By Tara Murray
Wyndham was made to pay for poor starts in its Big V women’s championship matches on the weekend.
Wyndham had back-to-back matches against the Warrandyte Venom and then against the Sherbrooke Suns on Sunday.
Against the Venom, Wyndham trailed by 12 points at quarter time.
That would be the difference in the game with the Venom winning 7-3-62.
Wyndham coach Jason Bryant said they did show some positive signs.
“A poor start from the team allowed Warrandyte to get out to a 12 point buffer at the end of the first quarter.,” he said.
“Improvements through the following three quarters saw the group being more competitive, but not enough to claw back the lead from Warrandyte that was given up early in the game.
“The full game zone defence that Warrandyte ran proved to be troubling for us and we were unable to shoot well from outside to counter it.”
Bryant said the addition of collegiate player Ella Macleod provided a solid positive for the team, with her scoring 19 points.
Birgit Snorradottir and Briana Bailey both had 15 points.
On Sunday against the Suns, it was a case of deja vu with Wyndham trailing by 11 points at quarter time.
Wyndham won the second quarter before a 29-14 third quarter blew open the match in the favour of the Suns.
While Wyndham won the last quarter, it lost the game, 96-76.
“After giving Sherbrooke an 11 point lead in the first quarter, we worked hard to bring it back to under 10 at the half time break,” Bryant said.
“The third quarter saw us again struggle against a zone defence allowing Sherbrooke to slow down our scoring while they had a strong scoring quarter.
“A much better performance late in the third and throughout the last quarter saw us win the final period but not enough to eat into Sherbrooke’s lead.
“A standout performance from Bailey and Snorradottir, and [Imogen] Wardley hitting five threes in the game.
“Alana Anthony was a standout at the defensive end of the floor.”
Snorradottir finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Bailey scored 28 points and had seven rebounds.
At the long weekend break, Wyndham sits last with one win from its 13 matches.
In the men’s championship, Wyndham lost to the Keysborough Cougars on Saturday night.
A 36-21 second quarter was the difference in the 115-99 loss for Wyndham.
Junior Garbrah top scored with 28 points for Wyndham.
Wyndham has three wins for the season.
