Geraldton basketball round 10: Chapman Valley drop 32 points in the fourth to avoid upset against the Hawks

Chapman Valley pulled out a massive fourth quarter against the Hawks to avoid an upset and keep their undefeated streak alive in round 10 of the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association. The two sides clashed on Wednesday, with Valley being the heavy favourite given their record as they faced the third-placed Hawks. The pace of play was set early, as Chapman Valley’s Aaron Ralph banked three within seconds of the game beginning. The first quarter was a shootout between Valley’s Russell Hurst and Hawks’ Ryan Blanchett, as the players accounted for more than half of their teams’ score with 13 and 15 points respectively. Going into the second, the Hawks held the lead but Chapman Valley’s Mat Wundenberg tied the game up quickly, and came up big in the quarter as he sunk a three at the buzzer to put them up by one heading into the half. Hawks put up a big defensive effort in the third, as they outscored Valley and capitalised on opportunities given, including Blanchett who drew a foul from an inbound pass with 0.5 seconds left, putting them up four instead of two heading into the fourth. However, the Hawks fell off in the fourth quarter, as Chapman Valley scored seven straight and out scored the Hawks by 20 points to post 32 points in the last, running away with a 93-77 win. A majority of Chapman Valley’s score came from their three Buccaneers stars, as Hurst, Ralph and Wundenberg accounted for 82 points combined. Blanchett was the Hawks’ lead scorer with 28 points. The late Wednesday match up for men’s division one was an offensive shootout between the Pumas and the Olympians. Tom Dobson dominated the start of the game, with him scoring eight points straight to increase a six-point lead to a 12-point lead, and he ended up with 19 points in the first. Down by 21 points heading into the second, the Olympians put up a big scoring quarter to make the game competitive, as Liam Bennett took over to get his side back in the game. The second half saw both sides continue their offensive assaults, but Pumas managed to keep the Olympians at arm’s reach and end the game with a 105-92 win. Dobson dropped 34 points with six threes in the win, but the game’s biggest effort came from Bennett, who dropped 42 points in his best game this season In the Tuesday match, Trades picked up their second win of the season with this one coming against a struggling Stateside again. The Scorpions held the lead in the first quarter but Trades out paced them the rest of the game and grabbed a 85-61 win. Trades’ success came as a team effort, with no individual player standing out and six out of their seven scoring double digit points. Jake Baker led in scoring with 15 points while Joseph Iaria and Ben Svenson were close behind with 14 each, while Lucas Ronan was the game’s top scorer, dropping 17 points for the Scorpions. In men’s division two, Trades keep their undefeated run going with a 48-44 win over Stateside, Pumas won a 46-45 thriller against Olympians and Chapman Valley picked up a 63-55 victory against Hawks.