Geraldton basketball round 10 preview: Hawks face tall task in undefeated Valley while bottom teams chase wins

Hawks will look to be the side to take down the Chapman Valley juggernaut in a comeptitive round 10 in men’s division one of the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association. Undefeated Chapman Valley will take on the third-placed Hawks on Wednesday in the early game. Valley continue to be the team to beat, which no one has managed to do yet, as they roll through the competition. Even without their leading scorer Aaron Ralph last week, it didn’t seem to be an issue for Chapman Valley as they blew out Stateside by 61 points. The Hawks have played up and down, and currently have a 5-4 record which could just as easily be 8-1, with three losses coming by two points or less. In a late charge last week, the Hawks had the chance to win the game after being a long way off early, but fell just short against the Pumas. The second-against-fourth clash has the Pumas against Olympians, with the last game being decided by eight points in Olympians’ favour. Pumas, on the other side of the matchup, held off the Hawks from making a big comeback, but will have a hard time pulling away with a close win against a strong Olympians team. Olympians sit at second on the ladder, with their only two losses coming from Chapman Valley, but have matched up well against the rest of the competition. The Tuesday match has Trades going against Stateside, with both sides hungry for wins. Trades have only one win for the season, which was a 21-point victory against Stateside in round five, and the Scorpions are currently winless. Both teams have had less then ideal seasons, and are looking unlikely to secure a spot in the finals, and a win this week could start a late season push for either side. The women’s division one matches kicked off the round 10 action on Monday, with Trades against Stateside and Pumas against Olympians while Chapman Valley got the bye.