By JARROD POTTER
A COACH’s man-crush has been well-and-truly established as Casey took the top of the ladder with an eight-point win over Chelsea.
It was a battle of the point guards as Ben Louis (13 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, 4 rebounds) and Corey Standerfer (14 points, 12 rebounds) locked horns up and down the court on Saturday evening.
Casey coach Stewart Baird knew Standerfer was one of the big headaches in the league – as he’s one of the best combo guards in Big V – and set the defensive task on Louis.
Not only did the 191cm guard negate Standerfer’s second half offensive capabilities, but Louis’ efforts allowed his team-mates to get into the match and smash apart the remainder of Chelsea’s defensive powers.
The Cavaliers’ long-range bombers Brent Hobba (18 points, 10 rebounds), Matt Witherden (11 points) and James Deneefe (4 points) rattled off late shots to push the Cavs back in front.
Baird was beyond impressed with Louis in the 62-54 win over Chelsea – saying the Cavaliers’ guard could be the best ever on one of his rosters.
“He had 12 at half-time and held him to two in the second half,” Baird said.
“Player of that quality, it just shows how good Ben (Louis) is.
“I don’t say this lightly but he might be the best player I’ve ever coached – he’s certainly the most intelligent for basketball IQ by a million miles.
“Played most of the last quarter with four fouls and still held him scoreless – apart from a couple of foul shots.
“I might have a serious man-crush … I’m not sure.”
With an eight-game winning streak rocketing the Cavaliers to first place on the Watson Conference ladder, the Cavaliers head up the highway to battle Mildura on Saturday night.
Pushing back into the top four with a rollicking 88-39 win over Pakenham, Casey’s women were able to get the job done against the baby-faced Warriors.
No mercy was spared for the young Warriors as the Cavaliers littered the scoreboard on the back of stand-out efforts from Natalie Dowdy (25 points, 9 rebounds) and Amy Mcfarlane (14 points).
Bridgette Jacobs (1 point) – who plays local basketball with Mcfarlane at Hampton Park – has been brought in to chop out Amy Mcfarlane as Cherise Jacotine – who departed from Casey recently – leaves a hole in the Cavaliers’ guard stocks.
The 6-4 Casey women face North East on Saturday afternoon from 5pm.
Casey’s Youth Men kept the good times rolling across the board , taking a 69-64 win against Chelsea and backing it up with 84-58 obliteration of Western Port ahead of its clash against Mildura.
