THE Sutherland Sharks men’s division one State League team claimed their second grand final triumph in three seasons on Sunday — their second championship win on their home court. Sutherland Basketball Association hosted the Basketball NSW Waratah league finals weekend at Sutherland Basketball Stadium on Saturday and Sunday with 21 games played over the two days.
More than 500 players were in action from as far away as Newcastle, Wagga, Maitland and Bathurst.
It was mixed emotions for Sutherland, though, as their women’s Championship League team went down in their decider. (See below).
The Sharks’ men downed Bankstown 77-52 on Saturday to set up their grand final clash against Wagga Heat.
Sutherland put a strong performance in the decider to run out 91-63 winners.
Captain Brandon Gleeson, who was part of the triumphant 2013 team, said after the game there was no better feeling than winning on their home court.
‘‘Today was especially good because of the friendships and the people we’ve got in the team,’’ he said.
‘‘Nothing beats it, I hope that one day maybe we’ll be able to do it again.’’
‘‘Look, we respect them [Wagga], we know they can play. We played them before and they got us but we really don’t think that we gave them our best down there.
‘‘But the main thing is that we believed in ourselves. We run 12 deep, we train hard and we’ve done it every week.’’
It was a family affair for Sutherland with the team coached by Gleeson’s brother, Simon.
‘‘We’ve got a bunch of guys that I may yell at, scream at but it’s water off a duck’s back,’’ he said.
Sutho women lose decider
THE Sutherland Sharks women’s team scored an upset 63-56 win over Norths in their semi-final on Saturday but were unable to overcome heavyweights Bankstown Bruins in the decider.
A strong second quarter from the Bruins saw them skip out to an 11-point lead at half-time before they ran out eventual 75-64.
