By Lachlan Mitchell
The Casey Cavaliers were back on court in a big way over the weekend.
The Cavs played in a back-to-back, featuring on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday both the men’s and the women’s team were up against the Nunawading Spectres on a day of less than favourable results for both sides.
The women Cavaliers skipped out to a strong 15-0 start, Monique Conti and Sarah Boote converting under the net lay-ups to open their individual accounts.
The Spectres got themselves back in the contest through Rachel Antoniadou who made a perimeter three to trim the Cavs lead to 10 at the end of the first period.
Antoniadou continued to trouble the Cavaliers defence in the second period, leading to Sarah Booth fouling out of the game.
The Spectres went on a run in the second, as Alice Kunek proving lethal from within and outside the arc.
Casey could only manage 12 points in the second quarter to lead by four at the main break.
The Spectres continued to roll pile on the points putting on 28-14 in the third term, which ultimately led to the Cavaliers going down 95-76.
Rachel Bell and Monique Conti finished on 24 points each, while Spectres Alice Kunek finished with match-winning 40 points.
The men’s, meanwhile, side suffered a heart-breaking six point loss to Nunawading in the first of its double-header.
The Cavs had to fight to stay in the contest, trailing at the end of every period.
William Hickey top-scored for the Cavs with 22 points to go with his six rebounds in the 70-76 defeat.
Sunday had a much better feel for Cavaliers fans, as the women’s side bounced back in emphatic style.
The men started strongly to lead at the first change by four points.
After the break the Miners ran rampant, Preston Bungei put up 23 points to lead the Ballarat side to an 89-76 win.
The Cavs women dominated their first quarter against the Miners, thanks to Monique Conti and Hailey Merriga,n who took matters into their own hands to skip out to a 18-26 lead.
From there the Cavs never looked troubled, in the 85-73 point victory.
Conti and Rachel Bell finished with 24 and 21 points respectively.
Louise Brown was also dominant with 11 rebounds in her sides win.
Women’s coach Alex Palazzolo was pleased with his side’s resilience to bounce back after a short turn around.
“It was a disappointing game against the Spectres, we got off to a great start, we were 15-0 up in the first quarter, “he explained.
“Unfortunately are U.S import got fouled out in the first half (Sarah Boothe), when that happened we didn’t respond like we needed to.
“It was great to see how we bounced back on Sunday; it was fantastic to go 1-1 from the weekend’s action.”
The back-to-back basketball isn’t an issue for Palazzolo and his side.
“I thought we backed up really well and to get the result we did against a quality team like Ballarat, they have two Australian players on their team in Jade Melbourne and Zitina Aokuso,” he said.
“To play away from home and respond the way we did, was exactly what I was after and a great result.”
The Cavaliers next face Frankston away on Saturday Afternoon.
