Geraldton basketball round 11 preview: Hawks and Olympians’ third face-off headlines season return

The Hawks and Olympians will face off for a third time this season when the two sides headline the first game of 2024 in division one of the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association.

Olympians are second on the ladder with just three losses, while the Hawks have dropped down to third.

In the third match between the two sides, Hawks will look to overcome the demons of the past as the previous two games both ended in Olympians walking away with a one-point win.

They met in the first game of the season, which the Olympians claimed 92-91, then met again in round six, with Olympians recording a 99-98 victory.

Both games come right down to the wire, with Hawks failing to complete a comeback in the first match and Olympians pulling off a comeback in the second game.

Each team wrapped up 2023 with a loss, as Olympians dropped their first game to a team that wasn’t Chapman Valley in the clash against the Pumas.

The Hawks took a loss to the Chapman Valley steam train, so both sides will be coming in looking to start 2024 off with a win.

The Pumas, who grabbed a nice win against the Olympians in their last match, will be up against a struggling Stateside team.

Stateside are yet to get a win on the board this season, but after the New Year’s break all the momentum that teams had will have come to a halt, so this would be the best opportunity to pull off an upset.

Trades will be looking to capitalise on the break as well as they take on the undefeated Chapman Valley, who have dominated the competition.

The Valley are 10-0 and run the league going into the final five games before the playoffs.

They have already guaranteed their spot in the final four, so every game now is just for better placing and continuing the steam heading into finals.

While Trades are still alive in the playoff race, they will need to start grabbing big wins if they want to go on a late season run.

The first piece of basketball action for 2024 was on Monday in the women’s division one, as Olympians faced Chapman Valley and Pumas took on Trades.