Youth League Men: defeated Ballarat 82-58 (but missed finals by 3%)
The Werribee Devils Youth League Men’s season has ended in dramatic fashion. Despite a big 82-58 win over Ballarat, the Devils finished level on points with Camberwell and Bendigo, with Camberwell’s percentage a mere 3.74 points higher, leaving the Devils in seventh place. In turn, Bendigo were also on 11 wins, and only 1.02 percentage points behind the Devils.
| Pos | Team | P | W | L | For | Ag | % | Streak |
| 6 | Camberwell | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1577 | 1550 | 101.74 | LWWWW |
| 7 | Werribee | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1511 | 1541 | 98.05 | WWLLW |
| 8 | Bendigo | 22 | 11 | 11 | 1696 | 1748 | 97.03 | LWLLW |
The Devils showed positive signs during the season with some impressive wins, but were never really able to build much consistency or momentum. Round 15 was a big contributor to their finals omission, with losses to Altona and Camberwell in consecutive days proving costly. They were then forced to sit out Round 16 and hope other results went their way.
Things very nearly worked out, with Bendigo losing both their Round 16 matchups. The only problem for the Devils was that Camberwell won their last four games and snuck up to pinch the remaining finals spot by the barest of margins.
The first quarter in the Round 17 contest against Ballarat belonged to the Devils, who held a 22-17 lead at the first buzzer. Although they maintained a narrow lead, they didn’t have it all their own way. It was the Luxford/Remy show early on, with Mark Luxford (17 points, four rebounds, six assists) and Tyrone Remy (20 points, three rebounds, three steals) scoring the Devils first 13 points before Cam Hutton (11 points, 12 rebounds, three steals) got in on the action with seven points late in the quarter, including a three-bomb in the final seconds.
Ballarat struck the first blow of the second quarter to get within two points, and this sparked Dylan Harberger (nine points, two rebounds) into action. He scored seven points in under two minutes to help the Devils set up a double digit lead which they held for the rest of the quarter, and they went into half time with a commanding 44-27 lead. Six Devils hit the scoresheet in the quarter, led by Harberger with seven points and Luxford with six.
The third quarter was a lower scoring affair, as the defences took over. The Devils took two minutes to get on the board, through a Travis Dale three-pointer. Dale (15 points, five rebounds) was the main contributor for the Devils in the third quarter with seven points. The Devils maintained control of the game, with Ballarat not getting any closer than 13 points. Neither team scored in the last 90 seconds of the quarter and the Devils went to three-quarter time with a 19 point lead, 58-39.
The final quarter was a procession. Tyrone Remy recaptured his first-quarter form and scored the Devils first ten points. Travis Dale followed with the next six as the devils increased their lead as high as 28 with four minutes remaining. Ballarat got back within 20, but two late Curtis Brooks jump shots allowed Werribee to finish with an 82-58 victory. Josh Zamperoni (nine rebounds, three assists) and Josh Toniato (six assists, two steals) also played useful roles.
Youth League Women: defeated Coburg 69-56The Werribee Devils Youth League women have kept their finals hopes alive with an important 69-56 win against the Coburg Giants on Saturday night.
Their season is set for a thrilling conclusion in Round 18, as other results went their way and their match against Corio Bay will decide who gets fourth place. In fact, the winner could even jump to third, since Craigieburn have a double-header against the top two teams and must win at least one to ensure their position.
The Werribee talls established their authority early in the contest against Coburg, with Britney Epperson (16 points, 18 rebounds, two steals), Charlotte Vincent Lord (22 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Teaghan Doyle (10 points, three assists, three steals) all having big first quarters. It was evenly poised at the halfway mark of the first quarter, with Werribee holding a narrow 7-6 advantage, but from there they went on a 14-3 run, thanks to 11 points from Vincent-Lord, to hold a pleasing 21-9 lead at quarter time.
The Devils controlled the game and maintained a comfortable double-digit lead thanks to four points from Vincent-Lord, Kennedy Taylor (eight points, six rebounds) and Tegan Hindle (six steals, four assists). A Coburg three-pointer in the final seconds reduced the half time margin to 10 in favour of the Devils, 35-25.
The third quarter belonged to the Giants, as they slowly worked their way back into the game. The Devils did not score in the first five minutes, and after trailing by 15 early in the game, the Giants found themselves within two points and it was ‘game-on.’ Vincent-Lord and Doyle both scored to give the Devils some breathing space, and then the defences took over as both teams went two minutes without scoring. Jenna Thomas contributed four important points in the final 30 seconds of the quarter to give the Devils an eight point lead at the final break, 48-40.
The final term was hotly contested early on. The Giants scored twice to reduce the margin to four, before Rachel Miller (three assists, four rebounds) scored first for the Devils. With four minutes to go, the game was evenly poised at 54-50, then the Devils went on a 10-0 run in the space of two minutes to open up a match-winning 14 point lead and ran out 69-56 winners.
The pleasing thing for the Devils was that six players got on the scoresheet in the final term when the game was tight and it mattered most. Britney Epperson was the standout with eight points for the quarter.
As mentioned, the Devils finish their regular season against Corio Bay Stingrays, in a match which will decide who sees some post-season action, and who goes home early.
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