Sport
14 September, 2021
An open race to basketball finals
A FEW new faces have emerged mid-season in the local Mareeba men’s Basketball, creating a level of uncertainty as to which team will be victorious come finals in November.
A FEW new faces have emerged mid-season in the local Mareeba men’s Basketball, creating a level of uncertainty as to which team will be victorious come finals in November.
A subset of these players are veterans of the game, such as Mizhar Saba and Clinton Cameron, while others including Tyson Tatti have youthful legs.
In the 6:30 pm game last Thursday night, the Buckets could only field four of their roster, assuring Stingrays yet another win.
At 7:45 pm, Saba started solid for the Ballers as they went up against the Red Devils, providing a steadying influence and Tatti looked to be moving well.
For Ballers, the absence of key player Dean Gallo was problematic with the Red Devils inside line up of Dave McGrath, Sep Aloia and Andy Harris comfortably controlling rebounds at each end and despatching their opponents 69 points to 61.
Red-hot shooting from guard, Zayd Myrteza peeled off 26 of the Devil’s points and Luke Fresta showed glimpses of the offensive threat he has been in seasons gone by.
Ultimately, an inability to count to five, dogged Tatti in his return game, as he could be seen pleading with officials to give him the opportunity to obtain a sixth personal foul.
The 15-minute quarter format presents special challenges for marquee players, and in a rather light-hearted on court moment, the referees reminded Tatti that each player is allowed just five personal fouls before being asked to take a seat.
