BIG V WRAP 4th April 2024
It was a big weekend of Big V basketball for the Storm, with all four teams in action, including a home triple header.
YOUTH LEAGUE WOMEN
BELLARINE 72 d SUNBURY 64
(Karli Bruce 24 & 13, Piper Copeland 18)
After two very comfortable wins to start the season, our Youth League Women had to work a bit harder for the ‘W’ on Saturday night as they travelled to Boardman Stadium to take on Sunbury.
The Jets set the early pace for the contest, establishing an early advantage on the scoreboard, before the Storm got into the swing of things, to narrow the margin to seven points at the first break.
Bellarine were up and about to start the second quarter, as they set about nullifying Sunbury’s scoring avenues, levelling the scoreboard and overtaking the Jets in the dying stages of the quarter, to go in to the main break with a narrow 2 point lead.
In an unusual stat, Karli Bruce had 16 points for the first half, with 14 of those points coming from the free throw line. Piper Copeland was also beginning to find range, with 9 (all in 3’s) to the half.
That stat must have come to the attention of the Sunbury Coaching staff, as Bruce made just one more appearance at the free throw line for the rest of the night.
This contest really tightened up in the third term as both sides struggled to get the upper hand. Bellarine’s lead became no more than 6 points at any stage through the term, before Sunbury had a late run to narrow the margin to one point before Summer Field managed to hit a couple from outside the arc to send the Storm in with a six point lead with one to go.
Into the last and the Storm set about trying to shake off the Jets, getting their lead out to double figures midway through the final term and reaching 17 points before Sunbury went on a 10 -1 run across the last two minutes of the game. However, the damage had been done earlier in the term as the Storm were able to hold off the home side by eight points.
Karli Bruce continued her form from the previous round to finish with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Piper Copeland kicked in with 18 for the night and a great defensive performance from Summer Field who scored 11 points of her own, to go with her 11 rebounds, 15 of those at the defensive end of the court.
YOUTH LEAGUE MEN
SATURDAY
BELLARINE 71 lost to WESTGATE 80
(Mitch Smith 24, Bailey Goodgame 17)
Despite a loss, there was a fair bit to like about the Youth League Men’s performance for the majority of Saturday night’s game against new kids on the Big V block Westgate Imperials at the Bellarine Sports Centre.
The Imperials have opened their debut season in the competition with 3 wins from 3 outings and came out keen to press hard for four from four against us, with a dominant first quarter, where the Storm didn’t really have an answer.
Into the second quarter and Westgate continued to score, before an 8 – 0 run by the Storm saw them begin to grow in confidence and work their way back into the contest to only trail by 9 points at the main break.
After half time, the Storm came out with renewed efforts and intensity, in the process, winding the visitors lead back to just 2 points with four minutes remaining in the third term, after a Bailey Goodgame jumper before the Imperials again edged away, only to see Mitch Smith and Harry Crane score to pull the three quarter time deficit back to just three points and game on.
It was an arm wrestle for the first part of the last quarter, before Westgate started to extend its lead into double figures again midway through the term before Bailey Goodgame made his presence felt with successive shots from outside the arc to narrow the margin, however, with less than a minute remaining in the game, the visitors went to the foul line and then scored again, to put the win just out of reach of the Storm.
Mitch Smith led the way again for the Storm with 24 points for the night, whilst Bailey Goodgame was also instrumental with 17 points.
CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN
BELLARINE 72 lost to WYNDHAM 81
(Courtney Strait 24 & 12, Bridgett Rettstatt 14)
It was a big moment for the Storm, as our Championship Women made their debut appearance, drawing two time Grand Finalists and 2022 Champions Wyndham in their opening game.
As expected, Wyndham were keen to establish their reputation as the big kids on the block and tried to set the tempo of the game early but to the Storm’s credit they stuck with the opposition early doors, before Wyndham exerted a little bit of authority on the game leading to quarter time, taking a seven point lead into the first break.
The second quarter belonged to Wyndham as they really turned the screws on the Storm, as Amanda Paschal showed why she is one of the leading imports in the competition, leading her team to a sizeable 20 point buffer at the main break and sounding alarm bells for the Storm with a half remaining.
Whatever Coach Tim Sanderson said to his troops at the half, it certainly paid dividends in the third term as the Storm set about showing that they belong at this level as they completely outplayed Wyndham on the back of the efforts of Courtney Strait and Bridgette Rettstatt who teamed up to get Bellarine motoring and looking every bit at home as they reeled in the Wyndham lead to just six points at the last break and looking likely to cause a massive boilover first up.
However, down the stretch, Wyndham were able to maintain the lead and despite a barrage of scoring from Strait and Rettstatt, the Storm just couldn’t make up the difference on the scoreboard, going down by 9 points.
Despite not getting the ‘W’, the Storm showed that we belong at this level and by pushing one of the top teams in the Competition, showed they will be competitive at this level in 2024.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEN
BELLARINE 105 d BLACKBURN 79
(Kavione Green 31 & 12, Max Kos 19)
A cracking start to the Championship Men’s season for the Storm as they overran Blackburn to the tune of 26 points on the back of an outstanding performance by KG who set about leaving his mark early, to finish with 31 points and dragging down 12 boards to seal the deal.
Blackburn were looking dangerous early, with import James Legan hitting 3 pointers like he was shelling peas in the first term, dropping 4 for the quarter, however, despite that, his side still only took a 5 point break to the end of the term.
Things tightened up early in the second, however, the visitors still held the lead, before Coach Luke Beauglehall injected Seb Thomason into the game and he lit things up, taking in the game and almost scoring as he wanted, giving the home crowd something to cheer about, as the Storm set about erasing the visitor’s lead and taking their own 3 point lead into the main break.
The turning point in the contest was midway through the third term, when Legan was called for successive technical fouls for his interactions with the officials and was ejected from the remainder of the night. It was significant, as Legan had 23 points to that stage of the game and after his loss, the Vikings had to significantly reshuffle their game plan and the Storm pounced on the opportunity to stamp themselves on the contest.
Despite hanging in to only trail by 5 points at three quarter time, the Viking’s night was done, as the Storm put them to the sword in the last quarter, with a 28 to 7 run to the line to record an emphatic first up victory for the season.
The last quarter belonged to KG as he dropped 12 points for the term, putting the game out of doubt and showing why he is such an important recruit for the Club this season.
The other highlight of the night, was a big one handed jam from Rohan Jarvie that had the home crowd in an absolute frenzy.
THIS WEEK
SATURDAY 13 APRIL 2024
Youth League Men
Bellarine v Melton @ Cobblebank Stadium 6:00pm
SUNDAY 14 APRIL 2024
Youth League Women
Bellarine v Western Port @ Somerville Recreation Centre 12:00pm
Championship Women
Bellarine v Sunbury @ Boardman Stadium 12:00pm
Championship Men
Bellarine v Sunbury @ Boardman Stadium 2:00pm