After a well-earned sleep-in and relaxing morning we headed north-east out of LA for our 10th and final game on tour against Rancho Cucamonga High School. On our arrival we were warmly greeted by the Head Coach, Bill Burke, and made to feel very welcome as we entered the school gym with "Welcome Trinity" and "Welcome Aussies" banners on the walls, and green and white balloons/streamers lining the stands and benches. The school is huge with over 3200 students in just Years 9 to 12 - the Basketball was going to be tough!
The fact that it was Day 20 showed for the Freshman team with the players taking a long time to find their rhythm and get into the game. Rancho penetrated well, dominated the rebounds and were deserved winners. However the final quarter for Trinity saw some of the best Freshman Basketball played on tour where our zone offence broke down the Rancho defence. Oscar Bradburn and Joel Giezekamp combined exceptionally well with the team scoring 23 points in the final period. Conor Karagiannis commented - "Fatigue hit us hard early which showed with our slow ball movement and speed. In the final quarter Coach White really inspired us to lift for our last period of Basketball in America. We were focussed and determined to give it our all." The quarter scores were: 8-14, 15-29, 26-51, 49-61.
In the Junior Varsity game there was plenty of solid ball movement from our boys which created opportunities to put points on the board. The boys continued to hustle right to the end but Rancho were too strong. Tim Kasalo had a superb game playing strong at the post, scoring some good points and was aggressive on the rebounds. Michael Liu also had a great outside game tonight, driving hard to the basket and nailing some good outside shots. Zac Curran commented - "In the first half our communication was lacking which gave Rancho a number of turn-overs. In the second half we started to play really hard defence, our communication was better and we were able to slow down the flow of points from the Rancho team. We tried hard right up to the end.” The quarter scores were: 9-22, 23-37, 37-57, 47-81.
The Varsity team had another great starting quarter. Jed Maher played his best game on tour which was great given his family were in the stands watching. Fatigue really set in tonight for the boys – they looked very tired late in the game and struggled to find points. However in the third quarter they rallied, like they have all tour, to get within 15 points of Rancho. We continued to struggle with our turn-overs due to the incredible pace and athleticism of the American game, which is very different back in Australia. Our bench players especially, with all the court time they have had, will benefit greatly from the experience and hopefully go into the final five CAS games has much stronger athletes. Jaden Weldon commented after the game - "Everyone played hard. We were well in it in the first quarter, but we made too many turn overs in the second and Rancho got away from us. We've learnt to adapt our style play to the different speed played in America. To experience the strong presses and traps that the Americans play will take our game to a higher level. Overall, we have learnt so much.” The quarter scores were: 16-17, 16-35, 34-57, 44-71.
After each game Rancho put on a great taco meal for the boys and an opportunity for both teams to sit together and discuss their different countries and experiences – the boys loved it! After the Varsity game they were treated like rock stars by the Rancho community with people (mainly the girls) literally lining up for photos with them – it was quite incredible! Our sincere thanks to Bill Burke and the entire Rancho Cucamonga community for making our last school visit such an enjoyable one that will stay fondly in our memories.
You can find a full set of today’s photos and videos at the following link:
Best wishes.
