Round 6 was a busy weekend for all our Storm teams, with a mix of outcomes across the round.
Championship Men
Saturday
Bellarine 71 lost to Wyndham 107
(Max Kos 18, Nathan Gronbeck 13)
Sunday
Bellarine 75 lost to Keysborough 80
(Josh Chery 16, Rohan Jarvie 15)
Despite taking on the reigning champion, the Storm were right in this contest just shy of the half time break, with a Rohan Jarvie score reduced the margin to 5 points with three minutes remaining in the term.
From there, Wyndham went on a 14-5 run to half time and made it tough work for the Storm from that point on.
Max Kos was important for the Storm, continuing his recent good form, with 18 points and getting good support from Nathan Gronbeck with 13 points, including 3 from 4 from outside the arc.
Sunday presented a great opportunity for our Champ men to snare their first win of the season against fellow Championship debutant Keysborough.
For 3 quarters, it was a fascinating arm wrestle with two very even teams slugging it out at both ends of the floor, with the Storm setting up a 12 point buffer at the final break.
From there, the Cougars went on the rampage, wiping out the Storm lead three quarters of the way through the final term and going on to win the contest by five points to end a tough weekend for the Storm.
Division 1 Women
Bellarine 94 defeated Chelsea 71
(Olivia Virt 29, Bh’rea Griffin & Georgia Varley 16)
Saturday night saw our Division 1 Women bounce back to the winners circle with a strong 23 point victory against Chelsea.
The Gulls had no answer to Olivia Virt who is in career best form right now, with several key performances in recent weeks, including a bag of 29 for the night to lead the Storm to the win.
After a very even first half, where the visitors kept themselves in touch of the Storm, we went up a gear in the second half to comfortably cruise to the win and retain second spot on the table.
The most pleasing factor for Coach Tim Sanderson, would be the impact made by the entire starting five, all scoring in double figures for the match.
Youth League 2 Women
Bellarine 64 defeated Blackburn 52
(Summer Field 18 & 11 rebs, Ash Withers 16 & 12 rebs & Piper Copeland 16 )
A great all round team performance saw our Youth League Women record a strong win on the road against Blackburn on Saturday night.
Despite going into the contest undermanned with 8 players suited up, the Storm started strongly, setting up a 7 point lead by quarter time and was never headed for the contest.
Summer Field was instrumental in the win, with 18 points and 11 boards, getting great support from Ash Withers, who is also putting together a fine season of work, with 16 points and 12 on the glass.
Piper Copeland was her usual reliable best, chipping in with 16, to be the third prong for the Storm in the win.
Youth League 2 Men
Saturday
Bellarine 67 defeated Melton 60
(Sam Maher 15)
Sunday
Bellarine 69 lost to Surf Coast 81
(Sam Maher, Mitch Smith 13
A split result double header weekend for our Youth League Men, which opened with a win on the road against Melton on Saturday night.
The Storm were out of the blocks early, establishing a 7 point break on the home side by mid way through the first, before Melton narrowed that to just 3 points with a minute remaining in the term, before a Mitch Smith trip to the line, gave the Storm a 5 point break.
As expected, the home side fought back to grab the lead in the shadows of half time, managing to hold the lead by the smallest of margins at the half.
The third term was a real back and forth affair as the lead changed hands several times, before important shots from Bailey Goodgame, Keegan Johnson and Jack Davies gave the Storm a 7 point buffer into the last.
Again, Melton fought back in the last, reducing the Storm lead to just 3 points with minutes to play, before Bellarine was able to steady through Sam Maher with 2 important scores down the stretch to guide the Storm to a win.
On Sunday, the contest against neighbour Surf Coast was being awaited with great interest.
It took a little for both sides to settle into the contest, with the first score for the game taking 4 minutes to be chalked up. Surf Coast were the first to settle and established an early edge to lead by 11 at the first break.
The Storm game started to come together in the second term as the ability to impact the scoreboard increased, however, at the other end, Surf Coast were still able to keep their tally ticking over, extending their lead to 15 at the half.
The Storm wasn’t helped by three key players being in foul trouble heading into the second half, with Sam Maher, Vinnie Whelan and Ezekiel Rickard all having 3 to their name heading into the second half.
Courtesy of a 3 pointer from Harry Crane, who was among the Storm’s best for the game, the lead was reduced to just 6. However, the Chargers were still able to find ways to the basket and hold off the fast finishing Storm to collect the win.
THIS WEEKEND
ROUND 7
Saturday 6th May 2023
Youth League 2 Men
Bellarine v Pakenham @ Bellarine Secondary College 6:00pm
Division 1 Women
Bellarine v Mildura @ Bellarine Secondary College 8:00pm
Youth League 2 Women
Bellarine v Whittlesea @ Mill Park Basketball Stadium 6:00pm
Championship Men
BYE