THE NUNAWADING Spectres recorded an impressive 12-point win over the Casey Cavaliers in the VJBL Boys Under-18 VC Championship over the weekend, despite being in enemy territory at Casey Stadium on Friday night.

After a week off for the King’s Birthday, the competition returned to action over the weekend, in the second round of matches since the regrading period, which now pits the best teams against one another in an exciting new stage of the fixture.

After an exciting first three quarters, the Spectres stormed home in the final frame to record an impressive double-digit win over the Cavaliers, closing out the match in style and starting their time in the VC Championship division strongly.

Casey Cavaliers (66) def. by Nunawading Spectres (78)

The home side stormed out of the gates with an emphatic performance in the opening frame, completely setting the tone for the match with an immense level of offensive production. Although the Spectres were trying to get involved on the long-range shooting front, but still trailed by 12 at the first change, immediately on the back foot.

Nunawading put much more defensive pressure on in the second quarter, restricting the Cavaliers to just 15 points as the offence started to dry up for Casey. Unfortunately, the visitors could not make up any ground on the deficit, never getting within single-digits and still trailing by 13 points at the main break, with the Cavaliers still firmly in control.

The second half was a completely different story, with the Spectres looking an entirely different side, proving as potent as ever on the scoring front and slashing the deficit in seemingly no time at all. The script was flipped with the Cavaliers unable to get any sort of flow offensively, and remarkably, Nunawading took a two-point lead into the final change.

It was a tense affair in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Spectres managed to continue their red-hot run in the final 10 minutes. The visitors were simply superb with the game on the line and managed to put the foot down in the last frame en route to a gutsy comeback win, having trailed for most of the first half.

Alexander Mabbott was superb for the victors, posting a game-high 22 points to lead the way and help inspire the second-half comeback. Tom Dammers was also impressive with 15 points of his own, while Sebastian Percy dropped 10 himself.

For the Cavaliers, Parker Rivet impressed with 14 points, alongside Lachlan Pickering, who had 13 of his own. The duo were particularly impressive in the first half when the home side were in control and did well to set their team up prior to the main break.

Across the courts

The Knox Raiders defended home court well in their clash against the Kilsyth Cobras, storming home with a 21-11 final term to claim a seven-point win at State Basketball Centre on Friday night, with Jarvis Neal dropping 30 points.

The Sunbury Jets were impressive on the road, heading into enemy territory and defeating the Keilor Thunder by nine points when the two sides went head to head at Keilor Stadium in Round 2 on Friday night.

Finally, the Dandenong Rangers held firm to snag a thrilling three-point win over the Sandringham Sabres at Sandringham Family Leisure Centre, with Micah Livingstone‘s 33-point performance proving defining within the match.