It was a bleak Saturday night for the Werribee Devils in the Big V basketball men’s state championship.
The excitement of the Devils season opening victory wore off quickly with a 108-82 thrashing at the hands of the Ringwood Hawks at The Rings on Saturday night.
The Devils actually made a promising start to the game, out-scoring the home side 26-21 in the first period, but there was little joy thereafter as the Hawks extended their lead at every break to run out convincing 26-point winners.
The bulk of Werribee’s starters performed strongly. Import Konor Kulas was again the pick of the bunch with 20 points and eight rebounds. Fellow import Bryan Nagy finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Devils captain Paul Elderkin had 16 points to go with eight rebounds, while Deng Chan posted 16 points and five rebounds.
The Devils will go into the Easter break with a 1-1 record.
They will be keen to atone when they next take to the court against Hume City Broncos at Eagle Stadium on April 7.
In women’s division 1, Werribee Devils struggled with their long range shooting in a 57-48 loss to Camberwell Dragons at Balwyn High School on Sunday.
The Devils shot 32 per cent from the field, but were just 1-from-10 from three-point land.
Import Alyssa Bennett had a stellar game for the Devils with 17 points and 16 rebounds.
Outside of Bennett, the scoring dried up, though Jessica Slade battled hard to score seven points and reel in 10 rebounds.
The Devils will get a chance to refine their offence at training over the Easter break before a big double header weekend, which will see them play Warrnambool Mermaids at Eagle Stadium on April 7 and back up with a trip to Casey Cavaliers the day after.
Lance Jenkinson
