Cavaliers’ grit

By Ben Hope
THE Cranbourne Cavaliers had a promising start to their inaugural division-three Big V basketball season with a narrow loss to the Western Port Steelers last Thursday.
Cavaliers head coach Corey Smith said that despite the loss it was a good result for the team against a division-two opponent.
“We had a slow start and were 25 points down at one stage,” he said.
“By the last quarter we managed to put some pressure on and fight back, to end up losing by only four points.”
The game was the team’s second pre-season clash, after the annual Labor Day weekend Big V tournament at Albert Park where the Cavaliers came third in their division and proved they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
Smith said they managed to win two of our four games that was a great result for the first game the team has played together.
“Cranbourne has entered a team into the tournament for the last few years to let the players have a run and find out a bit more about it and see how they are going,” he said.
“We have only managed to win one game in the past few years, so to win two out of or four games in one weekend is a pretty good start to the season.”
Living all his life in Pearcedale and Cranbourne, Smith is no stranger to high-level basketball.
The 30-year-old played for the Dandenong Rangers in his junior years before moving to the Frankston side in the SEABL competition.
He made the transition to coaching last year with the Cranbourne midweek senior team before steeping up for the Big V side last month.
The team has been in training since the beginning of the year and Smith is happy with the enthusiasm and energy coming out of the young team
“I wanted to give something back and its great having a young team that is really enthusiastic and positive about it all,” he said.
“They are willing to listen and they want to learn which makes it easy to coach. Three or four of our senior guys have been around and also have a lot to share. It is our first go at coaching, so we are all learning at the moment.”
Moving up a division is the ultimate goal for the team, but in the short term Smith will concentrate on training and building a strong team.
Most players have stepped up from junior teams in the Cranbourne District Basketball Association and will play in the Big V competition for the first time.
“The goal for now is to get all the boys to improve a bit and learn what it’s all about,” he said.
“Who knows what can happen from there, we have already had some good results, but it’s a massive step up from what many of the team is used to.”
This weekend the Cavaliers will take on fellow Big V first-timers Pakenham before hosting their first home game at Cranbourne stadium on March 27.
If last week’s games were anything to go by, the Cavaliers can expect a big turnout to watch both games.
Smith said community support had been excellent already and the name change (from Cranbourne Ice) had been popular.
“Heaps of people turned out to Albert Park and there was a big crowd to watch us take on Western Port Steelers in Somerville. Everyone is really excited about it already,” he said.