The win against the reigning champs from 2011, Melbourne Tigers was played in great spirits, with a finals atmosphere in front of many of the Diamond Valley faithful that came out on a cold night to watch the game. The Eagles jumped out to a 16 - 3 lead in the first quarter with some aggressive defence and a running game that caught the Tigers on the hop. The opening play of the game resulted in a lob pass from Nick Dean to  Matt Jackson for a dunk which got the crowd going right from the get go.

 As expected with such players like Felix Von Hofe, Jack Purchase and Geremy McKay being coached by the great Andrew Gaze, the Tigers rallied and at thge long break the difference was back to 3 points. With the Eagles going 11 deep, they weathered the storm and started to get contributions from all players on the court as the Tigers found themselves in some foul trouble and only 8 players to call on.

Nick Dean, Matt Jackson, Justin Petrie, Max Viitala and Connor Westall played some big minutes down the stretch with Justin Petrie adding 6 crucial points as the scoring seemed to dry up for Diamond Valley. As the last quarter wound down, all 11 players saw court time and all contributed to a fantastic 61-45 win to the Eagles. As the Diamond Valley crowd celebrated a long awaited Championship,  Coach Ross Clark retired to the stands to watch his team enjoy the moment and reflected on a tough but rewarding year. This has been a product of many coaches, parents and club members input, and to see the faces of former coaches, players and members of the Eagles community come out to watch the win made it all the better.

From all at Diamond Valley, Well done to Ross, Jeff and the boys.

Team members:

Jack McAughtry

Jack Flemming

Dylan Dunstan

James Al - Mourani

Liam Bowkett

Ben Mossuto

Justin Petrie

Nick Dean

Connor Westall

Max Viitala

Matt Jackson ( Game MVP )


Ross Clark - Head Coach

Jeff Shute - Assist Coach

Ashley Dean - Team Manager