Posted on 25 September, 2017

Kilsyth’s VYC Men’s and Women’s teams were busy at the annual Big-V Awards function, with the Cobras taking home five major regular season awards for the 2017 season.

VYC Men’s Head Coach Mark Landells capped off a phenomenal season by being named the league’s Coach of the Year. Landells led the Cobras to the VYC’s second best record at 15-7, a remarkable feat considering the plethora of injuries and absences the team faced in 2017. While their regular season success was impressive, Landells and the Cobras shone bright come playoff time, winning the 2017 State Championship in the deciding game of an epic three game series against Nunawading.

Sharpshooter Jamie Ahale was honoured as the league’s Rising Star of 2017 on the back of an outstanding sophomore campaign. Ahale boasted averages of 17.9ppg and 8.0rpg, and buried 2.9 three pointers per contest at an impressive 40.9% clip. A sizzling mid-year stretch saw Ahale drain 23 three-pointers over a four game stretch, with the swingman averaging 29.5ppg and 9.3rpg during that span to emerge as a frontrunner for the league’s Most Valuable Player Award. But Ahale received a call up to the SEABL Men’s team and would eventually miss seven VYC games to knock him out of contention for the award.

Ahale wasn’t the only Cobra to emerge as one of the VYC’s best young talents, with Mitch Dielemans elevating his game to new heights with a spectacular sophomore season. The Cobras speedy point guard was unstoppable in 2017, ranking second in the league in scoring (20.4ppg), assists (4.1apg), and three pointers made (76), while finishing first in free throws made (133) and free throw percentage (85.8%). Dielemans’ gaudy numbers saw him named to the VYC All-Star Five, capping a big year for floor general which also saw him named as team MVP and the Junior Cobras Player of the Year.

Joining Dielemans in the All-Star Five was forward Jorden Adnam. Named to the All-VYC team for the second time in three years, Adnam finished fifth in league scoring (18.1ppg), while adding 6.1rpg and 3.0apg during the regular season. Adnam’s scoring and playmaking were on full display during the VYC Finals series, with the athletic wing tipping home the game winner in Game 1 and carrying the scoring load in Game 3 to take home Finals MVP honours.

It was quality over quantity for Kilsyth’s Bree Mackenzie, as the Cobras guard was named to the VYC Women’s All-Star Five despite playing just nine regular season games. After returning from Hawai’i Pacific University, Mackenzie wasted no time in getting to work with the Cobras, finishing as the league’s leader in scoring average (19.8ppg) and steals (4.4spg). Mackenzie also led Kilsyth in rebounding (7.7rpg) and assists per game (3.1apg), and narrowly missed out on a rare ‘quadruple-double’ against Ballarat in Round 15, finishing with 23 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.