By JARROD POTTER
BIG V – ROUND 2
THE local rivalry continued to be bruise-free for Casey with a comfortable 69-46 win over Pakenham.
The Cavaliers women continued their clean-sweep over the young Warriors as everyone took their fair share of the stats.
A 26-4 first term set the stage for women’s coach Michael Davies to rest his best and give the bench more opportunity as Ruchelle McCracken (16 points, nine rebounds), Tarryn Wilkin (11 points, 15 rebounds) and Bec Magdich (10 points, six rebounds) got it done from around 20 minutes apiece.
Cassie Bridge (seven points) made her return from a season off – on maternity leave – to notch her first points since 2014 to continue Casey’s celebrations.
If anything the score line is on the low-side for Casey as it only hit 27-on-81 from the field, but nonetheless all around The Fortress will be pleased to take the strong victory to start its Division 2 campaign properly.
The Cavaliers’ perfect start has them second behind Melbourne University before hosting the down-on-their-luck Sherbrooke Suns on Sunday afternoon from 12.30pm.
Casey’s men had to work for their points however; snaring a 68-66 triumph over Melbourne University to continue the closely combative start to 2016.
The Cavaliers built a solid lead by three-quarter-time, but the Black Angels didn’t fade, leaving the injury-affected line-up to hold on. SEABL experienced trio Mitch Chapman (16 points, five rebounds), Matt Witherden (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Ben Louis (12 points, seven rebounds) were brilliant down the stretch to bring the Cavaliers back to .500 after two rounds.
Casey’s men travel to Warrandyte on Saturday night and the juniors are traveling to Corio Bay on Sunday.
