Dragons go Back to Back!
In what can only be described as a game that we "stole from them," the Dragons have ended an almost perfect second season by winning the championship game against Dick Whits in overtime. Final Score: Dragons 41 - Dick Whits 31
"This game was the most important and nerve racking game of the Deloitte Dragon's short history. These are the games that you play basketball for!" - Hadjitello
Unable to provide an accurate recap of an exhilirating game, which saw the Dragons snatch victory from the seeming jaws of defeat, Hadjitello has called upon his courageous teammates to provide their own highlights...below is an extract of the game:
DK KANG: "We were trailing behind the entire game…I thought we were a lost cause in the first half… down by 7 and always playing catch up. We were costly in offense and couldn't seem to get the scoreboard ticking over fluently. Damn it! We went into halftime trailing by five points after a late rally from Tiff and the ever so smooth baseline jumpshooting of Matt Fraser...First play after half time - Ben hit a three, gave us some hope, then a 2 pointer by Tiff to equalise at 21 all. Ben and Tiff however soon foul off with 5 fouls. Boydy arrives with three minutes left in the game. Fraser hits a few clean shots off the wing. 29-29 with 3 secs left.. we fouled one of their players. They had 2 free throws after the buzzer to win the game. If they hit even one of them, the Dragons would've lost...but guess what...even though their best player took the shots both missed….YES… a chance for us to come back in overtime.
Dk gets fouled, two shots, got the first in, missed one. Dragons lead by 1. Hadjitello hits two three-point bombs and plays like he is possessed... Tran is on the sideline wondering "why didn't Hadji do this earlier in the game so that we didn't have to go into overtime?" Time is running out...DK steals ball with 30 secs left. Ends up having to roll the ball along the ground to Hadji. Hadji shoots an easy basket.
And this gem from our captain - TC... "Late start to the game increasing the nerves...The Dragons' girls dominated our opposition - shutting down their girls pretty much completely for the whole game. In the absence of the nornally fluid shooting touch of Hui and Hadjitello, Matty Fraser was called upon for some big baskets and he did just that, casually popping in shots from the baseline all night. Everyone, none more so than Hadjitello was nervous and sloppy in the first half and we entered half time with the opposition riding high and confident because they thought they had it.
Second Half
Turning point in the game was when Hui hit a massive 3-pointer from the corner - the Dragons woke up and regained confidence. This lead to a flurry of points with us clawing back – Top Cat started drilling shots, including an uplifting left hand baseline shot to get us to within a point and then the extra foul shot made the scoreline even at 21 a piece. Fraser running down the court after we scored yelling “were still in this, were still in this!”
Hadijello turning up the heat in the second half and keeping his white line fever in check and drilling a timely three point bomb to put us in front for the first time all game. Hui fouling out with about 6-7 minutes to go in the game (top scorer #1 gone). Tiff fouling out with about 4 minutes to go in the game (top scorer #2 gone). Boydy turning up with about 3 minutes to go in the game - energy off the bench? perhaps this was the boost we needed. Tension of the last 20 seconds before overtime - both sides had their chances and could not capitalise. Other games gathered round to watch the tense dying minutes...DRAW. Tme for an extra period!
OVERTIME
Hadji blitzing in O/T and scoring non-stop AND drawing the fouls sending him to the line - he ended up with 11 of our 12 points...Amazing support and cheer squad on their feet. Back to Back for the Dragons!!!
Celebrity Blogger Frank Tran also had these random comments:
The Dragons were being demoralised in the first half after some wayward passing and giving away some cheap baskets. Chin tried his hardest to get the Dragons back into the game from the sidelines...he continuously made sly comments to the ref everytime he walked past - Chin, although fearing he was going to be ostracised from the sidelines, gave his all for the Dragons. Tiff and Brooke providing a wall inside the key. Together with DK and Anna, the Dragons girls ensured there were no easy inside Dick Whits baskets. Ben Hui was tough - he ran through an opposition player - an opposition GIRL...then Ben ran away from the potential fracas just as fast. Throughout the game, Hadji tried his old war tactics, and was just sporadically shouting out to the other team "Hey pass, c'mon quick!"
Enter David Boyd - three minutes to go in regulation...the Dragons down a couple of points needing some energy and enthusiasm. Boydy's timeliness was the final ingredient into the successful Dragons gameplan. The end of regulation saw the opposition's most reliable player choke on his final two free throws, allowing the Dragons a chance in overtime.
Overtime saw some funny antics with Hadji doing his last minute bunny hopping to win free throws - which was successful. Despite only hitting 50% of his free throws (3 of 6), it was enough for the Dragons to run away with overtime victory. The overtime period was also highlighted by the smothering defence provided by David Boyd and Matty the Rocket Fraser, shutting down any scoring potential the Dick Whits may have posessed. The disciplined play of the entire Dragons team allowed them to emerge victorious and full of confidence entering Season #3.
Two seasons, two championships...what could be sweeter - A Victory over another Big 4? Bring it on EY!!
