Youth League Women
Grand Final Series – Game 1 (Best of 3)
Bellarine Storm 73 lost to Coburg 91
Coburg lead the series 1-0
Not the outcome we were hoping for, as Coburg changed the script and decided they were going to try and write a new one, taking a 1-0 lead in the Best of 3 Grand Final series.
In a game best forgotten, the Storm struggled with ball control and getting boards as the Giants took the game right up to us and controlled the contest for the majority of the night.
Apart from the second quarter, where the Storm fought hard to get back into the contest by half time, it was a tough night for the remainder of the contest.
However, it wasn’t all bad news as Piper Copeland worked hard all night to top score for the Storm with 24 points for the night, whilst Millie Sibley finished on 10 for the night and Carly Sanders, who provided one of the few highlights on the night by taking out the Youth League Women 2 MVP for 2022, did her best on the boards with 15 boards, 11 at the defensive end.
The great news is, we still have two games at our place this weekend to right the ship and get back on track.
Division 1 Men
Semi-Final Series – Games 2 & 3
Saturday Bellarine Storm 85 lost to Melbourne Uni 91
Sunday Bellarine Storm 94 defeated Melbourne Uni 79
In a cracking weekend of games, our Division 1 Men upset the top team at the end of the regular season and tipped them out of the finals and book a spot in the Grand Final series where we’ll face off with Shepparton.
On Saturday night, the Storm were in control for most of the evening, leading by 10 points at the final break, before the home side put their foot down and ran over the top of the Storm, to level the series 1-1 with a decider on Sunday.
Game 3 was an absolute dismantling of Melbourne Uni with our shooters all finally hitting their straps at the same time on Sunday and in a destructive last quarter, completely dominated the opposition and setting the stadium nets on fire, such was the hotness of our shooting.
Down the stretch, the Storm went 8 of 12 from outside the arc to drain the life out of the Black Angels who had no answer to this display of shooting from Leigh Saffin, Lewie Varley, Max Kos and even Rohan Jarvie getting in on the action to run away with the game and charge into the Grand Final.
Lewie Varley finished the game with 26, Leigh Saffin 24 and Max Kos 21 to throttle the life out of Melbourne Uni down the stretch.
The only disappointing news was an injury to Jason Reardon mid game, forcing him to the Bech for most of the second half. Marko Vekic was also playing with an ankle injury, however, dug deep as he always does to fight on to the final siren.
It took a bit of time for the Storm to settle this season, however, they are now firing on all cylinders and are playing their best basketball when the whips are cracking.
Game 1 of the Grand Final Series on Saturday night promises to be a classic, if their meeting at our place a few weeks ago, is anything to judge by.
Next Round
Saturday 27th August 2022
D1M Game 1 Grand Final series (Best of 3) v Shepparton @ Bellarine Secondary College 5:30pm
YLW Game 2 Grand Final series (Best of 3) v Coburg @ Bellarine Secondary College 7:30pm
Sunday 28th August 2022
YLW Game 3 Grand Final series (Best of 3) v Coburg @ Bellarine Secondary College 1:00pm (if needed)