Skipper fires for Storm
Bellarine Storm’s mid-season revival continues after a 60-point turnaround from their last meeting with McKinnon back in mid April.
Flogged by 42 points in round 4, the now 2-9 Storm have lifted themselves off the bottom of the championship ladder, knocking off the sixth-placed Cougars (109-91) away from home on the back of a monster first half (71-42).
Captain Lewis Varley had a big night out with 26 points (including seven three-pointers), seven assists and five boards, supported by Max Kos (21 points, six boards and five assists) and Josh Chery (21 points).
While McKinnon was missing import Nathan Davis and point guard Mitch Barry, fellow overseas recruit Sharif Black (24 points) was on the floor after missing with a hamstring injury in round 4.
Coach Luke Beauglehall said it was the team’s best performance of the year, praising their defence in particular.
“(McKinnon) were missing a couple of guys, but you can only play against who is out there,” Beauglehall said.
“The boys came out to play on Saturday night from the start.
“We’ve been preaching on that for the last week or so, when we play together and play our team game, good things happen. It’s building that confidence and letting the guys know we are capable at this level … we’re supposed to be here.”
He said the Storm worked hard for each other, with a superior assist count (26-15) which led to multiple buckets.
Bellarine was also strong in the boards department, an area they were belted in back in round 4 (5227). “We got a really good spread of rebounding numbers,” he said.
Chery (11 points) and Kos (12) set the tone with big first and second quarters respectively as Bellarine recorded its second win in championship season basketball.
“(Chery) was very aggressive for us early … he’s very strong attacking the basket … and drawing a couple of early fouls,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bellarine’s women cemented top spot on the Division 1 ladder, beating Craigieburn 71-49.
Georgia Varley (17 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists), Chantelle Hall (17 points, eight rebounds) and Olivia Virt (11 points and rebounds) led the scoring for the Storm.
Bellarine finished the game strongly with a decisive 23-9 final term to win comfortably.