State Championship Men 82 d Bulleen Boomers 69
Werribee
|
27
|
20
|
15
|
20
|
82
|
Bulleen
|
23
|
17
|
14
|
15
|
69
|
Jeremy Smith 30 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals (Big V Blue Carpet)
Jack Macdonald 16 points, 3 rebounds
Jordan Hughes 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Jonathan Sonda 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks
Fred Hunter 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals
In Round 11, the Werribee Devils State Championship Men hosted the Bulleen Boomers. Their previous meeting was in Round 8 and the Devils walked away with an 85-74 victory.
Both teams took a little while to get going, and Jordan Hughes got the Devils on the board first. However, the next few minutes were all Bulleen, thanks to 13 points from David Schaffert. They were up by eight with 3.56 remaining until baskets from Hughes, Jack Macdonald and Jeremy Smith in less than a minute brought the margin back to one. The Boomers held on to the lead a while longer until a Smith basket with less than a minute to go put the Devils in front and then a score from Fred Hunter in the dying seconds gave the home side a four point buffer at quarter time. Smith had 11 points and three rebounds for the quarter, supported by Hughes (eight points) and Hunter (six points, two assists, two rebounds).
Jack Macdonald opened the scoring for the Devils in the second quarter but the Boomers responded with six unanswered points to tie the game up. However, it took another two minutes for the visitors to get on the board as Hughes, Smith and Nick Morda combined to set up a Devils lead. When Justin Ward added four points, the Devils had completed a 15-4 run and had a double digit lead with 3.53 remaining. The Boomers replied with four quick points and the rest of the quarter was goal-for-goal. The Devils ended up increasing their lead slightly, and going into half time seven points ahead. Smith led the Devils with seven points and two steals, while Macdonald and Ward both added four points each. Hughes and Hunter both contributed two rebounds and two steals.
Wilson Arob scored the first four points of the third quarter for the Boomers, but then eight Devils points in a minute made life difficult for the visitors. Sonda scored two baskets, but this is what happened in between. A Boomers tech foul gave Smith a free throw which he converted; Macdonald was fouled and made the free throws, then on the next possession he nailed a three-pointer. All this happened without the Boomers touching the ball and all of a sudden the margin was 13 points. The Boomers got the margin back to six late in the quarter, but a Sonda basket in the last minute maintained the Devils lead at the final break. Macdonald had eight points and was supported by Sonda (six points, two blocks). Smith had three rebounds and Hunter had two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Smith and Sonda combined for the first five points of the last quarter, taking the margin back out to 13. The Boomers weren’t done, scoring the next eight consecutive points and were within five points with the quarter not even half over. The Devils went five minutes without a field goal before Smith came good, running down the shot clock on two plays in a row and putting up one of his trademark jumpshots just as time expired, to give the Devils some breathing space. The Boomers were still within six points with 1.19 left in the game but the Devils scored the last seven points thanks to Macdonald, Smith and Hughes, resulting in a 13-point win. Smith had another big quarter (11 points, two rebounds, two steals), while Hughes had four points and Sonda added three points and three rebounds.
State of play: This year the core of the Werribee Devils State Champ Men remained the same, but they got a new coach and a few new faces. Under the new leadership of former Devils player Michael Czepil, several players from last year’s roster returned and have formed a solid backbone for the team. These include 2015 MVP Jordan Hughes as well as Nick Morda, Jonathan Sonda and Justin Ward. The Devils lost Corey Wright and Anthony Luxford to injury early on, and Canadian recruit Evan Matthews only played one game. He was replaced by Fred Hunter who has proved to be a valuable addition, averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds in 11 games. Other additions to the roster included former Werribee player and 2015 Corio Bay championship player Dion Jewell, US import Jeremy Smith (25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists per game in 2016) and Jack Macdonald (10 points, 2 assists per game).
The State Champ Men division is a 12-team competition and has a final eight. After Round 11, the Devils have played 15 of their 22 games, more than any other team in the State Champ Men division. They are currently 9th out of 12 teams with 5 wins and 10 losses, including three of their last five. The Devils currently sit 1.5 games out of the finals. They found themselves top of the ladder after a big win against Hawthorn in Round 1, but since then have spent the rest of the season in eighth or ninth position.
As well as the Queens Birthday break, the Devils (9th, 5-10) have a bye in Round 12, meaning their next game is in Round 13, away against the Corio Bay Stingrays on Saturday June 25th. The previous match between in the two teams was in Round 6 and the Stingrays took it out 99-86.
The Road Ahead: In their remaining seven games, the Devils play Corio Bay (2nd), Waverley (3rd), Whittlesea (10th), Diamond Valley (6th), Knox (1st), Eltham (8th) and Ringwood (5th)
Werribee v Bulleen - Box Score and Stats
Werribee v Bulleen - LiveStats and Play-by-Play
Werribee v Bulleen - Full Game on YouTube
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