Big V Youth League Women Round 9 – Werribee Devils 87 d McKinnon Cougars 58, Sunday May 22nd, 2016

Youth League One Women 87 d McKinnon Cougars 58

Werribee	21	23	19	24	87
McKinnon	14	17	13	14	58

Eliza Herne, 21 points, 10 rebounds

Tegan Hindle, 16 points, 4 assists, 6 steals

Teaghan Doyle, 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals

Rachel Miller, 10 points, 4 rebounds

Natasha Currao, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals

Hayley Jones, 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

Taylah Lea, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks

In Round 9, the Werribee Devils Youth League Women’s team (2^nd, 7-2) hosted the McKinnon Cougars.  

The game started slowly. Neither team scored in the first minute, then the Cougars were the first to get on the board thanks to a three-pointer from Emma Crees. Eliza Herne finally kicked things off for the Devils nearly three minutes into the game and Natasha Currao joined her soon after. Despite the slow start, the Devils put together eight unanswered points to open up an early lead. Tegan Hindle, Taylah Lea, Charlotte Lord and Hayley Jones all contributed and when Hindle hit a three-pointer with 2.08 remaining, the Devils had a handy double digit lead. However, six unanswered points to the Cougars brought them back in the game until a Teaghan Doyle basket in the final seconds resulted in a seven point lead to the home side at quarter time. Hindle (five points) and Currao (four points) led the scoring for the Devils, Herne grabbed three rebounds and Hindle and Doyle nabbed a couple of steals each.

Lord and Jenna Thomas scored early for the Devils and they set about asserting their dominance on the contest. Herne, Currao, Hindle and Rachel Miller all got in on the action as the Devils outscored the Cougars 19-8 in the space of eight minutes and all of a sudden the margin was out to 18 and looking dangerous for the visitors. McKinnon’s first field goal for the quarter came with two minutes to play. A 9-4 finish to the quarter in favour of the Cougars must have given them some sort of confidence going into the long break, but the Devils still won the quarter comfortably and held a double digit lead. Herne had six points and three rebounds for the Devils and was joined by Hindle with five points and two steals. Doyle also grabbed four rebounds for the quarter.

The third quarter belonged to the Devils talls, as Doyle, Lord and Herne ran riot in the early stages. They combined for ten points in the first four minutes as the Cougars could only manage a solitary free throw in the same period. Sarsha Follachio finally put one in for the Cougars from long range with 5.47 remaining, then neither team scored for almost three minutes before Hindle broke the drought, taking the margin out to 22. The two teams traded scores for the remaining couple of minutes and the Devils won the quarter and extended their lead at the final break. Doyle led the Devils with six points, while Miller and Hindle added four points each. Other contributors included Lord with three rebounds, Thomas had a couple of blocks and Currao nabbed two steals.

The Cougars managed to keep things under control early on, going goal-for-goal in the first three minutes, but then the Devils scored seven points in 30 seconds thanks to steals from Jones and Doyle, and the margin was approaching 30. When Olivia Woods scored for the Cougars with 5.19 remaining, the scoring again dried up for both teams, with Hindle and Herne the only scorers in four minutes of play. By the time Miller and Thomas scored in the last thirty seconds the Devils again increased their lead and saluted with a 29-point victory. Herne was the standout for the winners with 10 points and three rebounds in the last term, while Doyle added four points and two steals and Lord had four rebounds.

In Round 10 the Devils (2^nd, 8-2) travel down the road to take on their nearest rivals the Altona Gators (3^rd, 6-3), and will be looking to atone for their 61-71 defeat back in Round 6.

Werribee v McKinnon - Box Score and Stats

Werribee v McKinnon - LiveStats and Play-by-Play

Werribee v McKinnon - Full Game on YouTube

Big V Division One Women Round 9 – Werribee Devils 72 v Keilor Thunder 84, Sunday May 22nd, 2016

Division One Women 72 lost to Keilor Thunder 84

Werribee	21	13	20	18	72
Keilor	25	21	23	15	84

Bex Van Kuyk, 27 points, 17 rebounds, 3 blocks (Big V Blue Carpet)

Jessica Slade, 19 points, 14 rebounds

Jackie Silcock, 13 points, 4 rebounds

Doni Lewis, 5 points, 4 assists

Jasmine Silcock, 4 points, 5 rebounds

Nicole Greene, 4 points, 6 rebounds

In Round 9, the Werribee Devils Division One Women’s team travelled to Keilor to take on the Thunder, no doubt hoping for an improvement on their 67-101 result back in Round 3.

The Devils made a promising start. After conceding the first basket, Jessica Slade replied immediately and the Devils led the game until the last minute of the quarter, when a couple of J Scannell three-pointers gave the home side a four point lead at the first break. Their 21-point opening quarter was the Devils highest for the season so far. All five starters got on the scoreboard, led by Bex Van Kuyk (nine points, five rebounds) and supported by Slade (four points, two rebounds) and Jackie Silcock (four points). Doni Lewis chipped in with two assists and two steals

Keilor started the second quarter stronger, scoring seven of the first eight points and opening a double digit lead. However the Devils fought back with a 10-2 run, with Jackie Silcock, Slade, Nicole Greene and Van Kuyk all contributing. From there, Keilor finished the quarter with their own 13-2 streak in the last four minutes to go into half time with a 12-point lead. Jackie Silcock led the Devils with five points and Greene added four points and four rebounds.

The Thunder managed to hold the Devils at arm’s length in the third quarter. The Devils were competitive in the early minutes, getting the margin down to single digits before Keilor outscored the visitors 13-5 in the latter stages, and with a minute to go they led by 17. Once again the Devils had five individual scorers, led by Van Kuyk (seven points, two rebounds) and supported by Slade (4 points, four rebounds) and Jackie Silcock (four points, two rebounds).

Facing a 15-point deficit and with only seven players involved in the game, things were looking potentially dangerous for the Devils. However, this is when Van Kuyk (nine points, eight rebounds for the quarter) and Slade (nine points, four rebounds) went to work. The pair scored the first six points of the quarter, bringing the margin back to single digits, but then the Thunder replied with five unanswered points of their own, meaning that halfway through the quarter the Devils had made no ground on the scoreboard. Slade scored again, then Keilor went 6-0 in a minute to blow the margin out to 18 with three minutes to play. However, Slade and Van Kuyk weren’t done, scoring 10 of the next 12 points, resulting in the Devils winning the quarter and bringing some pride and respectability to a Devils unit that has had a tough first half of the season.

In Round 10 the Devils (10^th, 2-8) will face the Westernport Steelers (3^rd, 7-3) away on Saturday night. Last time they met was at Eagle Stadium in Round 2, where the Steelers came away with a 63-52 victory.

Werribee v Keilor - Box Score and Stats

Werribee v Keilor - LiveStats and Play-by-Play

Werribee v Keilor - Full Game on YouTube

Big V State Championship Men Round 9 – Werribee Devils 113 v Hume City Broncos 114 (OT), Sunday May 22nd, 2016

State Championship Men 113 lost to Hume City Broncos 114 (OT)

Werribee	26	27	18	29	13	113
Hume City	24	17	32	27	14	114

Fred Hunter, 36 points, 15 rebounds, 5 steals (Big V Blue Carpet)

Jeremy Smith, 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists

Jordan Hughes, 17 points, 3 assists
Dion Jewell, 14 points, 4 assists

Jonathan Sonda, 12 points, 10 rebounds



In Round 9, the Werribee Devils State Championship Men’s team hosted the Hume City Broncos, only two weeks after their previous meeting which ended in an 86-83 victory to the Broncos.

After a tough start to the season interrupted by player movements and injuries, the Devils have been competitive and have seen much improvement in their results over the last month, with an 11-point victory over Bulleen accompanied by narrow losses of 1, 3 and 13 points.

The first quarter showed that this game was going to be another tight, high scoring contest, and whoever came out on top was going to earn it. Jack Macdonald got the Devils off to a great start in the first ten seconds and they managed to keep their noses in front the whole quarter. The home side got out to 19-11 but were pegged back as the Broncos went 6-0 in under a minute. Fred Hunter and Jeremy Smith both contributed to give the Devils a bit of breathing space but the last five points of the quarter went to the Broncos, giving the home side a two point lead at quarter time. Their 26 point total was their second highest opening-quarter for the season.

Hunter got his mid-range jump shot going early, and ended up with 10 first-quarter points as well as three rebounds and a couple of steals. Jonathan Sonda put in six points and Smith added five points and three rebounds. Macdonald also dished out three assists.

Jermaine Maybank and Jamal Brown came out firing for the Broncos early on, and scored 15 of the visitors 17 points for the quarter. The Devils had more contributors and scoring options, which enabled them to get on top during the second term. The first two minutes were score-for-score, and a Maybank three-pointer finally put the Broncos in front with 7.55 to play. The visitors held on to the lead, which never got beyond three points, for the next few minutes. The Devils, down 34-37, went on an impressive 19-4 run to finish the quarter with a double digit lead. There was controversy in the dying seconds. Hume City had the last play with four seconds to go and argued that the clock had started before they touched the ball on the in-bound. The clock was reset at four seconds and the ball was thrown in on the Devils baseline. The Devils managed to snatch the steal and Jordan Hughes made the bucket, giving the Devils a 12-point half time lead. Hunter (six points, five rebounds) and Sonda (six points, seven rebounds) were the standouts for the Devils.

Smith scored the first three points for the Devils in the third term, pushing the lead out to 15. It had felt like such a close game and, sitting behind the stats computer, I made the mistake of wondering out loud “How are we up by 15?” And just like that, the Broncos made their charge. Over the next six minutes they outscored the Devils 23-6 with Lee Jeka (13 points) the chief destroyer, launching a couple of threes in the final minute to give the Broncos the lead at the final break. Smith and Hughes added five points for the quarter, while Hunter grabbed five rebounds.

The final quarter, as expected, was a cracker. There were seven lead changes and the game was tied six times. Neither side led by more than four points. The Devils shot at 70% and the Broncos hit five shots from behind the arc. Perhaps surprisingly, the Devils used the same five players on the court for the entire quarter. But I guess when you’re playing like they were, why would you sub? The key for the Devils was who was going to stop Lee Jeka. Unfortunately no one did, and he continued to do as he pleased, hitting 12 points for the quarter including the layup that tied the game with 20 seconds to go. The Devils advanced the ball with a timeout on the final play and they got the ball to Smith for the game-winning shot. He dribbled up at half court, running the clock down, launched a three pointer and…missed, sending the game into overtime. Hunter (10 points) and Smith (nine points) led the quarter for the Devils, while Dion Jewell and Hughes both added five points each and Nick Morda had three assists.

The quality of this contest did not diminish in the slightest during overtime. Jeka opened the scoring, then Hunter, Hughes and Jewell combined on a 9-3 run, putting the Devils up by a couple of scores. It seemed the Broncos couldn’t miss from long range, and three-pointers from Jeka, Luke Egan and Shaun Prendergast brought scores level. Jack Macdonald was back in the action after sitting out the final quarter and his jump shot put the Devils up by two with a minute to play. With ten seconds remaining, (who else but) Jeka made a shot, drew the foul and converted the free throw, giving the Broncos the lead with one final chance for the Devils. Dion Jewell normally loves his long-range threes and he was just the man to try for the game winner. Unfortunately on this occasion he was unsuccessful, giving the Broncos a one-point victory. For the Devils it was a disappointing finish to an epic contest.

The boys from Werribee now have to pick themselves up for a Round 10 road-trip double header. On Saturday night they are up against Knox (1^st, 9-1) then on Sunday their opponents are the Hawthorn Magic (10^th, 2-9).

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