Geraldton basketball round 13: Trades get up over Hawks while Liam Bennett drops 52 points against Stateside

Trades pulled off their second upset in a row with a 109-94 triumph over the Hawks on Wednesday, while Chapman Valley and Olympians both walked away with big wins.

After a slow start to their season going 1-9, Trades have turned the ship around and gone 3-1 in their past four games, including the upset win over a tough Hawks side, who were without league-leading scorer Bob Griechen.

The clash was one of the most competitive matches of the season, which included 16 lead changes and the scores tied up 11 times.

But it was Trades who looked in control going into the fourth with their team effort.

However, they could do little to stop Buccaneers Fletcher Klasztorny and Ryan Blanchett, who both got to the rim with ease.

The match was tied up 80 each at the start of the fourth as Joseph Iaria hit a fade away to take the lead, but Klasztorny went straight to the basket to tie the game.

The shooting effort from Jake Baker became the difference, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to put Trades up by seven.

As the game started to get away, Blanchett got a quick score but Trades continued to make tough shots and took long possessions to drain the clock.

A double foul saw Trades’ Ben Svenson foul out of the game, leaving the side undersized, but not long after Blanchett fouled out as well and Trades held the lead, winning 109-94.

Campbell Surtees (27 points, including five threes) and Lachlan Morphew (24 points) had their best scoring night this season in the win.

Baker (24) also went off in the win, sinking six from deep, while Klasztorny (32) and Blachett (30) carried most of the scoring load for the Hawks.

In the other Wednesday game, Olympians slaughtered Stateside in a blowout.

The struggling Scorpions, who are yet to grab a win this season, had no answers for Olympians’ scoring assault all game, especially with Liam Bennett taking over.

Olympians did not take their foot off the pedal, scoring at least 35 points each quarter as they finished with the highest score this season in the 144-69 blowout.

The game saw Olympians drop the highest score, have the biggest margin and the highest individual score for the season, with Bennett going off for 52 points.

With the loss and Trades getting the win, Stateside now officially take home the wooden spoon for the 2023-24 season.

The Tuesday match saw Chapman Valley continue their undefeated streak as they notched a 28-point win over Pumas.

While the end result looked like another blowout, Pumas stayed competitive throughout most of the match before Valley ran away with it late in the third.

Both sides were missing key players, with Valley being down Llewyn Valli and Pumas without Harry Evans.

The game was tight early and Valley had no issues scoring in the post or grabbing offensive rebounds with their height advantage across the board.

Pumas’ shooting kept them in the game as a Toby Gerreyn three in the second quarter decreased the margin to four, before Valley put up eight unanswered points.

A late scoring run from Pumas made it just a six-point game heading into the half, but the league leader in threes kept the run going as Aaron Ralph was getting hot from range and Pumas’ perimeter defence couldn’t contain it.

The one-two punch of Ralph from deep and either Russell Hurst or Mathew Wundenberg inside the paint continued to roll as Chapman Valley ran away with the game late, winning 102-74.

Ralph dropped a game-high 35 with nine threes, while Gerreyn (19) sunk five from deep in the loss.

In the division two matches, Stateside and Olympians ended in a 66-66 draw, Pumas notched a 65-52 win over Chapman Valley and Trades kept rolling with a 79-46 victory against Hawks.