Suns launch new season

THE Sherbrooke Suns Big V season was officially launched on Friday, 24 March at Monbulk Stadium, with their Singlet Presentation for all three teams.
This season, the Suns will be running two men’s teams, Division 1 and Youth League 2, as well as, for the first time in the club’s history, a Division 2 women’s side.
The night began with the singlet presentation to the men’s Division 1 team by owner of the club’s major sponsor Hoist Hydraulics, Denis Stogryn.
This year, the club has decided to look to the future of Sherbrooke basketball by entering a young, local team into Division 1 after having a championship side for the past few seasons. With the oldest player only 23, the team is quick and athletic and should do well for this season.
Although the Division 1 side couldn’t muster a win at the recent pre-season Frankston tournament, coach Frank Woodhouse was encouraged with the way the team came together without the presence of his three players overseas with US college commitments.
The next team presented with their singlets was the men’s Youth League 2 team. After their first semi-final appearance last year in this division, the club is looking to go one step further this season.
The make up of this team has changed quite a bit from last season though; with all-star centre David Naylor moving up to the Division 1 team along with three other players.
The club has decided to promote their under 18 and 20s players with six players aged under 19 in the squad. With a good mix of youth and experience, the team was able to take one win away from the Frankston tournament but has since been hit with a number of injuries, which has slowed their pre-season coming into the first round.
The Division 2 women’s team was the last to be presented with their singlets for the night. With this being the first Big V women’s team that Sherbrooke has fielded, a lot of the players are from other areas.
The team has had a short pre-season and found the going tough at Frankston without the opportunity to get to know each other and form some team cohesion. But things can only get better for the girls, with more practice together, they will improve and start to get some wins on the board.
The night was then finished off with a game between the two men’s sides, which in a hard fought battle was won by the Division 1 team who overcame a 15-point deficit in the third period to eventually win by 7. Supper and drinks were provided after the game, with a chance for the attending fans and sponsors to mingle with the players.
In the first week of the Big V season, all three teams competed, with mixed results. The undermanned Division 1 men had an opening double header, losing their first against Whittlesea by 8, in a hard fought contest.
David Wilson was the standout with 18 points and 22 rebounds. The boys bounced back well on Sunday afternoon though with a big game from Matt Cannon (40 points, 15 rebounds) to overcome Melbourne University by 36.
The Youth League men had a better start to their season taking on Ringwood, who eliminated them from the finals last season. With strong performances from Aaron Lester (19 points) and Jonathan Ball (21 points), the Suns easily accounted for the Hawks with a 27-point win.
The women had to wait until Sunday to start their campaign, but found the going tough playing a pumped up Melton side. Although they went down by 19, they showed good fighting spirit to contain the lead and had good debut performances from Elyce Lambrou (21 points, 17 rebounds) and Katie Shanahan (19 points).
Next week sees Youth League men take on Bulleen at Monbulk Stadium on Saturday night at 5:30pm followed by the Division two women at 7:45pm taking on Ringwood. Division 1 men are away at Southern Peninsula. So come and support the Sherbrooke Suns.