Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association round 14: Chapman Valley continues peaking, beating top-two side

Something seems to be in Chapman Valley’s water, after claiming two nail-biting wins over second-placed Stateside, setting up a high-stakes final round in the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association. The women’s match on Monday night boiled down to a chaotic final period, with Stateside etching its lead out to eight points at one stage. But Valley never relented under tremendous pressure and sheer desperation from both sides, taking more scoring risks to claim a 51-48 win. Valley’s Tegan Brooks embodied that composure, nailing two crucial three-pointers to put her side in front with two minutes remaining, and putting her body on the line to defend that lead. A late foul gave Grace Bowley a free throw, pushing the final margin to three points. She finished on 17 points, along with Stateside’s Charlotte Kennedy. Later, the Chapman Valley men clung on to a three-point victory despite Stateside staging a daring second-half comeback after being 16 points down at halftime. Both sides’ hunger couldn’t be questioned, with the tone set early as Russell Hurst landed a three-pointer in the opening minutes, before finishing on 26 points. He worked in tandem with Elliot Bennett, another solid contributor with 17 points. Post-half-time Stateside looked like a different side as they outscored Valley 12-19 to give themselves momentum heading into the final stanza. Tyrone Papertalk Jr shot five of his 28 points in 30 seconds to briefly take the lead. Beau Simpson and Josh Papertalk also lifted and gave support to their teammate. Hurst and Llewyn Valli quickly responded to swing the scoreboard back in their favour. Scorpion’s Kane Simpson nailed a buzzer-beating three-points, taking the margin to one point, but two fouls on Bennett saw him take the final score to 70-67. Pumas women remain undefeated after outmuscling Trades in a 50-point victory, scoring 76-26 on Tuesday night. Tia Morgan starred with 27 points, while Georgia Farley notched up her second-highest scoring game this season with 16 points. For Trades, Mikala Van Niftrik and Leisha Clarkson did their best, shooting nine and seven points respectively. In the men’s competition, Pumas brushed off last week’s loss to defeat Trades 77-90 later in the evening. Pumas’ Liam Hunt returned to shoot 32 points, as Jarrad Mongoo nailed 28 points while having strong on-court presence. Trades’ Joseph Iaria brought up a career-best 28 points, while Jake Baker had 21 points. Hawks notched up a much-needed win against Olympians on Wednesday night after posting three-straight losses and falling to fourth on the ladder. Levi Owen guided his side to a 116-79 win, shooting 31 points as Noah Bennett and Allen Griechen also shot season-best totals of 19 and 17. For Occys, Liam Bennett and Jayden Bamford did the heavy lifting with 23 and 20 points.