The 19th and final round of the Waratah Youth League Men’s regular season saw the Crusaders travel to Blacktown where captain Alex Bailey had a potentially historic night on the cards.
The Blacktown Storm is a tough team to beat on any given night due to the sheer amount of athleticism in the squad.
Add in the fact that their home court is infamously intimidating and Bailey, who was just 32 points shy of the 500-point mark for the season, faced a mountainous task.
It didn’t take long for Bailey to make his intentions known as the Crusaders settled into a 21-25 lead to end the first quarter, with 15 of those points coming from Bailey himself.
The Crusaders kept their foot on the accelerator in the second and third quarters but Bailey slowed down scoring only 9 points making his total just 22 as the final quarter loomed.
Bailey dropped in a flurry of twos and threes but it was his trademark floater that got him over the line in the end and he ended the game with 33, giving him a total of 501 points to close out the regular season.
The game ended in a statement 74-111 win for the Crusaders which, according to captain Bailey ,is a sign of good things to come going into the playoffs.
“I’m really excited to see what we can come up with in the playoffs,” he said.
“Locking in the higher 3rd seed was vital in putting ourselves in the best position to make successful playoffs run.
“The boys and coaches have been working hard to be ready and I think we are going to show that come our next game vs the Comets.”
As for his historic feat of putting up 500 points in the regular season, Bailey said he had his coaches and team to thank.
“Being able to hit the 500 mark in the last regular season game was a really cool moment,” he said.
“It definitely wasn’t something that I had set out to do or imagined I’d achieve this year so it was a nice bonus on top of the win.
“Full credit to the boys and coaches for putting me in the position to achieve 500.”
Things didn’t go quite as planned for the Crusaders Youth Women last weekend however, as they dropped their second game in a row, losing out to the North Sydney Bears on the road 88-69.
Co-captains Bronte Moore and Sammi McCubbin sat out this week’s match up against the Bears due to other engagements and while the others did step up to the task, the lack of leadership and experience proved too much for the Crusaders against the number two seeded Bears.
Holly Handley leaned into the role of primary ball handler and got the job done, playmaking and scoring 10 points of her own, but it was the front court pairing of Cushla Alpen and Kasey Quigley who helped keep the Crusaders alive, combining for 31 points.
The Youth Women have one more game left in the regular season and it’s on the road in Manly to take on the number 1 seed Sea Eagles at 2pm on Sunday, August 20.
Their place in the semifinals is secured but a loss to the Sea Eagles could see the Crusaders drop down to 4th seed, provided the Sydney Comets win their game against the Hills Hornets.
The Youth Men’s matchup in the quarter finals against the Sydney Comets will take place at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium on August 19 with the time of the matchup yet to be announced.
Stefan Kataric