Round 1 Wrap Up!

Round 1 of Big V is officially in the books. Let's wrap up the weekend and review the standout games from each division. Have a read below:

 

CM

Hume 119 def. McKinnon 110

Despite having so many close games this round to choose from in Round 1, how could we possibly go past a double overtime game. Both Hume and McKinnon came off very narrow victories the previous night before then facing off. Returning import guard, Chris Elder hit the important 3-point shot to send the game to double overtime with little time remaining after falling short on a match-winning floater with the last shot of regulation. All night it was all about new recruit, Troyce Manassa who controlled the game for the Broncos with 37 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals whilst for McKinnon, it was sharp-shooting guard Nathan Davis who lit it up for 31 points to go with his 6 boards and 3 steals to keep the game close all night. What an exciting start to the season for both teams, we expect these teams will deliver more of these heart-stopping moments during the season.

Hume		Stat	McKinnon
Troyce Manassa	37	Points	31	Nathan Davis
Manassa / Fiddes	10	Rebounds	10	Mitchell Barry
Troyce Manassa	7	Assists	5	Mitchell Barry
Chris Kaba	62.5%	3pt %	71.43%	James Malvaso

 

CW

Camberwell 66 def. Pakenham 61

It was the newly promoted Camberwell Dragons who jumped out of the blocks early against Pakenham in the Championship Women on Saturday night with a 20-8 first quarter at Cardinia Life. Coach Dimattina has his girls firing early as they stepped up to the challenge in what ended up being a seesawing game from quarter to quarter. For the Dragons their 3 leading scorers all came off the bench, lead by Big V veteran Eleni Valos with 14 points and 11 rebounds. New recruits Samantha Labros and Saule Kontautaite were also impressive off the bench with 12 and 15 points respectively to keep the scoreboard ticking over. On the other side, Pakenham will be disappointed with their first game of the season, not quite shooting at the percentage that coach Dielemans would expect. Haille Nickerson led the way for the Warriors with 16 points and 8 points and we are sure she will once again be very influential as the Warriors try to bounce back next weekend!

Camberwell		Stat	Pakenham
Eleni Valos	14	Points	16	Haille Nickerson
Eleni Valos	11	Rebounds	8	Nickerson / Prior
Andrea Belmonte	4	Assists	5	Samantha Romanowski
Saule Kontautaite	42.86%	3pt %	57.14%	Ebony Sans

 

D1M

Coburg 75 def. Bulleen 72

It was the Kobe Pearson showdown at Coburg on a Sunday afternoon! The star recruit had 26 points as he steered his Giants to a very tight 3-point victory against a new-look Bulleen outfit, the sharp-shooter was instrumental to the Giants win with 5 from 10 shooting from the 3-point line. For Bulleen it was new recruit, Joshua Uhr-Henry who did it all for the Boomers with 27 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 steals, he was pivotal for keeping Bulleen in this game. Bulleen went into the last quarter with a small lead but it was the team play and well-rounded scoring throughout the 4^th quarter that got them over the line in the end. What an exciting start to the Division One Men season!

Coburg		Stat	Bulleen
Kobe Pearson	26	Points	27	Josh Uhr-Henry
Tim O’Donovan	11	Rebounds	14	Josh Uhr-Henry
Mweemba Maluma	6	Assists	6	William Alhaddad
Mweemba Maluma	87.5%	FT %	100%	William Alhaddad

 

D1W

Bellarine 77 def. Warrnambool 66

This game had it all down in Warrnambool! The reigning champions had a much younger look to their squad for the opening round of the season as they hosted Bellarine and they certainly put up a fight, taking the game to overtime. For Bellarine, it was Georgia Varley who steered the ship with 23 points, including the layup to send it to overtime, to go with 3 assists and 3 steals and she was ably assisted by Jaimee Crombie and Olivia Virt who contributed with 17 and 15 points respectively. Meanwhile, for Warrnambool, youngsters Dakota Crichton and Matilda Sewell certainly add some excitement for the Mermaid fans, both lodging a double-double is the close loss.

Bellarine		Stat	Warrnambool
Georgia Varley	23	Points	18	Dakota Crichton
Karli Bruce	13	Rebounds	18	Dakota Crichton
Olivia Virt	4	Assists	6	Mia Mills
Jamiee Crombie	62.5%	3pt %	20%	Mia Mills

 

D2M

Craigieburn 98 def. Sherbrooke 93

After trailing for most of the game with a huge 35-point opening quarter by Sherbrooke, it was Gene Vocale who decided that he wanted Craigieburn to win in the 4^th quarter. He dropped 15 of his 39 points in the 4^th as the Eagles exploded for a 29-point quarter to cruise on to a win against a stunned Sherbrooke team. In a high-scoring affair, Sherbrooke had all 5 of their starters score in double figures and dominated the offensive rebounds with 23 but could just not find an answer for Craigieburn defensively as they shot some ridiculous percentages from the field. Sherbrooke will be disappointed to drop this one but will be sure to make some adjustments and bounce back next weekend.

Craigieburn		Stat	Sherbrooke
Gene Vocale	39	Points	20	Darrell Morgan
Blake Dickinson	7	Rebounds	10	Nick Tarrant
Dickinson / Wynne	4	Assists	5	Treweek / Tarrant
Gene Vocale	3	Steals	3	Nick Tarrant

 

D2W

Collingwood 66 def. Mornington 54

This was a game of 1^st against last when looking at the 2022 ladder, but with completely different squads in 2023, we knew this would be an exciting encounter. Mornington came out of the blocks early in the first quarter, but from quarter time onwards, it was all about the All-Stars as they tightened up defensively before taking ownership of this one. It was controlling the rebounds that helped Collingwood, with Mackey, Shell and Arora all having double figures, including a collective 20 offensive rebounds. Whilst Captain Demi Eastwood tried to keep Mornington in the game with 15 points and 12 rebounds, it just wasn’t enough as Bella Doherty and the All-Stars pulled away in the 4^th for a somewhat comfortable win in the end.

Collingwood		Stat	Mornington
Bella Doherty	14	Points	18	Ashleigh Wright
Lexi Mackey	12	Rebounds	12	Demi Eastwood
Doherty / Arora	3	Assists	4	Demi Eastwood
Lexi Mackey	3	Blocks	1	Wright / McCulloch / Popovski

 

VYCM

Casey 90 Defeated Frankston 88

It was the game of the round and rightfully so as the Casey Cavaliers held on to a 2-point win over the Youth League One Champions of 2022 Frankston. The first half showed the intensity of the game with a tied quarter-time score before Casey took a commanding lead going into half time holding Frankston to only 14 points in the second. After a massive turnaround in the third by Frankston to go up by 4 Casey was able to hold on sealing the game by 2 by the final siren. Tony Marchese off the bench took the game by storm finishing with 30pts shooting 4 of 6 from the land of plenty.

Casey		Stat	Frankston
Tony Marchese	30	Points	27	Ben Perry
Ethan Bolton	13	Rebounds	7	Ben Perry
Miles / Marchese	4	Assists	2	Perry / Laurie
Ethan Bolton	3	Steals	1	Perry / Lane

 

VYCW

Bendigo 72 Defeated Keilor 59

Bendigo was able to take down the reigning champions of VYCW 2022 by 13 away from home. In what was a consistent battle throughout the game, it was Bendigo who proved more composed and consistent across the four quarters, holding Keilor to only 9 points in the second. Closing out the game in the fourth 23 points to 16, it was Erin Condron with an efficient 20 points of 9 from 13 shooting who led the game. Caitlin Richardson neared a double-double with 12 points and 7 assists. The shooting seemed the key to this game as Bendigo shot just under 32% from the land of plenty to only 16% from the Thunder.

Bendigo		Stat	Keilor
Erin Condron	20	Points	14	Milly Kumbara
Meg McCarthy	8	Rebounds	13	Macey Boyle
Richardson / McCarthy	7	Assists	4	Macey Boyle
Caitlin Richardson	4	Steals	4	Macey Boyle

 

YL1M

Bulleen 93 Defeated Altona 64

Bulleen seems already on the hunt back to VYCM after their relegation down to Youth One after a dominant win over the Altona Gators, closing it out by 29 points. Keeping the Gators under 20 points in each quarter, forcing 20 turnovers and racking up 23 assists for the game, this new Bulleen unit proved comfortable from the tip. With everyone stepping on the court contributing to some capacity it was a well-spread supportive game from Bulleen, led by Bailey Milligan finishing with 22pts off 11 from 16 shooting to go with his 10 rebounds. Kurt Butler on the other end finished with 20 points of his own to go with 13 rebounds.

Bulleen		Stat	Altona
Bailey Milligan	22	Points	20	Kurt Butler
Bailey Milligan	10	Rebounds	13	Kurt Butler
Marcel Haj	5	Assists	4	Kurt Butler
Jamie Uhr-Henry	3	Blocks	1	Stefan Filippone

 

YL1W

McKinnon 95 Defeated Sunbury 59

McKinnon made quick work of the new inclusion to Youth One Women Sunbury Jets taking charge early before settling into a cruisy 36-point win. Proved to be a dominant game all around by the Cougars as every player stepped onto the court and scored and added a statistic to their name. With Eloise Leonard top scoring for the Cougars with 14 points, their team-based offence proved too much for the Jets as they combined for 20 assists. The Jets closed out with 4 players finishing in double figures yet it was their 32 turnovers that hurt them the most. Cara Beattie finished top scoring for the Jets with 13pts going 5 from 9 from the field.           

McKinnon		Stat	Sunbury
Eloise Leonard	14	Points	13	Cara Beattie
Alexis Ansell	6	Rebounds	7	Nakita Hanna
Natalie Keane	6	Assists	3	Beattie / Cooper
Cacelia Gates	4	Steals	3	Beattie / Theodore

 

YL2M

Surf Coast 107 Defeated Whittlesea 104          

It was everything Surf Coast would have wanted in a first game in Youth League, finishing on top after an overtime win by a slim 3-point margin. With chop and changing quarter-time scores, the game went back and forth with Whittlesea holding onto the lead for almost 38 minutes of the total 45-minute game. An incredibly exciting game that went to overtime it was a high-scoring OT period with Surf Coast just getting over the line scoring 18 points in just 5 minutes. Jesse Ombega finished with 37pts off the bench shooting 5 from 8 from three working closely with Ryan Drinkwater who had 28pts. Ethan Bateman dominated for the Pacers with 36pts to go along with 19 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Surf Coast		Stat	Whittlesea
Jesse Ombega	37	Points	36	Ethan Bateman
Ryan Drinkwater	17	Rebounds	19	Ethan Bateman
Nicholas Hough	5	Assists	11	Chayse Pinono
Ryan Drinkwater	3	Steals	3	Bateman / Pinono

 

YL2W

Albury Wodonga 82 Defeated Sherbrooke 48

It was an upset of the week as Albury took control of Sherbrooke taking out a 34-point win a long way from home. Holding to Sherbrooke to only 48 points for the game, 8 in the third, Albury Wodonga forced 27 turnovers which generated quick buckets. Albury put heat on the rim all game long, getting to the line 34 times. Georgie Salinger finished with a game-high 19pts to go with 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals followed closely by 4 others reaching double figures, the Holdsworth sisters Latoya and Jazmine and Tahli Smith. Olivia Kingston did her best from the Suns finishing with 14pts to go with a solid 16 rebounds and 2 assist stat line.                    

Albury Wodonga		Stat	Sherbrooke
Georgie Salinger	19	Points	14	Olivia Kingston
Maeva Connell	12	Rebounds	16	Olivia Kingston
Jazmine Holdsworth	7	Assists	3	Paterson / Dousset
Jazmine Holdsworth	4	Steals	3	Sarah Weaver