Geraldton basketball round 5: Valley and Olympians hold off fightbacks to come away with close wins

Chapman Valley remain undefeated and stay the top team in division one of the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association after beating the second-placed Hawks in an 89-78 win. After dominating the majority of the game on Wednesday, November 8, the Valley came into the fourth quarter up 16 points. Aaron Ralph dished off to Mat Wundenberg for the score, making the margin 18 points, but the Hawks then begun their quick-scoring assault. Theo Bennett pulled up a quick three, followed by Robert Griechen driving and hitting the mid-range shot before a Fletcher Klasztorny three quickly cut the margin back to 10 and a timeout was called. Out of the break, Greichen banked a three to make it seven points, while Ralph clinched a close bucket and Griechen scored another three with a defender in his face. Chapman Valley coughed up the possession and Klasztorny went end-to-end, making it a four-point game with five minutes left to play. But the Hawks started making crucial mistakes which let Chapman Valley run away with the game 89-78. Ralph dropped 25 points for the Valley, while Griechen scored 33 points for the Hawks. The following game saw a high-scoring face-off, as Olympians pulled away from Pumas to win by eight points. The pace of the match was set from the jump, as both sides played fast and Johny Narkle made his presence felt early, dropping three three-pointers in the first quarter. After a closely contested match, just four points separated the sides going into the final quarter. Pumas had chances to take the lead but Olympians never slipped up and took over in the final minutes to win 90-82. Narkle had 33 points for Olympians while Harry Evans scored 26 for Pumas. Stateside and Trades faced off on Thursday night, with each side chasing their first win.