WERRIBEE Devils are riding high in the Victorian Basketball League Big V men’s division 1 after making it four wins from five starts in beating Warrnambool Seahawks 80-58 at Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre on Saturday night.
The Devils maintained a consistent level of performance from start to finish and broke the spirit of the visiting team bit by bit.
The Paul Jones-coached outfit got the job done at both ends, particularly in the second and third periods, where they forced the Seahawks into tough shots with in-your-face defence and converted their own at a good percentage.
A feature for the Devils was the contribution of all 12 players.
Their talent pool runs deep and Jones is not about to waste that commodity.
It meant less of a reliance on young guard Jordan Hughes, though he still finished with an impressive 20 points on 8-of-21 shooting.
Cirkook Riak was a major contributor with 16 points and five rebounds and Josh Oswald finished with 11 points and six boards.
Mark Rizza and Tips Silver were the main distributors of the ball with four assists each.
The Devils, second on the ladder with a 4-1 record, head to Chelsea (1-6) on Saturday evening as hot favourites to improve on their scintillating start to the season.
Meanwhile, the Werribee Devils are sliding deeper into the Big V women’s division 2 abyss.
The Brant Lowry-coached team is yet to register a win in four starts and their struggles on the offensive end were a concern in a 48-38 loss to Cranbourne at the Cranbourne Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
Sarah Truman (11 points), Briana Pastore (10 points and six rebounds) and Tarhnie Brown (five points and 10 rebounds) battled away.
BIG V RESULTS: Men’s division 1: Werribee 80 d Warrnambool 58. Women’s division 2: Cranbourne 48 d Werribee 38.
