LIAM DURKIN
BASKETBALL
CBL
By LIAM DURKIN
THE Country Basketball League resumed its season at the weekend.
Round 5 action saw the Churchill Blue Devils take on Warragul Warriors at Latrobe Leisure Churchill in the senior men’s section.
The home side led 20-15 at quarter time, and took a 33-27 lead into the main break.
The Warriors then dominated as play resumed for the second half, putting up 22 points to 13 in the third quarter on their way to a 60-52 win.
Some familiar names with Mid Gippsland football were seen on the Warragul team sheet, with Hill End senior coach Mike Santo and MGFNL senior best-and-fairest Ambu Uliando combining for 19 and 10 points respectively.
Jordan Canovan led the scoring for Churchill, tipping in 23.
In other games, Maffra defeated Wonthaggi 87-63, Korrumburra disposed of Sale 109-75, and Wonthaggi beat Lakes Entrance 106-64 in the Saturday game before backing up to play the Eagles the next day.
Moe and Traralgon had the bye.
Warragul holds the lead with a 6-0 win-loss record, but the table is an extremely congested pack.
Traralgon is second with a 4-1 win-loss record points, while Moe (3-3) and Churchill (3-3) are fifth and sixth.
This weekend, Traralgon and Churchill will clash on Saturday at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium.
Both teams will need to recover quickly, as they are back on court the next day. The T-Birds make the journey to Korumburra and the Blue Devils host Maffra.
Moe only has the one game, playing Wonthaggi at home.
Other games see Sale play Lakes Entrance (Saturday) and Warragul play Sale (Sunday).
IN the women’s, Traralgon defeated Sale 68-58 last Saturday.
The T-Birds outscored the Sonics in every quarter bar-one, with Tanarly Hood scoring 20 points and Emma White 19.
The win kept Traralgon’s ascendency at the top of the ladder, and they followed up with a relatively easy win over Moe the next day.
Moe was never really in the hunt, going down 52-32. Emily Scholtes, who was invited to train with NBL club Melbourne Boomers recently, led the scoring with 17.
The Meteors sit fourth on the table behind Traralgon, Korumburrra and Maffra.
In other Round 5 results Maffra defeated Wonthaggi 81-69, Korumburra got the better of Sale 81-63 and Lakes Entrance got home on possibly the longest road trip in Gippsland sport, beating Wonthaggi 51-41.
Some double headers feature in Round 6 action this weekend.
On Saturday, Moe hosts Maffra, while Traralgon is home to Wonthaggi. The Meteors then play Wonthaggi at home on Sunday and the T-Birds travel to Korumburra.
