Mid West side fall short of finals after loss to Perry Lakes Hawks in final group game

The Basketball WA State Championships have come to a close after nearly a month, with heartbreak for the Mid West under-19s side over the weekend.

The squad consisted mostly of local division one players with Pumas dominating the line-up with Tomas Dobson, Toby Gerreyn, Harry Evans and Finn Henderson.

Olympians’ Quinton Narkle and Justyce Potaka-Kumeroa, Trades’ Jett Bradley and Chapman Valley star Llewyn Valli completed a strong line-up.

They got off to a winning start in game one taking down the Willeton Tigers 39-35 led by Dobson’s game-high 18 points.

Much like he does for Pumas, Dobson was the go-to target from range, sinking four threes as they took the first half 20-15 and traded baskets in the second to get off to a good start.

In their next game, they met Buccs senior team nemesis Rockingham Flames and the two sides played out an entertaining game with the Mid West boys claiming a 24-23 victory.

This was mainly thanks to Evans who top-scored with 14 points, the only player to crack double figures and who took eight points from the line.

Evans led the way again in game three as they came out on top in another tight game this time against the Joondalup Wolves 32-29.

The two sides were locked at 13 apiece at the half but Evans (12) with support from Dobson (9) and Bradley (5) had just enough to get them over the line in the second half.

Playing their fourth game of the day as part of a jammed-packed schedule the Mid West side stole victory from the South West Slammers.

They looked gone at half-time trailing 22-11 with Luc Perkins dominating from deep for the Slammers.

However, the side lifted a gear and then some in the second half outscoring their opponents 25-13 in the half and get the win by one point 36-35.

Dobson was top of the pops with 14 including three threes with Narkle next best with six.

Because of a quirk in the fixtures the Mid West side played five group games instead of the usual four facing the Perry Lakes Hawks on Sunday.

It proved fatal to their finals chances as they suffered a heavy defeat, 49-25, which not only handed them their first loss but also dealt a hefty blow to their percentage.

It meant they had the second-worst percentage of any team in the group and they finished in third as the only team to win four games but somehow miss out on the semifinals.

The Mid West under-15 girls squad was also in action over the weekend but they endured a tough tournament as they went winless in their five games.

The squad struggled to put up scores to be able to compete though did show improvement over the course of the tournament with their best game being their last against the Perry Lake Hawks going down 21-14.