GPS First V Basketball: Rd 2’s top performers highlighted here
Who starred in Round 2 of the GPS First V basketball competition? The list features a terrific trio from BBC, spark plugs from overtime winners TSS and a Churchie boy with a knack for turning it on in the fourth quarter.
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The GPS First V basketball was in full swing following two exciting opening rounds of matches.
In round two, Brisbane Boys’ College opened their account with a convincing 91-66 win over Brisbane State High.
ROUND 2 GPS FIRST XV RUGBY TEAM OF THE WEEK
Terrace, like Brisbane Grammar did the week prior, went toe to toe with Churchie into the fourth quarter before Nash Harding and his band of teammates lifted to snare their second successive victory.
Up the range, Toowoomba Grammar dealt with business by winning 91-61 over visitors Ipswich Grammar and at Nudgee, the home side fell agonisingly short in overtime, The Southport School completed a thrilling second half comeback to win 84-73 and keep their winning streak alive.
See below some of the standout performers from across the competition.
ROUND 3 GAMES (Home side on the left):
BGS v Terrace
IGS v BBC
Churchie v Nudgee
TSS v TGS
GPS BASKETBALL ROUND TWO TOP PERFORMERS
Zeke Byrne (BBC)
Head coach Mike Ayanbadejo has a promising squad this year and leading the way down low will be man mountain Zeke Byrne.
In spurts on Saturday, Byrne was unstoppable in the paint and his sheer size, strength and physicality will likely see him post a double double every game, provided he stays out of foul trouble.
What makes him so dangerous is he knows where to position himself and he has a soft touch with both hands.
Cooper Wilson (BBC)
Sometimes you need someone to come off the bench, make an impact with winning plays and bring energy.
When things were in the balance on Saturday, Cooper Wilson took his chance to swing momentum and did just that, sparking a huge run for the home side who turned an even affair at halftime to a 25 point win.
Wilson was a pest on defence, boxed out well, made the right passes and was all-round-efficient in his crucial cameo off the bench.
Lee Van der Westhuizen (BBC)
Tall, athletic and versatile, Westhuizen delivered in BBC’s opening match of the season.
After a disrupted 2023 season with injury, the rangy forward converted his looks and held BBC’s defence together on the other end where his long wingspan and communication prevented BSHS’s strike weapons from finding a rhythm.
CJ Amos (Brisbane State High)
Ball security plagued Brisbane State High for much of the game and CJ Amos upheld his end of the bargain by treasuring possession.
Amos was his selfless self, looking to find others cutting but shots just weren’t falling for the visitors.
Expect a more aggressive showing from the slick point guard when Brisbane State High host Ipswich Grammar in round four.
Geoffrey Peterson (Brisbane State High)
Brisbane State High big man Peterson would be the first to say he could have done more in Saturday’s clash but that is the hungry, competitive forward he is.
Against an amped up BBC, Peterson was one of his team’s more impressive players who did not let the flow of the match take him away from getting down to business where he is most dominant - in the post.
Cayden Brown and Will Ilsley (TSS)
Brown and Ilsley were in charge of slowing down Nudgee prime mover Rylan Carlisle and while he was still productive, the TSS pair did a stellar job.
Brown came out of the halftime break with a chip on his shoulder and helped engineer a gallant third quarter comeback.
In overtime, Brown and Ilsley’s harassing defence proved the difference as their active hands and ability to stay in front of their rivals saw Nudgee struggle to get the looks they were converting in the first half.
Riley Oberman (TSS)
Before Nudgee could run away with it, Oberman intervened and swung momentum back in his team’s favour to ensure an undefeated start ahead of head coach Antony Petrie’s return for round three.
After Nudgee had come out the gates strong and TSS the opposite, Oberman manned up on defence, dominated on the glass and ran the floor to kick his team into gear.
After a handful of tough finishes at the cup, Oberman had well and truly got his teammates locked back in and from there, who was stopping an Oberman inspired TSS outfit that found their rhythm by basing their offence around Oberman and Nikos Karathanosopolous?
Jack Tweedy (TSS)
All good players fire when the hips are down and in an overtime thriller on Saturday, Tweedy rose from a shaky first quarter to deliver a poised and precious fourth quarter showing.
Double teamed by scrappy Nudgee defenders, Tweedy remained calm and composed under fatigue and sank timely buckets in the second half when TSS flipped a 47-29 deficit into a 84-73 win.
He has played over 90 minutes in two games this season.
Theo Hess (TGS)
Toowoomba Grammar were the real deal this year and will be tested in the next fortnight when they travel to Southport before hosting Churchie.
Theo Hess has been a revelation in the opening two rounds, the much improved three dimensional scorer putting his off-season work into action with a game high 21 points.
An interior presence who altered shots and grappled for rebounds, Hess pulled down seven rebounds in just over 20 minutes on the court and in transition was just as efficient.
Elijah Girdler (TGS)
While Keahn Tuakura’s dominance down low and the ball handling of Tawana Ngorima and Tyler Saul was influential, spark plug Elijah Girdler made a tremendous impact coming off the bench.
The Year 11 student made a point that he can do a job and more on his way to 11 points and five rebounds in just 15 minutes of game time.
It is performances like those that Toowoomba Grammar will need over the coming weeks.
Tobias Adams (TGS)
Adams and Girdler must have held a secret meeting in the pre-game warm up discussing how they were going to influence the match off the bench because the duo delivered.
In a 15 minute cameo off the bench, Year 11 wing Adams pitched in a valuable 16 points.
Kurt Siwek (Churchie)
Can we get a round of applause for leaning tower of Churchie, Kurt Siwek.
The towering centre played just 13 minutes in his return from injury and in that time he chipped in a valuable 14 points and reeled in seven rebounds, with a two-hand jam a nice highlight for the big man.
Nash Harding (Churchie)
Nash “fourth quarter” Harding made a winning impact for Churchie in Saturday’s clash.
After producing similar heroics the week prior in a tight one against Brisbane Grammar, Harding maintained the rage to produce another stellar fourth quarter showing where his prowess from deep shot Terrace out of the game.
Connor Davidson (Churchie)
It was a fantastic team effort from the visitors who needed to topple Terrace, who are better than their 0-2 record suggests.
Oliver Crum and Maxim Ure were solid off the bench, Oskar Olechnowicz was his usual self, dropping in 23 points and grabbing seven rebounds and young guns Noah Kirk and Andrew Watene reliable.
After making a positive impact in round one, Connor Davidson again shone for his side, the powerful, well-balanced forward scoring 20 points and bringing down 11 rebounds.
He was dominant on the glass.
Corey Laffan (Terrace)
Talk about a captain’s knock, the Gregory Terrace skipper had just that against a deep Churchie side with Queensland representatives like Andrew Watene and Noah Kirk coming off the bench.
Laffan was Terrace’s prime mover, in the first quarter right through to the last where he was still making plays.
The elite three level scorer stuffed the stat sheet to finish with 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists and five steals.
He did not overplay his hand either. His numbers tell a tale of a selfless leader who can take matters into his own hands and also facilitate the success of teammates, namely Luca Anderson.
Luca Anderson (Terrace)
On Saturday, Year 10 student Anderson stood tall against an imposing Churchie outfit with a clear size advantage.
Despite being in Year 10, Anderson was fearless, confident and of course he had the natural talent which created a cocktail for success.
He finished with 28 points and seven assists and under plenty of pressure, he did well not to turn the ball over more.
Rylan Carlisle (Nudgee)
After producing arguably the most impressive individual performance in a losing side in round one, Carlisle was again front and centre for Nudgee with a tireless showing at home.
Despite rarely getting a rest during the game, Carlisle operated at full pelt from start to finish and was still efficient, spearheading his team’s excellent first half.
He knows how to get to the stripe and when he does he takes full advantage.
Originally published as GPS First V Basketball: Rd 2’s top performers highlighted here
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