By Marcus Uhe
Both Casey Cavaliers sides are marooned in 18th on their respective NBL1 South ladders despite the women picking up their second win of the season against Frankston on Sunday.
They fell four points short of making it two wins from two contests, having dropped the home contest against Nunawading on Saturday night 79-83.
A costly second quarter saw them score just 12 points and relinquish their lead they had established in the first period of the game.
A span of six minutes overlapping quarter time saw them relinquish a seven-point lead, unable to score for the duration of the period where their opponents scored 15, and ended the half 10 points behind the Spectres.
A thrilling final quarter saw the game come down to the final minute.
With one minute left to play, Rachel Bell cut the lead to just two points with a composed jump shot.
Frantic defence at the other end of the court nearly forced a shot-clock violation from Nunawading, and with 30 second remaining the Cavs had the last possession, and the chance to take the lead.
Bell drove and kicked to Taylah Giliam on the wing, whose three-point shot took a cruel double-bounce before deciding against dropping into the net.
They were forced to foul Nunawading and hope they missed free-throws, but the Spectres held their cool, nailing both to ensure it was a two-possession game with seven seconds remaining.
Stephanie Blicavs’ desperation heave fell short, and the margin finished at four.
Bell’s output was tremendous, finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds.
The good thing about playing on back-to-back nights is that ensures you have a chance to immediately make amends and that’s exactly what they did, this time coming up trumps in the clutch moments against Frankston in the 84-80 victory.
With scores tied at the end of the third quarter, Casey jumped out to a five-point lead midway through the last term before both sides felt the intensity of the moment.
A layup to Lauren Van Kleunen with just over a minute remaining gave them a two-point lead, but a costly foul from Giliam put Frankston’s Tori Jackson on the line.
Jackson made the first but missed the second, forcing Frankston to foul Bell on the other end.
They then committed another that was deemed unsportsmanlike, which put Taylah Simmons on the line for two free throws, and critically, regained Casey the lead.
They were forced to commit another on Bell, but with nerves of steel she sunk both with one second remaining to secure their second victory of the season.
Four players scored in double figures for the Cavs in an even spread, led by Esra McGoldrick’s 21-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The men weren’t afforded quite the same possibility in either of their weekend contests, suffering a pair of double-figure losses.
Missing Malcolm Bernard, the Cavs fumbled a lead at the start of the final quarter in a flat finish on Saturday against Nunawading, where they were outscored 21-8 in the final 10 minutes.
The Cavs scored just 28 points in the entire second half, falling away dramatically after a strong first half to finish down 72-87.
Preston Bungei was forced to carry the load once again, scoring 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds, but shot the ball poorly (7/22) in an inefficient display.
Requiring a fast start against Frankston the following night, the Cavs were slow out of the gate, ending the first half with a 12-point deficit.
They were crushed on the glass, allowing too many second chance points due to a -15 offensive rebound differential.
Sidy Djitte grabbed 18 rebounds but the next highest individual total was Mason Perry with three.
While they managed to win the final quarter of the contest, the 20-point deficit at the end of the third quarter proved insurmountable, as Frankston came away with a 90-78 win.
Without Bungei and Jack Perry to compound the Bernard absence, they simply did not have the necessary firepower to slow Frankston down.
Mitchell Riggs led the team in scoring with 17.
Kilsyth are the next assignment on Saturday night.
