BigvCavs12_83919_04.jpg: Amy McFarlane hits the lay-up in Cranbourne’s narrow loss to Coburg. 83919 Picture: JARROD POTTER
By JARROD POTTER
MIRRORING the earlier form of the Cranbourne Cavaliers, it’s the men and youth championship men who are running high on the back of a run of wins – with the women struggling to regain the form that took them to the top of the Big V Division 2 basketball ladder.
The Cavaliers men have put together their best form at the pointy end of the season – knocking off Keilor 83-80 on Saturday night.
A 27-18 second quarter pushed the Cavaliers ahead by 49-44 before the Thunder came back to squeeze the margin down.
In the end, the cooler heads of Dylan Wayman (25 points), Bevan Camilleri (15 and five rebounds) and Ash Szalek (13 points, seven rebounds) got the Cavaliers across the line.
“Bit of a relief actually,” Cranbourne coach Cory Smith said. “Getting a bit of return for a lot of the hard work they’ve been doing, which is good.
“It was really close most of the match – good shooting, high percentages, pretty physical at times and our team used the ball pretty well with a lot of smarter decisions.
“We were making better passes, taking better shots – we’ve been talking about that for the last month to improve on that area, so the last couple of weeks have been getting better figuring it out.”
Jordan Jacotine returned from a tour of US colleges and played well.
“Nice timing,” Smith said. “He didn’t have the ball as much, doing a lot more percentage work – different role to what he was playing before going overseas. Not stepping on other guys’ toes and he played pretty well.”
The Cavaliers men face Melton on Saturday night before heading to Cardinia LiFE to face Pakenham in the traditional cross-town rivalry.
The womens’ team fell 45-48 to Coburg in the battle for first place on Sunday afternoon.
After a strong first quarter, going in 21-12 up after Lara Pauline sunk a pair of three-pointers, the Cavaliers ground to a halt.
Two from 17 and one from 16 from the floor in the second and third quarters accounted for 12 points in a half of basketball, where Coburg seized the opportunity to go ahead.
Cranbourne had their chances to take the win, but 4/16 from the field in a 12-7 last term left the Cavaliers agonisingly short in their third consecutive loss.
“We’re in a bit of a slump at the moment and trying to get out of it,” Cranbourne coach Mark Holman said.
“Don’t think they’re playing any different … it’s just a mental thing and we need to get back in form – they’re a very strong willed bunch of girls and they’ll get back on the winning track.”
Holman highlighted the efforts of Pauline (16 points, six rebounds), pacey guard Amy McFarlane and another impressive double-double from Renae Mokrzycki (10 points, 14 rebounds).
Cranbourne faces Blackburn on Saturday night.
The youth championship men earned top spot on the ladder after their 81-74 victory over Keilor, their seventh win in a row.
Bosko Kostur was unstoppable at both ends, getting 23 points and 15 rebounds. Szalek claimed 18 points and nine rebounds in his first match of Saturday night and Declan Soukop (12 points, seven rebounds) continued his all-star form.
