TOM HAYES
BASKETBALL
CBL
By TOM HAYES
A BUSY weekend in the Country Basketball League saw a variation of results throughout the Gippsland Men’s and Women’s divisions.
Several teams featured twice on the weekend, testing their resilience early on into the season.
TRARALGON and Morwell went head-to-head to get Round 2 started in the Gippsland Men’s division, and it was one-way traffic for the T-Birds.
The T-Birds never waivered, holding control of the match for the entire game, winning every quarter to extend their lead at every break.
Their five-point first quarter lead bellied out to 15 points as early as halftime, the game already looking beyond the Magic.
It was much of the same in the second half, as Traralgon added seven points to their lead in the third term, before completing the 29-point win in the final quarter, 92-63.
Traralgon’s Koby Tibballs and Zac Bezzina starred for the T-Birds with 22 and 21 points respectively.
Bradley Watson and Ben Barlow also assisted in attack with double-digit point hauls.
Tyler Buurman accumulated 12 points, eight of which were from the free throw line, while Mitch Bruerton scored nine points for Morwell.
DESPITE going down early, Moe made light work of Warragul, getting over the line by 21 points.
Warragul took a slender lead at the first break, but from then on it was a Meteor shower.
Moe outscored the Warriors by six points, 13 points and four points in each of the last three quarters, powering home for the 21-point win, 97-76.
Austin Shelley was unstoppable, scoring 41 of Moe’s 97 points, making 13 field goals, four of which were from beyond the arc.
TO round out the Saturday games, Wonthaggi Coasters started their season off with a bang, defeating Korumburra Wildcats, 83-61.
Maffra handed down a some similar treatment to Sale, also getting over the line by 29 points.
Except in this encounter, Sale actually led at the end of the first quarter.
The Sonics took a two-point advantage into the second quarter, but that was diminished almost instantaneously, as Maffra clapped back in a 12-point turnaround.
In just a short space of time, the Eagles then led by 10 points at the halftime break, and they weren’t letting go of their lead.
They added another seven points to their margin in the third quarter, before piling on 25 points to 13 in the final term to win by 29 points, 94-65.
FIVE more games took place on the Sunday, beginning with Moe taking care of Traralgon.
The T-Birds started hot, with 29 first-quarter points, but seemingly ran out of steam from there.
Traralgon held a four-point lead at the half, but Moe responded with 30 points in the third quarter, flipping the switch to gain a nine-point lead.
Moe outscored the T-Birds by a further three points in the last term to win by 12, 101-89.
Shelley backed up his 41-point game with another 33 points, with Thomas Portbury, Rohan Demczuk and Stephen O’Brien in assistance.
Traralgon’s Barlow was admirable in defeat with 26 points.
SALE scraped over the line against Lakes Entrance, primarily due to their massive first half.
The Sonics led by as much as 14 points at the end of the second term, putting them in pole position to take the win.
But Lakes Entrance battled, dragging nine of the points back in the third term to leave just five points separating the two.
Yet Sale took control to get over the line by six points, winning 67-61.
KORUMBURRA got the better of Morwell, edging the Magic out by six points, 72-66.
Despite the loss, four of the Magic’s men put up decent scores; Ashton McAllen with 16 points, Jesse Bowe scored 14, while Jordan Canovan and Hayden Weir had 10 each.
Warragul defeated their Warrior counterparts, Pakenham, 94-82, while Wonthaggi continued their perfect start to the season in a monster 105-59 win over Southern Peninsula, sending them to the top of the ladder already.
THERE were plenty of victories too for local teams playing in the Gippsland Women’s division.
Traralgon skimmed past Morwell with ease, setting the tone with a 27 to 11 first quarter, which was then backed up by a dominant second quarter which saw the margin sail to 21 points.
The Magic clawed back, only managing to get back to 17 points at the end of third, before the T-Birds piled on 22 points to six to set the margin at 33 points in the 78-45 win.
Samantha Labros was dominant with 21 points for the T-Birds, while Morwell’s Abby Noblett and Makaela Zeldenryk were noted in the defeat.
MOE handed Warragul a lesson to the tune of 52 points, winning 94 to 42.
Warragul could only manage as much as 11 points in a quarter, scoring 22 points in the first half, and 20 in the second.
Five of Moe’s girls scored double-digit amounts; Tahni Hodgens (22 points), Michelle Clarke (16), Danielle Davies (16), Brooke Hunter (12) and Piper Albert (10).
The Meteors had enough of a score during the second quarter to defeat Warragul, quite some feat.
MAFFRA edged out Sale in a close one.
The Eagles managed to win three of the four quarters, but the Sonics kept things in close quarters.
Maffra’s four-point quarter time lead was extended to seven at halftime, but somehow Sale remained just within reach.
They dragged four points back in the third quarter to trail by three with a quarter to play, but the resilience of Maffra was too much as they closed out a four-point win, 74-70.
TO round out the Saturday fixtures, Korumburra defeat Wonthaggi.
In a see-sawing affair, either team won a quarter each.
MOE was unable to capitalise from their 52-point win the day earlier, going down by nine points to Traralgon. The Meteors came out firing with two 20-point quarters to set the tone, leading by as much as 10 points at halftime.
But a dominant second half from Traralgon was a shock, drawing the lead back to just three with a quarter to play.
The T-Birds were in so much control that they held Moe to just nine points in the final quarter, while scoring 21 of their own to win by nine points, 74-65.
Labros was once again at her best for Traralgon, scoring 22 points, getting the T-Birds over the line with the help of Sienna Privitera and Indiana de Dios.
SALE replied to their Saturday loss with a win on Sunday over Lakes Entrance.
The close encounter was ultimately decided in the first and final quarters, where Sale did most of their damage.
The Sonics led by four at quarter time, before the going got tough and Lakes Entrance began to fire up.
As much as the Pelicans came at Sale, they held firm and kept control of the game.
Lakes Entrance dragged the margin back in the second term to three points, but it was pushed back out to four points the following quarter.
In a low scoring final term, Sale put on a further three points to walk away as seven-point winners, 56-49.
Chloe Rees was exceptional for the Sonics scoring 22 points.
KORUMBURRA was far too good for Morwell, dismissing them to the tune of 49 points.
Morwell had no real grip on the game, as Korumburra led and stretched their margin during every quarter.
From 20 points to 23 at the half, most of the damage was yet to come, with 26 more points added to the margin in the second half, the Wildcats completed the job, 90-41.
PAKENHAM gave Warragul a 37-point hiding, in a frantic final quarter hammering.
Pakenham led by 16 at the end of the third term, but piled on 25 points to four in the final term to embarrass their Warrior counterparts.
WONTHAGGI doubled Southern Peninsula’s score, winning 74-37.
