Albany go forth for fourth

Albany Basketball Association will attempt to win an historic fourth straight men’s championship division title at the senior country championships in Perth starting tomorrow.

Five members of the successful Albany side that won a rare third straight title at last year’s championships are in this year’s squad, while young point guards Joe Santia and Jordan Genovese will make their senior debuts for the Raiders.

Captain Justin Benson has been crowned the championship division most valuable player for the past two years and again looms as a key to Albany’s defence along with star point guard John Santia, while the addition of prolific point scorer Tom Powell is a massive boost to their chances.

Albany men’s senior coach Adrian Masters admits his side’s preparation could have been better leading up to the tournament, but was confident they would perform well.

“Our preparation certainly hasn’t been ideal, we have had poor numbers at training especially around the Christmas period,” Masters said.

“But we have a good mix of experienced guys.

“I believe we can do it, my only worry is not having that training load under our belt.”

Masters said he was excited about the addition of youth into the side and what they could bring.

“These young guys Jordan, Cam (Charles) and Joe are all stepping up,” he said.

“It’s going to be hot up there so these young guys can get out and run the lanes and help the old guys catch their breath.”

Albany face arch-rival Karratha in their first match of the championships on Saturday and Masters said his side needed to be on the ball early.

“Anything can happen in these tournaments,” he said.

“Going for four in a row means nothing now, we have to go and get it done.”

Albany will clash with Mandurah on Saturday afternoon before playing Waroona, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Bunbury on Sunday, and face Geraldton in their final qualifying match on Monday.

Albany will go into the women’s championship division with high hopes according to coach Craig Tester as they strive to reach the grand final.

Tester believes this year’s squad is better than last year when they finished third.

“We have a really good team, I am really confident,” he said.

“We are a very fast and skilled side, if we play at our level I’m confident we can go all right.”

Ronnie Williams has been named despite battling a knee injury and is joined in the side by Jorden Tester, Megan Baker, Kathryn Jennings and Caitlin Trnovsky who will make her senior debut.

Albany will play eight qualifying games starting with Geraldton on Saturday morning.