It was a winning return to Big V women’s division 2 for Melton Thoroughbreds.
Playing their first match in seven years, the Thoroughbreds impressed against Coburg Giants on Saturday night.
There were no early nerves for the Thoroughbreds, as they set up the win in the opening half.
Thoroughbreds coach Lauren Olcorn was thrilled with the 82-64 result in front of a big home crowd.
“We’re very, very happy with the first game,” she said.
“We went out there with confidence and had a good first half.
“Each quarter we wanted to extend the lead further and further and work even harder.
“We need to work on the second half a bit more, but we kept them at arm’s length for the rest of the game.”
The Thoroughbreds opened up a nine-point lead in the first quarter and then increased that to 15 points at the main break, with Jenna and Lauren Conroy both prominent.
It was a closer second half, but the Thoroughbreds maintained the momentum, winning the half by three points to seal the 82-64 win in front of the home crowd.
Co-captain Jenna Conroy starred with 30 points, shooting at 61 per cent from the field. Her sister Lauren hit 17 points and Emily Attard scored 13 points in her Big V debut.
Olcorn said the sisters played well together and Jenna led by example.
Olcorn said the win would give the side some confidence that they will be competitive this season.
“All the girls were excited to be part of the team and gave it 100 per cent.
“Even though we’ve only played one game we’re thinking about other teams. We’re looking forward to pushing for finals.”
It was a tough night for the Thoroughbreds men’s side that was easily beaten by the Giants, in the third match of the first-ever triple header at Melton.
After an even first quarter, the Thoroughbreds weren’t able to stick with the Giants who outscored the Thoroughbreds 57-31 in the middle two quarters to lead by 29 points at three-quarter time.
The Thoroughbreds outscored the Giants in the last quarter, but still lost 92-69. Skipper Jordan Kirk top-scored with 16 as four of the five starters reached double figures for the new-look side.
The Thoroughbreds youth league men’s side had a better weekend, winning both their matches.
On Saturday night, they defeated Latrobe City Energy, 116-86 and then backed it up on Sunday, defeating Keysborough Cougars, 69-62. Bol Bak had a good weekend for the Thoroughbreds, scoring 28 points on Saturday night and backed it up with 33 points on Sunday.
