BIG V WRAP 1st & 2nd June 2024
The last round of Big V before the Kings Birthday bye weekend saw some very important wins in the context of the season for the Storm.
YOUTH LEAGUE MEN
SATURDAY
BELLARINE 66 lost to ALBURY/WODONGA 85
(Mitch Smith 27, Elijah Ottosen-I 16)
SUNDAY
BELLARINE 70 lost to CRAIGIEBURN 76
(Mitch Smith 18, Bailey Goodgame 17)
A tough road double for our Youth League Men over the weekend, heading to the border on Saturday night to meet Albury/Wodonga and with an undermanned squad, it was a tough ask, with the Storm eventually going down by 19 points in the end.
Mitch Smith continued to be the shining light for the Storm, finishing with 27 for the night, whilst Elijah Ottosen-I relished the opportunity to step into the starting five for the game, in one of his best performances, finishing with 16 points for the night.
On Sunday, the bus stopped at Craigieburn to take on the Eagles and at one point late in the last term, it looked like the Storm might snatch a win and split the weekend, getting within three points with about 40 seconds left in the game, following two three point plays from Nate Dawson from outside the arc and then a Mitch Smith basket where he was fouled and hit the bonus.
However, successive trips to the free throw line by the home side saw the Storm short by six points in the end.
CHAMPIONSHIP WOMEN
SATURDAY
BELLARINE 102 d HUME CITY 54
(Olivia Virt 20, Courtney Strait 19)
SUNDAY
BELLARINE 88 d WARRNAMBOOL 62
(Bridgette Rettstatt 21 & 16, Chantelle Hall 18
Our Championship Women are now entrenched at the top end of the ladder after an excellent weekend of basketball, firstly thumping Hume City by 48 points on Saturday night and then defending home territory against arch rivals Warrnambool at Storm HQ on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday night, the alarm bells would have been ringing very early for the Bronco’s as the Storm went on a scoring rampage to which the home side had absolutely no answers for, Bellarine finishing the first quarter with a 36 to 9 scoreline on the back of a 13 point term by Courtney Strait and Ally Knights, who has slipped into the side with comfort to contribute 11 of her own points, nine of which came from downtown.
Whilst the output of Hume City lifted in the remaining three quarters, it wan’t enough to stem the damage that had been done earlier, affording Coach Tim Sanderson the opportunity to rotate his players and try to keep them fresh for what was likely to be a tough game the following day against Warrnambool.
Olivia Virt had an outstanding night finishing with 20 points at 7 of 10 (70%) shooting from the field to spearhead the win.
As expected, Sunday afternoon’s heavyweight battle was a hard and tight affair, neither side wanting to give an inch to their opponent, typical of all their clashes over the last few years.
In a pretty even first term, the Mermaids held a two point lead at the first break. That lead lasted only 13 seconds into the second quarter before a Bridgette Rettstatt triple got the lead back for the Storm and they never surrendered the lead again from that point on.
The Storm tall timber of Rettstatt and Chantelle Hall were proving a real headache for the opposition as they monstered their opposition and controlled both ends of the court. In particular, Rettstatt’s pace up and down the court was proving tough for the Mermaids to defend.
With an 11 point lead at three quarter time. the Storm were in a strong position to roll away to the finish line and record another win against Warrnambool and in the blink of an eye, Bellarine were up by 20 and were able to cruise to the final buzzer and collect their second win for the weekend.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEN
BELLARINE 115 d BLACKBURN 89
(Lewie Varley 33, Kavione Green 27)
No nail biters for our Championship Men on the weekend as they easily accounted for Blackburn and on the back of three successive wins, now move themselves into third place on the ladder at the bye.
The opening term was an offensive shootout as both sides put 30 points up by quarter time, with KG and Lewie Varley being up and about early with 8 points each for the term.
After a few lead changes in the second, the Storm finally went in four points ahead at the main break and didn’t surrender the lead for the remainder of the contest and on the back of a 34 to 13 third term, where Bellarine went on a three point rampage, knocking down six for the quarter, four of which came from the hot hand of Varley as he collected 14 points for the term to have his team in the box seat.
Despite a home side comeback in the last term, the damage had already been done as the Storm were able to collect a comfortable 26 point win
Lewie Varley was outstanding for the Storm, finishing with 33 for the day, including 7 of 12 from downtown and KG was also big with his 27 points at 69% shooting.
YOUTH LEAGUE WOMEN
BELLARINE 67 d SURFCOAST 46
(Lucy Howard 15, Piper Copeland 13)
After handing Surfcoast their maiden win in a shock upset a few weeks ago, our Youth League Women exacted revenge on Sunday, accounting for our neighbours by 21 points.
There was only a point in it at quarter time, with the Storm’s nose in front and then through the middle quarters of the contest, Bellarine pressed and set up the win, outscoring the home side by a combined 19 points across terms two and three to lead by 20 points with one to play.
Lucy Howard was proving difficult for Surfcoast to contain through the game at both ends of the court, particularly during our dominant second quarter and then into the third, Bellarine’s perimeter game wound up, dropping 5 of 7 from outside the arc for the quarter.
The final quarter saw the Storm able to hold the home side at bay and cruise to the line for the win. Lucy Howard top scored with 15 and Piper Copeland finished while Summer Field was big on the ‘D’ boards with 10 out of her overall tally of 13 for the game.
THIS WEEK
BYE – KING’S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND