In the space of 18 hours, Werribee Devils dropped two games, stained a perfect record and tumbled out of the Victorian Basketball League Big V men’s championship top six.
A road double-header from hell for the Devils at the weekend was not eased by the league forcing the team to front up for its second leg away from home, just 14 hours after walking off the court.
The Devils had a two-hour round trip to contend with on Saturday night, losing 84-72 to the Eltham Wildcats at the Eltham High School.
Then it was back in the car for a two-hour-40-minute round trip to play the Sherbrooke Suns, where the Devils were edged out 72-68 at the Belgrave Heights Christian School.
On Saturday night, Werribee was chasing Eltham’s tail from the outset.
The Devils were down by nine at the first break and could not significantly eat into the deficit, despite Jordan Hughes producing 23 points, four rebounds and three assists to go with a trio of three-pointers.
David Cobb, the Devils’ consistent double-double threat, scored 12 points to go with 12 rebounds, while Darcy Harding (13) and Anthony Luxford (12) hit double-figure points.
On Sunday, a monster double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds from Cobb was not enough for the Devils as the Sherbrooke side held off his fast-finishing team.
Hughes again scored 23 points, while Andrew Johnston was solid with eight points and four rebounds in limited court time.
The Devils have two weeks to recover from their hectic schedule with no games to be played during the Easter weekend.
In women’s division 1, Werribee’s encouraging first half made way for a dreadful second, ending in an 83-51 loss to the Whittlesea Pacers at the Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre on Sunday.
Trailing by just six points at the half, the Devils were outscored 46-20 in the final two periods to suffer a crushing loss, which leaves them without a win ahead of the Easter break.
Recruit Lydia Brooks was the Devils’ leading scorer with 14 points to go with five rebounds, while Georgia Tauschke has nine points and eight rebounds.
Lance Jenkinson
