Open Boys & Open Girls Basketball

Thursday August 20^th saw the staging of the annual Open Boys & Open Girls Basketball carnival, this year held at PLHS (Boys) and St. Joseph’s School (Girls). This event was our first School Sport competition for the year, with COVID restrictions cancelling all others thus far. Teams from St. Joseph’s School, Cummins Area School and Navigator College joined us for the boys’ competition, while PLHS and St. Joseph’s played a full game against each other for the girls’ title.

Open Boys

The day started strongly for the PLHS Open Boys team, which featured the perfect combination of height and agility. The talent consisted of Year 11 and Year 12 players, who worked together extremely well on the court throughout the day. The team was coached by Year 12 student Connor Haines, whose game play and strategy enabled the players’ success.

PLHS won their first game against Cummins convincingly (59-14), with Dannen Blacker a standout for his smooth ball-handling skills and accurate 3-point shooting (six in the thirty-minute game). Saxon Spencer and Fraser Jordison rebounded extremely well, and also scored their fair share of points throughout the day. Rhys Carey scored big with an impressive dunk.

The second game against St. Joe’s was a highly competitive and fairly played match. Matthew Dickinson provided great defensive pressure, whilst Cooper Marshall was quick with the ball, proving to be both a strong driver and three-point shooter. The scoreboard was goal-for-goal all match, until PLHS sunk the last eleven points of the second half to win 27-15.

Navigators were our final opponents for the day. With players tiring and PLHS dominating, the score was settled at 63-35. Jett Jung-O’Shea executed some excellent intercepts and supplied great defensive pressure.

~ Miss Yasmin Stewart (PLHS Open Boys Coach)

Open Girls

Nine girls represented PLHS and competed against the SJS team across four great quarters. Our girls were always competitive, with every player providing input into the game. A few special mentions include:

• Summer Pedersen (who started the game well by sinking a couple of long-range shots)
• Brooke Nisbet (whose skill and height under the ring was a great asset to the team)
• Imogen McGown (who was our go-to player late in the game when we needed someone to stand up; she managed to consistently make good position and gained us a few handy points when it counted)

The girls’ game was awesome to watch and they should all be proud of their efforts. The final score saw St. Joseph’s take the win 44-32.

~ Miss Mikaela Sawyer (PLHS Open Girls Coach)

Overall, the two coaches were extremely impressed and proud of the way their charges conducted themselves throughout this year’s Open Basketball competition. They played fairly, displayed good sportsmanship, were polite and well-mannered, and respectful of their peers and opponents. Well done to all involved.