Sport
20 October, 2023
Hornets teams start season with huge wins
Both the men and women's Hornets team have started their CBL season off with comprehensive wins. The women kicked things off with a huge 50 point victory over Colac, 102-52. Ema Iredell top scored with 33 points with twin sister Maddison chipping in...
Both the men and women's Hornets team have started their CBL season off with comprehensive wins.
The women kicked things off with a huge 50 point victory over Colac, 102-52. Ema Iredell top scored with 33 points with twin sister Maddison chipping in with 21 in her return to the squad.
Coach Rebecca McIntyre said that having the Iredell twins in the side is exciting.
"They are amazing athletes and are quicker and stronger than anyone else and they were dominate on the weekend. They have an uncanny ability to find each other and moving forward are going to be very hard for the opposition to stop," she said.
Despite the scoreline McIntyre said that the game was tougher than what it appeared.
"The score didn't indicate the style of game it was. Colac were still up and about and never really gave up. They didn't give us anything easy and brought it for four quarters and that is a credit to them," she said.
"For them to score that we have a lot of work to do on our defence. We haven't had much time to train leading up to the game.
"With our double header in South Australia three weeks away, it means we can work on that. We want to keep the opposition to under 50 points against us."
The Hornets had a wide range of contributers on the scoreboard with Olivia Jones scoring 18 and Caitlin Story and Cara Tippett with 12 a-piece.
With five players scoring double figures McIntyre said that it was great to have an even spread.
"It's good to have a wide range. If we can have 4 or 5 of our starters shooting over 10 points every match we are going to be hard to beat," she said.
"Caitlin has been our leading scorer for the past 10 years and Olivia is very talented.
"It was also good to see the juniors come in as well. Cara Tippet was excellent and we had Maddison Bethune and Izabella McIntyre come off the bench and they contributed on the scoreboard as well.
"For Izabella, she got her first points as a Hornet and it was her second match. These girls are going to have an opportunity this year to come in and out of the side and it's a good thing for their program," she concluded.
The men beat Colac by 30 points. Austin McKenzie was brilliant with 20 points. Matthew Lovel chipped in with 13 and Cody Bryan and Damien Skurrie 12 a-piece in the 93-63 point win.
Colac were on top in the first quarter leading by two at quarter time but in the second quarter the Hornets found their bearings putting up 27 points to lead by 11 points at half time and then ran away with the game in the second half.
On Sunday against Terang they won by 17 points with McKenzie again top scoring with 25 points and Cody Bryan contributing with 16 in the 82-65 win.
The scores were level at quarter time and again it was the second quarter that the Hornets took charge scoring 20 points whilst holding Terang to 4.
Missing Mitch Martin, Max Bryan and Matt Brown from their lineup, coach Scott Benbow was thrilled with how the team performed.
"This really starts our season off well. Every game is a step and we need to win a certain amount to qualify for finals and to start 2-0 without our best team is very exciting," he said.
"McKenzie and Bryan did a good job of leading the charge. Ryan Pfitzner and Tarkyn Benbow played minutes and hit the scoreboard as well. It was a great team effort.
"A lot of our development players are going to get a chance during the year and it was good for them to get a taste early."
The crowd was big on both days and Benbow said they enjoy the atmosphere.
"They love playing here. The noise and vibe of the place is electric." he explained.
Next week they take on Hamilton and despite getting their best players back, Benbow said it is going to be a very tough match, especially being a rivalry game.
"They may have lost on the weekend but they were competitive. There has been a big rivlary over the years through all grades. At home they are going to have a massive crowd and we are looking forward to getting there and having a go at them," he said.