Geraldton basketball round 15: Hawks put an end to Chapman Valley’s undefeated run while Olympians seal second

In a wild final round of the Geraldton Basketball Association, the Hawks snapped Chapman Valley’s undefeated streak but despite their efforts the Olympians clutched second spot.

The Hawks were sitting at third on the ladder and had a shot of jumping to second, but they needed to win their game and have Olympians lose.

Standing in the Hawks’ way were undefeated minor premiers Chapman Valley, who had won 14 straight games and needed one more for the perfect in-season record.

The game started slowly, with a three from Aaron Ralph coming early, but it then went scoreless until a Hawks bucket four minutes into the game.

It came from Bob Griechen, who returned to the side after State duties with the under-20s WA team, and immediately made an impact.

The Hawks went on a scoring run to close out the quarter and took a seven-point lead heading into the second, where Valley were able to tie the game up quickly.

Griechen put up seven unanswered points to give the Hawks back the lead, and they were then able to score consistently, while stopping any big runs from Valley.

At the half Hawks held a 14-point lead and Griechen was hot in his return, accounting for 22 of the Hawks’ 44 points in the first half.

Coming out of the break, Xavier Wright hit a dagger three to increase the Hawks’ lead.

Valley missed open shots and Hawks punished them, with a Theo Bennett three making it a 20-point game.

The game tightened up as neither side hit the scoreboard for a long stretch in the third.

The Hawks were able to hold on and ran away with the game in the fourth, getting up 97-75 and handing Valley their first loss of the season, ruining their perfect record in the final regular season game.

In his return match Greichen scored 34 points in the win, while Ralph (36) had another big shooting night with six threes, but it wasn’t enough for the win.

With the regular season wrapped up, Griechen finished as the league-leading scorer with 397 points, averaging 30.5 points per game.

Ralph came a close second with 346 points, averaging 28.8 points per game along with a league-high 75 threes, averaging just above six per game.

After their win, the Hawks needed a Pumas victory to keep their hopes alive of stealing second spot.

However, Olympians had different plans, coming out with a 32-point first quarter.

Pumas found success at the rim all game but couldn’t keep up with Olympians, who kept them at arm’s length for the match.

Olympians took care of business with the 110-81 win over Pumas, solidifying their spot in the qualifying final.

Liam Bennett (34) and Johny Narkle (23) had big games for Olympians, while Pumas’ top scorers were Farren Parfitt (20) and Toby Gerreyn (20).

In the Tuesday game both Trades and Stateside play in their last game for the season, with neither side in finals.

Trades continued their hot form to get an 82-63 win over Stateside, who finish their season without a win.

Lachlan Morphew had 22 points for Trades, while Stuart Egan’s 15 points led Stateside.

Now the focus shifts to finals, with the first round taking place on Monday when the Hawks and Pumas clash in the elimination match.

Then on Tuesday, it will be Chapman Valley taking on Olympians, with the winner punching their ticket into the grand final.

In the men’s division two games another undefeated run was snapped as Trades were handed their first loss by Stateside, 40-34. Pumas got a 77-63 over Olympians and Chapman Valley beat the Hawks 110-63.