The Melton Thoroughbreds mens side finally put it all together for their first win of the Big V division 1 season on Saturday night.
After a tough start to the season there have been signs that things were on the improve for the Thoroughbreds in the past few weeks.
On Saturday night they had reason to smile when they defeated Warrnambool Seahawks.
The Thoroughbreds started the better of the two sides and led by 10 points at the first change.
The Seahawks, missing a couple of players, continued to push the Thoroughbreds through the next two quarters and there were just four points the difference at the final change.
Thoroughbreds sealed the deal with a 77-66 victory.
For coach John Allison and his players, the win was a long time coming.
“Everybody played well,” Allison said. “We couldn’t break away
“We got crucial stops at crucial times … the things we wanted to do, we are starting to do better on the court. What we are practising is working.”
One of the crucial elements for the Thoroughbreds was the spread of scoring across the board. Billy Feben “got hot” and top-scored with 22 points.
Ivan Harris, Jason Todorov and Jordan Kirk scored double figures, while the combination of centres Shane Moroney and Mitchell Barnes provided solid numbers.
The game was the Thoroughbreds’ first for the season at their Melton home court.
They’ve been playing home games at Caroline Springs while their court was repaired.
Allison said returning to their court had been a massive plus.
“It was absolutely huge,” he said. “The boys were really excited to be back. We think it’s one of the better courts around and the boys love playing on it. The atmosphere was really good.”
It was a special night for the club on another level – it celebrated Jordan Kirk’s 200th game. While he had already played the milestone game, the club wanted to celebrate the occasion in front of a home crowd.
The next challenge for the Thoroughbreds is to get a second win and Allison is confident it won’t be too far away.
“I think we just needed to get the first game out of the way,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ve got momentum now. The boys were excited after the game. We’re looking forward to next week.”
The Thoroughbreds’ youth league side split its weekend double, defeating the Seahawks on Saturday night before losing to Maccabi Warriors on Sunday.
Broden Collins top-scored for the Thoroughbreds on Saturday, scoring 20 points.
Feben backed up his performance from the senior game with 25 points in the youth league’s sides loss on Sunday.
