THE Casey Cavaliers claimed an impressive win over the Bullen Boomers 1 on the weekend, thanks to a scoring surge in the second half. With the Victorian Junior Basketball League (VJBL) Under-18 Girls competition reshuffling the teams and pitting the contenders against each other in the VC Championship division, there was a lot of excitement ahead of Round 1, which took place on Friday night.

One of the most intriguing matchups was that between the Cavaliers and the Boomers at Mullum Mullum Stadium, with the two sides performing extremely well to start the year. The Boomers were the pick of the bunch in the VC Ashe division, while Casey had been more than serviceable in VC Watson. Bulleen was the favourite heading into a match that began in pretty even fashion. After an arm-wrestle of a first term, it looked like the Boomers were breaking away heading into half-time. However, the visitors came home strong in the final two quarters. Casey completely outplayed the opposition to close out the game, and managed to be on the right end of a 12-point triumph, starting the second half of 2022 in style.

Bulleen Boomers 1 (59) def. by Casey Cavaliers (71)

As mentioned above, it was a hard-fought opening to the game, with neither side really able to get a real advantage. The Cavaliers got a slight lead on the scoreboard, but the Boomers did a good job of keeping themselves in arms’ reach of the opposition. When the buzzer sounded to wrap up the first 10 minutes of play, just three points separated the sides, with the margin in Casey’s favour. The script changed a bit in the second period, with the Boomers finding their form from the first half of the season with a consistent performance on the offensive end. On the other hand, the Cavaliers were struggling to find the bottom of the net, and this was reflected in the score. At the main change of play, Bulleen led by four points, and held most of the momentum going into the second half.

It must have been some sort of half-time rev up in the Casey huddle, because the Cavaliers came out firing from absolutely everywhere to start the third term. In a flip of what we saw the second term, Bulleen was suddenly on the back foot and could not buy a bucket for much of the quarter, only conjuring nine points in that time. Down the other end was a complete contrast, with Casey producing bucket after bucket and remarkably taking an eight-point lead into the fourth. The final term saw a better showing from the Boomers, as their production with ball in hand lifted. Despite this, they could not truly get back into the contest due to their lack of defensive pressure on the Cavaliers, who cruised home to victory.

The winning side were well-served by the trio of Kyra Webb, Lucy Dexter and Dakota Crichton. Webb and Dexter registered 18 points each, while Crichton was not far behind with 17 of her own. Whenever the Cavaliers needed a bucket, it was typically one of these three that found the bottom of the net. Bulleen’s Chantal Vitale fought bravely, and was everywhere in the first half when her side was on top of the opposition.

Across the courts

The opening round of the second half of the 2022 season saw plenty of action across the VC Championship and VC Reserve divisions.

VC Championship

Gippsland United (47) def. by Kilsyth (53)
Dandenong (42) def. by Sandringham (58)
Melbourne (56) def. Frankston (47)
Nunawading (54) def. Knox (36)

VC Championship

Ballarat (49) def. by Waverley (51)
Altona (47) def. by Bulleen 2 (53)
Diamond Valley (29) def. by Eltham (42)
Wyndham (53) def. Broadmeadows (45)
Keilor (49) def. by Hawthorn (54)