Page 40 - BWA Annual Report 2019

NWBL & WNWBL SEASON
In 2019 the NWBL and WNWBL
teams both competed as the Perth Wheelcats under BWA management. The women finished the regular season at the top of the ladder with a record of 13 wins and two losses.
The men finished their season second on the ladder with a record of 14 wins and four losses. In a hard-fought finals series the ladies reached the final, coming home with the silver medal. The men claimed the bronze medal after their finals campaign.
For the first time the two leagues competed their finals series together at the Southern Districts Basketball Stadium in Brisbane. It was a positive to have both teams in the same stadium there to support each other.
The Lady Wheelcats played some exciting basketball throughout the season. Australian Gliders representatives in Amber Merritt, Georgia Inglis and Sarah Vinci lead the way using their international experience and skill
sets to assist in the team playing a consistently high level of basketball. This season also saw the team’s depth improve with Natalie Alexander, Mary Friday and Lauren Hardbottle all gaining opportunities with the national program.
The Wheelcats Men’s team season in 2019 would be considered another success. The team continued to rebuild, with a focus on the young players coming through the system who relished the opportunity to play with Rollers Captain Shaun Norris. Michael Auprince, an emerging Roller, relocated to Perth to play for the Wheelcats in Season 2019 which gave Norris a little more help with this young group.
Th team played a very exciting up-tempo game of basketball which saw them beat all other teams in the league in the regular season.
Come finals time their inexperience in finals compared to the other teams was very evident. It was a great learning curve for the team and there is no doubt that with the return of Shaun Norris, Michael Auprince and the experience that was achieved in 2019, 2020 will be even more successful.
WNWBL TOP OF LADDER 13 WINS,
2 LOSSES SILVER
NWBL
2ND ON LADDER 14 WINS,
4 LOSSES, BRONZE
33 BWA ANNUAL REPORT 2019