Four new teams make up nine side Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade competition

Infernos will be one of four new teams in the Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade competition that starts tonight. The A-grade division will consist of nine teams — up from seven last season — five of which remain for 2020-2021. Infernos, along with Denmark Magpies, Sonics and The Sharks, have formed teams for the upcoming season. Railways Tigers, Ambassadors, Barking Owls, Tigers and Raiders under-18s development squad are the five remaining teams from last season but the competition will not contain reigning three-time champions Knights. Infernos are a very young outfit, with their oldest player just 20 years of age, but they will go into the season with plenty of confidence, with their entire squad having A-grade experience. Karl Kirby started Infernos a number of years ago and the club has been building towards an A-grade side. Along with the help of Jeff Fitzpatrick, that dream is now a reality. “It’s really good to get a team together with some guys from Raiders and other clubs,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have a lot of big guys and we are a really young team, so hopefully we can run some teams hard and get a few fast breaks and easy points. “All teams have done really well to get strong teams together. “I think Railways and Barking Owls will be strong. “It’s good to not have Knights playing, so it will be interesting to see who the next best team is. “Karl has done a great job and we have put together a good team with a good bunch of blokes.” As the runner-up most valuable player from last season, Fitzpatrick will head the Infernos team while key talls Tyler Willmore and Brandon O’Byrne will also return to the court. Railways Tigers will look to go one step further in their second season in A-grade after finishing second in the shortened 2019-2020 competition. Talented twins Henrick and Henry Alforque will reunite at Railways after the latter moved across from the defunct Knights. Flynn Wauters and Angus Brampton have also joined Railways but they will have to cover the loss of quartet Kalin Lane, Cyrus Upson, Hamish McMorran and Coen Jackman. Barking Owls have received a significant boost, recruiting reigning MVP Luke McGuire. In his first season in the competition, McGuire was a revelation for Knights, helping them to their third straight premiership. The Owls finished fourth last season and only have three players from last season’s team remaining. New club Sonics have put together a well-balanced team for their first A-grade campaign, including tall trio Xavier Brenton-Reed, Kye Griffiths and Stuart Myers along with youngsters David Arthur, Liam Murdock and Ben Brown. Regular A-grade players Brody Hickey and Sam Finigan have moved from Owls to help form Denmark Magpies. The Sharks will join the A-grade ranks and feature the likes of Jake Louthean, Red Rogers and Jack Adams. Ambassadors have retained six of their eight players from last year while Raiders will feature a string of talented teenagers. MEN’S A-GRADE FIXTURES Round one Sonics v Infernos 6pm The Sharks v Tigers 7pm Ambassadors v Railways Tigers 8pm Denmark Magpies v Barking Owls 8pm Round two Tigers v Infernos 6pm The Sharks v Barking Owls 7pm Sonics v Railways Tigers 7pm Denmark Magpies v Raiders U18 8pm Round three Tigers v Railways Tigers 6pm Sonics v Ambassadors 6pm The Sharks v Raiders U18 7pm Infernos v Barking Owls 8pm