Division 1 Men
Semi-Final series – Game 1 (Best of three)
Bellarine Storm 88 defeated Melbourne Uni 83
Anyone who thought last weeks Elimination final was the biggest game of the season, then Saturday night proved that wrong as the Storm went toe to toe with the regular season leaders Melbourne Uni, to score an important win to get the early lead in their best of 3 Semi-Final.
After an even first term, the Storm lit up the second quarter in one of their best quarters of the season, with Jason Reardon on fire with 10 points for the quarter, to go with 8 points from Seb Thomason, who excited the crowd with some of his post work.
Their combined efforts, meant that the Storm went into the half time break with a handy 7 point break and our tails up.
As the stakes got higher into the third term, the contest tightened up as both sides lifted their defensive intensity and scoring began to dry up, with the Storm still managing to hold on to a solid 8 point break, heading into the last.
The final term was as intense a game of basketball as you’d hope to see in a final, with both teams pressing their points for an important win in the context of a best of 3 series.
As expected, the Students made a charge in the last and found the lead with just under 5 minutes remaining in the game and extending that to 4 points a minute later.
A Jason Reardon 3 pointer off the time out and then a turning jump shot from Seb Thomason, which delighted the home crowd, got the Storm back in the lead, however, there were still a few twists and turns inside the last 2 minutes.
Three points from Nijon Kirkman got the Black Angels within 2 points with less than a minute to play. A perfect trip to the line by Leigh Saffin was then shortly negated by another Kirkman 3.
With seconds to go and the Storm in front by 1 point, Lewie Varley went to the line and iced both, to give the Storm a 3 point break.
A final prayer from Stefan Pomasan went up in the vain attempt to send the game to extra time but it wasn’t to be and the Storm held on the record the win.
Jason Reardon showed there’s still plenty of life in the old ‘Junk Yard Dog’ as he finished with 23 points for the night and had good support from Rohan Jarvie, who came up big with 18 points and 14 boards for the night.
The Storm now head to Melbourne University on Saturday night, just one win away from a Grand Final series.
Youth League Women
Semi-Final
Bellarine Storm 79 defeated Albury/Wodonga 45
The fairytale continued for our Youth League Women, as they played their way into the Grand Final series, disposing of Albury/Wodonga by 34 points in a comprehensive victory.
It wasn’t all one way traffic though, as the visitors set about trying to disrupt the Storm early and take the game right up to them.
After conceding a 2 point lead at the first break, the Storm hit the ground running in the second and in the blink of any eye, were in control of the game, surging to a 12 point lead at the main break.
Lucy Howard and Sienna Quinlan were instrumental in getting the Storm back into the contest, whilst the defensive hustle and intensity of Emily Benson, was giving the visitors a lot of headaches and the Storm plenty of control of the game.
The second half of this game turned into a landslide as the Storm were in total control and cruised to the line, outscoring the Bandits 38 to 16 for the last 20 minutes of basketball.
Lucy Howard led the way with 17 points and 9 boards, Sienna Quinlan chipped in with 16 points, whilst Olivia Osborne and Carly Sanders contributed 12 points each in the victory.
Being the highest ranked winner, the Storm will play Game 1 of the best of 3 Grand Final Series on the road against Coburg in Coburg, before returning to Storm HQ the following weekend, for 2 games if needed.
Next Round
Saturday 20th August 2022
YLW Grand Final Series – Game 1 of Best of 3 v Coburg @ Coburg Basketball Stadium 6:30pm
D1M Game 2 (best of three) Semi-Final v Melbourne Uni @ Melbourne University Sports Centre 7:00pm
Sunday 21st August 2022
D1M Game 3 (best of three) Semi-Final v Melbourne Uni @ Melbourne University Sports Centre 1:00pm