BIG V WRAP 22nd & 23rd June 2024
CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN
BELLARINE 70 d CAMBERWELL 28
(Courtney Strait 20, Chantelle Hall 10)
It was our Championship Women by the length of the Flemington straight on Saturday night, as they rolled right over the top of Camberwell on Saturday night.
The Dragons were only able to keep pace with the Storm early in the first quarter and from about mid way through the term, we left the home side in the rear view mirror to take total control of the game.
Courtney Strait was the leader on the scoresheet with 20 for the night and Chantelle Hall had 10 in a game where the Storm were never really challenged and in fact Camberwell’s final score of 28 was the lowest score conceded by the Storm senior Women in Big V in an excellent defensive effort.
A big challenge awaits the Storm this Saturday night though, as we host Wyndham on Saturday night in a top of the table clash, to be followed on Sunday as we host Sherbrooke, who are amongst the chasing pack for a finals berth.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEN
SATURDAY
BELLARINE 97 d CAMBERWELL 89
(Lewie Varley 22, Kavione Green 18)
SUNDAY
BELLARINE 128 lost to SHEPPARTON 132 (Double OT)
(Kavione Green 38 & 24, Nick Velasquez 33)
The second Storm v Camberwell game on Saturday night, was a closer run affair, as Bellarine held on to defeat the Dragons by eight points.
Going in with only seven players due to injury and unavailability, it was always going to be a tough night in store for the Storm and Camberwell, sensing a possible chance of an upset, were making life tough us, taking a lead of 11 points into the main break.
Despite the shortage of players, to the Storm’s credit, we dug deep and set about whittling away the Dragons lead, with several changes of lead late in the third quarter, with the home side holding sway by one point with one to play.
The last quarter belonged to Lewie Varley as he scored 12 points for the term, including three from outside the arc to lead the Storm to victory.
Sunday’s game against Shepparton shaped as a great game, with both sides evenly matched and it sure did live up to expectations as we went to double overtime to get a result.
This was an ebb and flow contest as both sides fought to try to get the momentum, only to have the opposition grab it back again. As was the case on Saturday night, the Storm were undermanned yet again, although that was offset to an extent by Shepparton also playing the night before against Wyndham.
By the end of regular time, scores were locked at 111 each and after five minutes of extra time, the two teams still couldn’t be separated with scores tied at 121. It was clear both sides were running on fumes and in the end, the Gator’s just had enough in the tank to hold off the Storm in the second OT period to snatch the four point win.
KG was outstanding and despite suffering cramp late in regular time, kept fighting out the game, finishing with 38 points a 24 rebounds for the afternoon. Nick Velasquez was also on fire from. outside the arc, dropping eight three’s for the match, four of which, were all in a row at the start of the last term, to have the Storm fans on their feet.
YOUTH LEAGUE WOMEN
BELLARINE 89 d BLACKBURN 51
(Sienna Quinlan 22, Lucy Howard 18)
It was just another routine night at the office for our Youth League Women as the easily accounted for Blackburn by 38 points at Storm HQ.
Sophie Tattersall started like a rocket, dropping seven of the Storm’s 14 first quarter points to set up an early advantage, which was never challenged by the Vikings for the remainder of the contest.
A key take out for the Storm, was skipper Sienna Quinlan getting amongst the scoring, leading the sheet with 22 points, whilst Lucy Howard continues to produce consistent performances, with 18 for her in the match.
YOUTH LEAGUE MEN
SATURDAY
BELLARINE 54 lost to WESTERN PORT 85
(Jamieson Renkauskas 22)
SUNDAY
BELLARINE 71 d RMIT 68
(Bailey Goodgame 15, Ben Walters 10)
It was a boiled lollies to chocolates weekend for our Youth League Men, going down to Western Port by 31 points, before hanging on to knock off RMIT at Storm HQ on Sunday to record their fourth win for the season.
Saturday night was a real struggle for the Storm, as they just couldn’t get into the contest, surrendering a 27 point lead by the half to make any chances of victory a distant thought.
The second half saw a more consistent performance by the Storm as they were able to match it on the scoreboard with the Steelers across both quarters, with Jamieson Renkauskas having his best outing to date, with 11 points to be one of only two Storm players to reach double figures, the other being Captain Ben Walters with 10.
Roll on Sunday afternoon at Storm HQ and a battle with RMIT and after a fairly even first half, where the Redbacks held sway by six points at the main break.
After half time, Bellarine swung into gear and put together a 27 to 16 term, to have themselves leading by five points with one to play.
Sniffing an opportunity to get another win, Bellarine came out full steam ahead in the last term, extending their lead to 14 points half way through the quarter and seemingly cruising to a win.
However, the visitors had other ideas about the end of the script and set about whittling down the margin and getting it back to just two points with just under two minutes remaining.
To the boys credit, the Storm were able to hold off the fast finishing RMIT by just three points in a morale boosting win.
THIS WEEK
SATURDAY 29th JUNE
Youth League Men v Melton at Bellarine Sports Centre 3:30pm
Youth League Women v Mornington at Mornington Basketball Stadium 5:00pm
Championship Men v Wyndham at Bellarine Sports Centre 5:30pm
Championship Women v Wyndham at Bellarine Sports Centre 7:30pm
SUNDAY 30th JUNE
Championship Women v Sherbrooke at Bellarine Sports Centre 1:00pm
Youth League Men v Westgate at RecWest Braybrook 1:30pm
Championship Men v Western Port at Somerville Recreation Centre 2:00pm