. We've built trust because we have done the right thing by the kids," Minerve said.
"The thing is, we treat them the same, no different from any other kids and we make everyone feel welcome at the club.
"It also comes down to kids wanting to play together in their friendship group."
The Falcons under-18s will now look to win another Victorian championship competition with the season continuing over winter.
Waverley Falcons under-18 boys, 2013 National Classic champions: Michael Hatherley, Deng Adel, Lachlan Anthony, Deng Kuany, Matthew McCarthy, Chris Kirton, Ben Buratto, Jason Capper, Fraser Pearce (out injured), Kur Awol, Bol Bak and Daniel Kinkella
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