By Hayley Wildes
In a weekend that saw all four Casey Cavaliers Big V basketball teams suit-up on the road, three teams came away with key wins, while the Championship women dropped their game against Southern Peninsula.
The Championship men continued their impressive season, with a dominant win over Blackburn.
Sharpshooter Matt Donlan caught fire from deep, going 5/6 from downtown, to finish with a team-high 21 points. With Donlan ensuring the scoreboard kept ticking over, Brent Hobba (20 points and 8 rebounds) and Raheem Lemons (16 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists) did work on both ends of the court to help Casey to a 98-71 win.
The Cavs improve to 10-2 on the season and sit second.
The Championship women got off to a strong start against Southern Peninsula – leading by two points at the main break – but a 17-7 run by the Sharks in the third quarter saw them take control of the game and they would go onto win 74-60.
Sarah Halejian played every second of the game for Casey and recorded 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in a stirring effort from the import guard.
After starting the season by winning four of its first five games, Casey has now lost four games in a row to fall to 4-5 and sit seventh on the ladder.
The Youth League 1 men held a three-point lead at the main break in their clash against Altona and with Mitch Gooiker (23 points and 10 rebound) starring, the Cavs extended their lead to 10 points with a quarter to play.
The Gators came home strongly, but the Cavs did enough to hold them off and claim an 84-78 win.
After bouncing back from a loss last weekend, the Cavs improve to 9-3 on the season to sit inside the top four.
The Youth League 1 women had a see-sawing battle in Craigieburn against the Eagles.
The Cavs led by 13 points at the first break, before the Eagles fought back in the middle two quarters to take a two-point lead into the final break.
With Lauren Tuplin (21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists) and Bec Peacock (15 points, 11 rebounds and 5 steals) involved in everything, the Cavs roared home in the fourth with a near-perfect 27-12 quarter to claim a 13-point win, 76-63.
The win, Casey’s fifth on the trot, sees them improve to 8-2 on the season and further entrench themselves inside the top four.
Looking ahead, Round 10 kicks off with a Saturday triple-header at Casey Stadium from 4pm. The Youth League 1 men, followed by the Championship women and men take on Frankston, Werribee and Chelsea, respectively.
The Youth League 1 women take on Warrandyte on Saturday night on the road, before returning home on Sunday to face Camberwell from 1.30pm at Casey Stadium.
Meanwhile, in exciting news for Casey basketball, 14 players have been selected to attend the Basketball Victoria Showcase.
Only 80 boys and 80 girls from around Victoria have been picked to participate in the showcase tournament, which leads onto players being selected to compete at the Southern Cross Challenge later in the year.
The following Casey basketball athletes have been selected; Jack Byrne, Aiden Collinson, Nickolas Davies, Caplen Dexter, Marcus Donaldson, John Efunkanbi, Parker Rivet, Elisa Brown, Dynahia Masters, Tiearra Meredith, Kendra Rivet, Maddison Rogers, Sophie Toth and Bindi Wood.
