YOU would be pretty happy to start the season with two wins from two outings, as McKinnon has done in the Big V Basketball Women’s competition. To start the 2022 season, they have gone bang with two strong outings to kick off their campaign, and appear to be one of the genuine contenders for the year. In Round 2, the Cougars faced off against Chelsea, who were also looking to start the season 2-0. However, it was McKinnon that proved to be the better side, claiming a tense win despite a late Chelsea charge.

McKinnon (68) def. Chelsea (61)

They often say that anyone can beat anyone at the start of the season, but it seems it goes double for McKinnon in the first few rounds of its 2022 campaign. In Round 2, the Cougars faced off against Chelsea at home at GESAC on Thursday night in an interesting matchup. Both sides kicked off their campaigns with a win in Round 1, with the match providing the opportunity to build on this and start the season in the best way possible. However, it could only happen for one side, and that was McKinnon, who produced a terrific performance in the first half as they held off a fast finishing opponent to claim a seven point victory.

From the very first possession, McKinnon’s intent to win was clear as they got out to a blistering start to grab an early lead. Chelsea’s offence could not get rolling in comparison to their opponents, trailing by 15 halfway through the term. They were able to bring it back to nine at the first break, but still faced an uphill battle moving forward. The second quarter was more of the same as McKinnon looked a much better side. Morgan Ili began to really get involved with a couple of and-one plays for the term, demonstrating the damage she can cause inside the paint. McKinnon entered half time with a 16-point lead in what was an impressive first two quarters of play from the home side.

Chelsea lifted to start the second half, finally able to nail the shots that eluded them in the first two terms. Much of the charge was led by the efforts of Kelly Gardiner, who fired from all over the court to give her side some much-needed offence. Despite the lead ballooning out even further to start the third, Gardiner led her side from the front as the they slowly chipped away at the lead in the final 15 minutes of play. The closest they got to McKinnon was when they were within seven, but this was right at the end of the contest and ended up being the final margin.

For the victors, there were a number of contributors on the offensive end of the court, with their ability to execute ultimately giving them a one up on their opponents. Ili led all comers with 18 points and five rebounds in a terrific and crucial outing. Not far behind was Jacinta Vandenberg, who stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, doing it all for her side. Tamara Booth recorded a double-double for Chelsea with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Gardiner’s 13 points were important in keeping her team in the game.

There were a number of other matches to take place for the competition over the weekend, with some interesting results to take out of each contest.

Across the courts:

Sunbury (56) def. by Pakenham (69)
Bulleen (76) def. Wyndham (57)
Wyndham (77) def. Southern Peninsula (71)
Pakenham (62) def. Hume (58)