Camberwell Dragons Boys team coaches have their say on last weekend’s Eltham Dandenong Tournament. Reports written by team coaches unless otherwise specified.
12.1 BOYS
The boys had a weekend of ups and downs. We focused on the main concepts of commitment to our structure, which was achieved throughout their effort. I could not fault their effort and love the chemistry the team has. We have a lot to improve on but we are tracking in the right direction.
12.4 BOYS (pictured)
The boys started the tournament a bit rusty after the Christmas break and we were beaten by Hawthorn 4 by nine points after missing a lot of easy shots.
Saturday saw us play Eltham 3, a team higher than us in VJBL grading. The boys rallied from their Friday night defeat to play extremely well, getting out to a 15-point lead at one point and then holding their nerve to come away with a four-point win.
Our second game on Saturday (traditionally not so good for us as fatigue starts to set in) was an amazing game. We defeated Diamond Valley 5 by 37 points. A great team effort.
Sunday saw us play two game – firstly against Coburg 2, which we are scheduled to play tonight in VJBL grading. The boys continued their great teamwork and work ethic to win by nine points.
The second game on Sunday was against Eltham 4. Even though the semi-finals had already been locked in, our boys won easily by 14 points.
Our semi-final was against Eltham 3 and we knew they would be looking for revenge against a team that had already beaten them in the tournament and was graded lower than them in VJBL. The boys followed our team structure to a T. Lots of pressure in defence and patience in offence saw us come away with a 21-point victory.
The grand final was against our old foe Hawthorn 3, which had beaten us in the earlier game of the tournament. From the outset our boys showed Hawthorn they meant business, with amazing pressure in defence and only taking (and making) smart shots in offence.
The discipline paid off with a 29-point win and a gold medal as a result. An amazing tournament all round, in particular to see the progress of our boys throughout. Discipline, teamwork, defensive pressure and patient offence was a winning formula!
12.5 BOYS
The boys had a tough tournament, winning only one of their five games. That said, there was a big learning curve throughout and there was much improvement from Friday to Sunday. The tournament definitely illuminated our weaknesses as a team and has put us in good stead to improve into the upcoming season.
12.6 BOYS
The boys had a solid Australia Day Tournament. Although it didn’t show in our results, the boys demonstrated what they are capable of when at their best.
The first game against Nunawading 8 was a demonstration of how great defence wins games. Going into the half the teams were neck and neck. However, the boys went on a big six basket to nothing run to start the second half and didn’t look back, grabbing the win, 43-30.
The second and third games, against Ringwood 7 and Kilsyth 6, were very similar. Showing glimpses of the team at our very best, in both games we jumped out to early leads inside the first 10 minutes. However, as the game wore on and the pressure increased, the boys struggled to play good, structured team basketball, often trying to win it themselves. This resulted in a run of missed shots and bad turnovers, which led to easy buckets for both teams. We lost both games, 47-32 and 36-28.
The fourth game was tough. It felt like we were in it all the way. However, we never had the hot start we had in previous two games, and our defence, although great in bursts, was not enough to keep us in the game as our offence left something to be desired. Once again, the team defaulted to individual basketball going away from our good, structured team basketball. We lost 39-21.
The last game was a fantastic battle. We were great for 90 per cent of the game, playing as a team, working hard on defence and maintaining our spacing on offence. Unfortunately, a couple of late turnovers and relapses into individual basketball offensively saw us lose the game 32-29.
The boys should be proud of themselves. Although the results weren’t quite there, their effort throughout the tournament was. That is a big compliment to give these children as tournaments are always tiring for them.
12.7 BOYS
The boys started the weekend with a heartbreaking loss on Friday night. After a slow start we stormed home, scoring 12 points in the last three-and-a-half minutes to make a bid to steal the win. However, it wasn’t meant to be, with a game-tying shot waved off at the buzzer.
The boys then stepped up and bounced back in a big way with a strong win against eventual champion Nunawading – its only loss of the tournament.
They followed it up with a nail-biting two-point win against Ringwood after Hamish got to the line and knocked down three free-throws after the buzzer to win the game.
The boys had a slow start to Sunday with a 15-point loss, but immediately turned it around with a massive 45-point win later that day.
After finishing fourth, we were set for a semi-final match up against first-placed Nunawading. The boys played a good game and were competitive with them, but at the end of the day were beaten 56-40 by a well-drilled team that was just better on the day. The boys showed some really good signs over the weekend and are raring to go for the season.
14.2 BOYS
The boys went into the weekend undermanned, with only seven players available. Despite the constant threat of exhaustion and tiredness, the team came out of the round robin phase with a 2-1-2 record. Highlights included a seven-point comeback win over Hawthorn 2 to kick off the weekend, a draw against North Adelaide 2 despite being down by as many as 10 points, and a 20-point revenge win over Collingwood 1 – a team we lost to before Christmas. The most pleasing aspect was the team’s offence in scoring 40 or more points in every game despite this being an area we struggled in last year. Although our weekend ended with a disappointing semi-final loss on Monday morning against Altona 2, the boys showed great intensity and fight throughout the tournament and persevered despite the lack of numbers. Thanks to all the parents for their support, team managers Susie, Ash and Kelly for their hard work, and to the boys for an enjoyable weekend.
14.3 BOYS
The tournament provided a great return to court for the 14.3 boys. We dusted off some rust and worked on building up our style of play on court, and chemistry off court. We were competitive in all five of our games and managed to secure one good win while in all other games we were within striking distance but couldn’t quite get over the line. We played some great basketball in patches and got a great picture of where our team is at, some of the areas of our game we need to prioritise, as well as some areas we need to take a longer-term focus to. We are looking forward to an exciting season ahead.
14.4 BOYS
We started off the tournament very rusty, losing our first game to an opponent everyone else in the competition beat.
On Day 2 we won our first game and started to catch some rhythm, before we lost to Broadmeadows 2 by four points in a close on.
We hit day Day 3 with a point to prove and came out swinging, winning both our games by more than
30 points to place us second on the ladder and into the finals.
We cruised through the semi, beating Diamond Valley by 25 points to set up another game with Broadmeadows 2 in the grand final.
We started slowly and were down by 10 at the half. We regrouped at halftime, changed some things up and went on a run, led by Jeremy li and Hunter Haselden, to go ahead by 11 (Yes, you read that correctly – a 21-point turnaround!). We cruised through to win the tournament, with Hunter named MVP and Jeremy finishing the game with 24 points. A great effort by the boys.
14.5 BOYS
Our boys had a tough tournament and unfortunately lost to Warrandyte in the semi-finals. But as a collective, the whole team worked really hard and came out better than when we started. We had multiple kids step up and show their potential, putting us in a great spot going into the rest of the season.
14.7 BOYS
The 14.7 Boys squad had a great tournament, winning three of its six games and making it into the semi-finals. After wins against Blackburn 4 and Wyndham 6, and narrow losses to Ringwood 6 and Nunawading 6, the most impressive performance of the event came in the team’s final pool game, when the boys toppled previously undefeated ladder leader Altona 4. Unfortunately, Altona responded the following morning, getting the better of our group in the semi-finals on its way to winning the title. Overall, it was another fantastic tournament from this team, which has shown great improvement across the 2024-25 season thus far. Big thanks to James for his excellent assistant coaching and to the parents for their support across the weekend, particularly team manager Cameron Ramsay.
14.8 BOYS
The boys started the tournament very well, winning their first three games with excellent teamwork, grit and determination. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of very close games, including the semi-final against Ringwood. Defence was much improved but we need to continue working on offence. The boys are excited and determined for the season ahead.
16.2 BOYS
The boys had another really beneficial tournament and continued to show significant improvement. Went 4-1 in pool games, had a great win in the semi-final and then a narrow loss to a top-age Blackburn 1 team. The weekend definitely has provided us with some momentum going into the next phase of grading. The team should be proud of their efforts and keep their heads up from a team and individual perspective! Shout-outs to Bailey Russell for a three-quarter court shot and Nathan On for a half-court shot. Go Dragons!
16.4 BOYS
The boys had a good tournament and it was a great opportunity to get back into basketball before the re-start of grading. Although we only had one win, three of our losses were by two points or fewer, which shows our competition was close. Passing, half-court defence and shooting were strengths across the weekend.
16.6 BOYS
The boys developed well throughout the tournament and set themselves up well for the next stage of grading. On Friday night we started with a 64-40 win against Hawthorn EDL, then on Saturday dropped a winnable game against Ringwood 4 (38-32) and went down to a strong academy team from WA (63-37). The boys were outsized against the WA team, but their intensity was great and they worked hard right to the end. On Sunday, we started with a close win against Blackburn 3 (38-35) and then played our best all-round game against Kilsyth 5 to win 54-23. We finished fourth with a 3-2 record and played the WA Academy team (In Front Lakers) again in the semi-final, going down 76-46. Overall, we had strong contributions from every player throughout the tournament with our team structure and chemistry improving significantly.
16.8 BOYS
The boys went 3-2 in pool play, finished third and advanced to the semi-finals. They ran up against some big boys but displayed some strong team rebounding and consistently improved their collective scoring output. While we ran into the eventual winner (Ringwood) in the semis, we identified several positives we’ll now take into the next phase of grading. Well done, boys.
18.1 BOYS
I thought I would write an acrostic poem for our tournament report. I chose the word “slay”.
S is for supremacy. We won the grand final 68-62 against Eltham.
L is for laughs. We had a great time at our team picnic between games, as well as our team dinner at the Lower Plenty Hotel.
A is for active. We were very active defensively and put heavy pressure on the opposition at all times.
Y is for “You don’t know what is about to happen”. We like to do some pretty rogue and random stuff.
Shout-outs to Xave for winning Grand Final MVP, TM Megan for keeping us functioning smoothly and DJ Marinos. Go Dragons!
18.2 BOYS
The boys had a fun and challenging tournament over the weekend. Despite dropping our first game, it gave us the much-needed confidence to bounce back to our usual standard of play. The boys followed up with four strong wins to land us in second place going into the finals. Despite coming up short in the semi we believe we’ve taken another step in the right direction with our development and have seen great improvement from individuals and as a team.
18.3 BOYS
The boys had a great tournament. We were the lowest-ranked team in the grade but managed to win four of our five pool games, finished second and went on to win our two finals. The boys played superbly with everyone playing their role.
18.5 BOYS
The boys played hard. In a tight grade they fought to finish 3-2 in their pool games and then stepped up to make it through to the semis. Despite going down in a strongly contested grand final in the heat, the boys got what we wanted out of the weekend. All the cobwebs were blown away, we honed skills and systems, built on team bonds and of course had a great time doing it. We’re ready for the next phase of grading. – Assistant Coach Mat Trainor.
18.6 BOYS
The 18.6 Boys had a strong tournament where after the first four games they were 2-2, having either won or lost those games by fewer than 10 points, so all very close.
The fifth game was against top-of-the-table, Tuggeranong Vikings (ACT) 18.1, and while the boys played well we went down by 25 points, our largest defeat.
The next day we had to play the Vikings again in the semi-final. Having seen how they played the day before, we made a few changes and surprised them to lead by five points at halftime. The Vikings surged in the second half to lead by 13 points, before the boys clawed their way back to eventually go down by five points, 57-52. No team in the pool got closer to the Vikings, who went on to win the grand final.
Over the three days it was great to see the boys bond and start to play some great basketball together. They showed great character when they were down in any of the games to fight their way back, winning a few and going close in others. I was very proud of the boys and how they conducted themselves as individuals and as a team throughout the tournament.
This tournament experience will set us up for greater success as we return to the next round of grading. The boys and coach are looking forward to the rest of the season.
• To read Eltham Dandenong Tournament reports from our Girls team coaches. click HERE.
• The Dragons thank our partners, including BNF Coaching, for their great support of our club and Camberwell Basketball. To find out more about BNF Coaching and all of our partners, please click HERE.