At the end of the Winter Season, we were fortunate to see four Woodleigh teams qualify for Grand Finals, in addition to our Woodleigh Vipers, who reached the semi-finals.

It all started on Monday night in the final week of term 3, as our U16 Girls Woodleigh Wolves faced off against the top-placed Flinders Phoenix. Our Wolves valiantly stayed within a few plays of the Phoenix deep into the second half. However, Flinders got away late to take the win 28-16. With the support of coach Lee Burch, this team has made immense progress throughout the Winter Season, and I can’t wait to see them continue in years to come. Well done to Charlotte Calvert, Lyra Colarossi, Zoe Heffernan, Drew Hodgson, Harper Lee, Bella Marden, Amelie Ogier, Milla Purton-Smith, and Juliette Whinney on their Runners Up placing in U16 Girls D

Wednesday night saw a third ‘Woodleigh Derby’ of the season, with the Woodleigh Wombats meeting the Woodleigh Whirlwinds in the Grand Final. Squared at one win a piece for the season, there was more than bragging rights on the line this time. In a tense first half, both teams brought the heat as the Whirlwinds – led by Liam Doyle-Toombs – took a 5-point lead into halftime. The Wombats came out and utilised the fast breaks to hit the front, and in the face of a late push from the Whirlwinds, including a swished three-pointer, the Wombats held on to win 42-37. Across three games this season, the aggregate margin in three ‘Woodleigh Derby' matches was only 13 points.

Congratulations to Whirlwinds consisting of Declan Bowker, Henry Brown, Sonny Collins, Noah Cullen, Felix Doughty, Coby Stewart, and Archie Williams on their Runners Up finish, and to the Wombats of Brodie George, Asher Griffith, Tom McKee, Will Muir-Simpson, Ollie Rivett, Rupert Tiedemann, and Will Loxton-Banks on their Premiers placing in U16 Boys D2. Special mention goes to Tom McKee, who was awarded MVP for the Grand Final.

This coming Saturday (at the time of writing), our U14 Boys Woodleigh Whippets will be contesting their U14 D1 Grand Final. Best of luck to Flynn Gleeson, Blake Gordon, Finn Griffin, Barnaby Jeffs, Xavier Kavanagh, Charlie Pullar, Woody Sheezel, Jummy Tserimetha, and coach Aidan Bolch. They progressed through their Semi-Final by defeating the first-placed Rowellyn Rockets 26-16.

As we move into the Summer Season, we are very excited to see the Woodleigh Basketball program expand to 8 teams, with an additional U16 Girls team coming on board.

Thank you to our coaches Lee, Liam, and Aidan for supporting the growth of our young basketballers.

TOM ANGELICO
Assistant to the Director of Sport