Big V State Championship Men Round 7 – Werribee Devils 83 v Hume City Broncos 86, Saturday May 7th, 2016

Werribee Devils State Championship Men (8^th, 2-6) 83 v Hume City Broncos (5^th, 6-2) 86

Werribee	16	25	21	21	83
Hume City	23	21	23	19	86

Jeremy Smith, 29 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists

Jordan Hughes, 18 points, 9 rebounds

Fred Hunter, 18 points, 7 rebounds

Justin Ward, 13 points

Dion Jewell, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals

In Round 7, the Werribee Devils State Championship Men’s team travelled to Broadmeadows to take on the fifth-placed Hume City Broncos.

The first quarter was a close contest, with several lead changes and neither team gaining a real advantage. A couple of unanswered three-pointers to the Broncos gave them a five-point lead late in the quarter, but Jeremy Smith was doing his best to keep the Devils in touch. The home side got seven points up with 1.49 remaining thanks to a three from Lee Jeka and that was the quarter time margin. Smith had nine points and six rebounds for the Devils, and Jordan Hughes shot five points and grabbed two rebounds.

Smith again led the way for the Devils early in the second quarter, having a shootout with Bronco Javari Williams. The Broncos maintained a single digit lead until the Devils drew level with 3.13 left thanks to a Justin Ward three-pointer. Ward had a huge quarter, scoring 11 points including a couple of long bombs. The Devils won the quarter but never actually got their noses in front, with the Broncos holding a three point lead at the main break thanks to a Jermaine Maybank basket in the final seconds. Smith and Hughes both had seven points for the quarter. Hughes added three rebounds and two assists for the quarter, while Dion Jewell had three assists and four steals.

The Broncos lead quickly got out to double-digits early in the third quarter thanks to an 11-2 run, with Jeka, Maybank and Jamal Brown all featuring prominently. Fred Hunter did his bit for the Devils with the first four points of the quarter. The Broncos spent most of the quarter building their lead, which got out to 14 with 4.37 remaining. From this point, Smith (9 points, 4 rebounds) and Hunter (8 points, 2 rebounds) went to work, spearheading a 12-3 streak to get back within five points at three-quarter time.    

Jeka opened the scoring for the Broncos with a free throw, but then Smith, Hughes and Hunter scored in a rush for the Devils, briefly giving them the lead. However, then Maybank, Luke Egan and Nick Jones replied with a 12-7 two-minute burst for the Broncos, resulting in a lead they wouldn’t give up for the rest of the game. The margin never got beyond a couple of baskets and the Devils were always in the hunt, but ultimately the Broncos did just enough and came away with a three point win. Hunter led the way with 10 points and three rebounds, while Hughes and Smith both added four points and a couple of rebounds each.

In Round 8 the Devils (9^th, 2-7) face a double header. First up they are up against McKinnon (6^th, 4-3) at home on Saturday night, then travel to take on Bulleen (12th, 0-7) on Sunday afternoon.

Werribee v Hume City - Box Score and Stats

Werribee v Hume City - LiveStats and Play-by-Play

Werribee v Hume City - Full Game on YouTube