IT WAS as one-sided of a match as fans have seen this year, with Southside Melbourne Flyers coming away 42-point victors over Geelong Venom at the State Basketball Centre yesterday. In a dominant performance, the Flyers piled on a whopping 78-34 to the final break, before heavy rotations ensured the Venom had a chance to somewhat fight back, albeit only trimming the deficit back by two.

Southside Melbourne Flyers (94) def. Geelong Venom (52)

After slipping a couple of wins adrift of fourth spot, Southside Melbourne Flyers have been able to snatch it with the big victory, while also keeping Geelong Venom anchored to the bottom of the WNBL ladder. The Flyers poured on 32 points to six in the opening quarter, and it was still one-way traffic throughout most of the contest even with Geelong able to work back against Southside’s depth.

The Flyers lead 55-18 at half-time in a scoreline rarely seen of late, and that lead increased by a further seven points at the final change. The Venom were able to win the last quarter 18-16, trimming the final deficit to 42 points.

Unsurprisingly the stats were all in the Flyers’ favour shooting at 64.7 and 51.7 per cent inside and outside the arc respectively, compared to Geelong’s much worse 38.1 and 12.5 per cent. The home side also racked up 13 more rebounds (45-32), 21 more assists (28-7) and the Flyers were able to be ultra-clinical with the way they moved the ball offensively.

Six players hit double-digit points, lead by Haley Peters who managed 19 alongside seven rebounds and two steals. Co-captains Maddison Rocci (15 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals) and Cayla George (13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists) were fantastic off limited minutes, while Nya Lok finished with 11 points, three rebounds and three steals in the win.

As has been the case most of the season for the Venom, it was just too much left to the one-two punch of Mackenzie Holmes and Shyla Heal. Holmes (17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks) and Heal (15 points, two rebounds and two assists) scored the bulk of the points, with Jazmin Shelley (eight points, four rebounds and two steals) the other scorer of note.

Geelong has another match in Round 12 with an away fixture against Townsville Fire on Tuesday, before a three-day turnaround to host the Fire back in Geelong to kick-off Round 13. Southside will take on Bendigo Spirit and the Fire in Round 13, with a six-day break until the Flyers’ next match.