Olympians on point in Goldfields Basketball Association A-grade men’s season-opener

Olympians made an impressive start to the defence of their Goldfields Basketball Association A-grade men’s flag, in a decisive 98-74 win against CBC in last Friday night’s season-opener at Evolution Mining Stadium.

Jaydan Doel led the reigning premiers with a game-high 24 points, complemented by 21 points and 20 points from Tyson McWaters and Nick Shaw, respectively, after the side led at every change.

Aiden Caliskan and Aaron Briggs each contributed 10 points.

Luca Basten was CBC’s offensive leader with 21 points, but the team faced a long road back after trailing by 22 points at the final change.

Olympians are this summer chasing back-to-back flags, on the back of a memorable 2024-25 campaign when they made a stunning rise from last place to being crowned premiers in the club’s 70th anniversary.

CBC last season finished eight games clear of Olympians but lost to the eventual champions by three points in the preliminary final.

Also on Friday night, last season’s beaten grand finalists, Saints, battled to an 86-86 tie against Franchise but lost the game on a technicality after lining up with an ineligible player.

In a see-sawing contest, Saints outscored their opponents to half-time 46-40, before Franchise flipped the script by an identical score line in the remaining two periods.

Saints had big performances from Jordan Clements (27 points), Lachlan Clements (19), Charlie Scafidi (18), and Laine Warena (15).

However, it was offset in the opposition camp by Steven Cray (25), Nick Lawrence (22), Ethan Mcghie (15) and Brian Gutierrez (10).

“Saints played an ineligible player and under the official laws lose the game on a technicality,” association president Rob Tagliaferri said.

“It was a bit disappointing because it was such a good game.”

Olympians’ A-grade women’s side took the first step in pursuit of a fourth consecutive flag with a 49-28 demolition of CBC in a replay of last season’s decider.

Ashlee Sidebottom (17 points) and Rachel Pettit (15) led the charge for Olympians while in CBC’s camp Tamsyn Pentland (11 points) was the lone player to score in double-digits.

Olympians have won four women’s flags in five seasons — the golden run broken up only by the cancellation of the 2021-22 finals because of COVID-19, when the squad was undefeated.

Saints easily defeated Spartans, 82-54, on the back of a combined 47 points from Kiriana Hawaikirangi and Chloe Zorzi.

Josephine Odude put up 14 points for Spartans, who have returned to the top women’s division after sitting out last season because of a shortage of players.

Leonora Blazers make their debut in the GBA this weekend, after nominating 11 teams across the junior and senior divisions, and will travel to Kalgoorlie-Boulder every second weekend.

“They (Blazers) are an exciting addition to local basketball ranks, and hopefully it works out well for them,” Tagliaferri said.

“In the long-term, it will be brilliant.”