BIG V WRAP 4th & 5th May 2024
The weekend just done in Big V for the Storm, had a bit of everything and threw up some surprise results across the two days of games.
YOUTH LEAGUE MEN
BELLARINE 47 lost to Whittlesea 92
(Bailey Goodgame 15, Mitch Smith 14)
Things were looking pretty good for our Youth League Men in the first half of their battle against Whittlesea at Storm HQ on Saturday night.
In the first half, it was an extremely close and hard fought battle, with the Storm going into the main break trailing by just four points and holding their own against the Pacers.
The second half started well as both sides went basket for basket, with the Storm trailing by just one point with three and a half to play in the third quarter, when Whittlesea turned up the heat and went 13-0 to the three quarter time buzzer.
From there, the Pacers didn’t look back as they put their game into overdrive and put their foot flat to the floor and completely dominated the quarter and the Storm had no answers to the scoring onslaught.
Bailey Goodgame (15) and Mitch Smith (14) tried hard to keep the storm in the contest, however, to no avail as the horse had already bolted.
YOUTH LEAGUE WOMEN
BELLARINE 56 lost to SURFCOAST 66
(Summer Field 15 & 13, Sophie Tattersall 13)
On Sunday afternoon, our Youth League Women hosted cross-town rivals Surfcoast for the very first time and for the first half, whilst the scoreline was close, the Storm were looking in control at the main break.
However, despite having not won a game as yet in their opening season, Surfcoast turned the tables on the Storm and began to challenge the home side with their enthusiasm and outclassed their more fancied opponents to outplay the Storm to snatch a two point lead at the last break.
With the whiff of an upset in the air, the Chargers continued to work hard and deny the Storm the opportunity to get back into the contest and snatch the win and in the end it paid off as the game was in their keeping and the Storm had a day they’d rather forget, going down by 10 points in the end.
CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN
SATURDAY
BELLARINE 84 d WARRNAMBOOL 72
(Courtney Strait 29 & 12, Bridgett Rettstatt 25)
SUNDAY
BELLARINE 73 lost to WYNDHAM 90
(Bridgette Rettstatt 20 & 18, Olivia Virt 14)
Another round, another tough weekend double for our Championship Women on the weekend, hosting Warrnambool at home on Saturday night, before renewing acquaintances with Wyndham at Eagle Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday night, we saw a good, old fashioned shoot out, with both sides playing tough, solid basketball throughout the night, before the Storm were able to steady late and hold off the Mermaids.
Courtney Strait was big for the Storm in the first quarter, dropping 13 points for the term and was well supported by Bridgette Rettstatt who had seven of her own for the first, to have the Storm in good shape at the quarter time break.
The lead changed hands seven times across the middle two quarters, with neither side giving an inch to their opposition and setting up an enthralling run to the line in the last.
The last quarter belonged to Bridgette Rettstatt as she broke loose and dropped 16 points in the final term to lead the Storm to an important win against a fellow top four side and ready for the Wyndham contest the following day.
Unfortunately for the Storm, Wyndham had the advantage of a Saturday night off before hosting us on Sunday, whilst we had played a very physical contest the night before.
It was a promising start for the Storm though, as they put four points on Wyndham to start the contest, however, the home side fought back quickly to grab the lead and held onto it for the remainder of the game.
Wyndham’s imports in Brousseau and Paschal were causing headaches for the Storm on the scoreboard and were keeping their team in the lead, whilst Courtney Strait, Olivia Virt, Bridgette Rettstatt were prominent in keeping the Storm in the contest throughout the afternoon, however, Wyndham proved just a bit too good on their home deck, inflicting our first loss in five starts.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEN
BELLARINE 92 d WYNDHAM 86
(Nick Velasquez 22, Rohan Jarvie 19)
After a horror road double last weekend, our Championship Men bounced right back and caused a boilover and inflicted Wyndham’s first loss for the season on Sunday at Eagle Stadium.
It was an even first term, with the home side holding a three point lead at quarter time, before the Storm grabbed momentum in the second quarter and raced to a 13 point buffer at the main break and looking in control of the contest.
The pleasing aspect of the second term was the impact from a number of players, with seven different players contributing to the score sheet across the quarter, in a real team focused performance.
To Bellarine’s credit, they were able to hold the status quo into the third term, keeping the home side at bay, however, the question was, when Wyndham would make a push and try and overcome the deficit and make a run for the line in the last.
As expected, that push came in the last term as Wyndham set about whittling down the Storm advantage on the scoreboard, levelling the scores at 86 on the back of a three pointer from Jones.
Despite Wyndham coming hard for the win, Bellarine dug really deep, regained the lead and pushed to the line to snatch the win and get their season back on track.
THIS WEEK
SATURDAY 11th MAY 2024
Youth League Men
Bellarine v Wallan @ RB Robson Stadium 7:00pm
Championship Men
Bellarine v Melbourne Uni @ Melb Uni Sports Centre 8:30pm
SUNDAY 12th May 2024
Youth League Women
Bellarine v Blackburn @ Mullum Mullum 12:30pm
Championship Women
Bellarine v Bulleen @ Bellarine Sports Centre 12:00pm
Championship Men
Bellarine v Keysborough @ Bellarine Sports Centre 2:00pm