Churchie use dominant fourth quarter to beat GPS dark horses, TSS on home court
Favourites to take out this year’s GPS Basketball premiership, Churchie’s season was almost thrown into disarray against The Southport School before a dominant fourth quarter which could have saved their title hopes.
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GPS Basketball defending premiers Churchie have survived a massive scare from competition dark horses, The Southport School on the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon.
Despite trailing for the entire first three quarters of the game, Churchie took the lead after a 6-0 run to start the fourth period and never looked back to finish with a 97-89 victory.
Their run to start the fourth turned into a 12-0 run with the relentless full-court defensive pressure from last year’s joint champions forcing the hosts into multiple turnovers and allowing the visitors to score in transition.
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The pace in the fourth quarter meant young Churchie guard, Kobe McDowell-White could control the game – dishing out assists for transition lay-ups as well as finding his own way to the basket and also nailing a big three-point basket to all-but seal the game.
Churchie’s depth also shun through in the last as Jacob Marchant, Aidan Summerfield, Ethan Taafe and national program big man Harrison Pennisi also helped lead their team to a 24-15 fourth quarter.
Earlier in the game, it was TSS who dictated the pace, slowing down the visitors with a zone defence, which forced Churchie into contested jump shots.
TSS guard and Queensland representative Preston Le Gassick got the better of the guard battle early in the game with his teammates following his lead.
Without state player, Lloyd McVeigh, the hosts looked the better side for the first three quarters and even held a double-digit lead with two minutes left in the first half.
As Petrie identified in the lead-up, handling Churchie’s full court pressure was essential, and they did that for most of the game before that all changed in the fourth.
The result leaves Churchie undefeated and still favourites for this year’s title, alongside last year’s joint champions, St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace, while TSS will still be confident of challenging this season after playing without McVeigh.