Canberra to Woollongong (Illawarra Hawks)

Safely collecting the billets from the Institute car park, the buses hit the road for a quick tour of Canberra and viewing of Parliamanent house, after a small chat with the Federal police re parking, Antonios Crupi could have  had a close encounter with Julia Gillard, but had settle for a man in a suit instead. We headed out of Canberra and onto the famous Robertson Pie shop where our boys and Issy once again got to demonstrate their push up technique under the instruction of Coach Marsh, due to the boys and Issy temporarily forgetting their manners in public.

The next highlight of the day was having the opportunity to to play at one of the most infamous basketball stadiums in Australia "The Snake pit" and fulfilling Coach Treasures burning desire to hoist the illusive trophy.

Girls 1 lost to Illawarra 51 - 43
Started off slow  and were 10 points down at quarter time a much stronger performance in the second quarter when we got back to 1 point difference.The third quarter was neck and neck  after snatching the lead we found ourself with a three point deficit at three quarter time. They overpowered us in the fourth quarter as their size and strength was too much for our girls.  Frankie upped the the tempo and played a very strong game. Emma continued her good shooting from the previous night with some nice baskets from long range. Ali and Cassidy stepped up to play 3 quarters for the first team, helping to polish their skills and to support the bench.

Girls 2 defeated Illawarra 27-24

Another slow start against a tall team the girls picked up thier defence in the second quarter and found themselves 2 points ahead at half time. The defence was solid and finally some shots began to sink. We were front runners for the whole last quarter and managed to control the tempo of the game and held on for a thrilling three point victory. Cassidy stepped up agianst a much taller opponent and shut them down along the way collecting numerous rebounds and points. Sarah and Fleur were tenacious in defence collecting steals, causing turnovers and cleaning the glass.

Boys 2 defeated Illawarra 65-19

From start to finish the  boys were on fire and the hawks were unable to put the brakes on. Unfortuantley for the opposition they could not extinguish the  red hot sabres players, from there it downhill all the way. Coach Marsh tried to drop the  the game down a gear and shuttled his players down the bench, though the boys cruised their way to a comfortable "W" led by Dave Faulkner's dominance in the paint, Sammy Gall burnt rubber all night leaving the opposition eating dust.

Boys 1 defeated Illawarra 56-40

The boys started off with  blitzing form with the help of Mitch's strong offensive rebounding and Lachies hustle, the game tightened up in the second quarter with the hawks  getting back into the game. With the extra minute at half time throwing the boys routine out of sync. The last quarter was impressive after coach Lemons imparted his inspirational, instructional and motivational address to the boys. Finn rose to the challenge with a massive block in the fourth quarter, bringing the crowd to its feet. Tim Tarantos terrific triple put a nail in the coffin which sealed the deal reclaiming the Illawarra Hawks/Sandringham Sabres Cup for the next 12 months.