Tag Archives: Big V

Venom seek to bite back

Men and Youth Women sides set themselves for finals

WARRANDYTE’S Division One Men and Youth League Women look poised for Big V finals as the season passes the halfway mark.

Division One Men

Heading into the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend, the Mens team are currently 2nd on the ladder with 11 wins.

The men’s side are perched comfortably with the standout being import Jacob Thom, who has well and truly settled in to life at the organisation.

He’s averaging 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists over 15 games, including an impressive dunk against Collingwood that featured in the Big V highlights reel.

Brenton Charles continues to provide good support for the side, currently placed second in the division for average assists and total assists with 77 so far this season.

Bryan Moore and Andrew Kelly have also been solid scoring options for the Venom.

Although they broke their four-game win streak against Western Port Steelers in Round 11, the team will be hard to stop in the backend of the season.

Youth League One Women

The Youth League Women have hit a similar vein of form at the midway point of the season, sitting two games clear in 4th position — despite losing their last two matches — thanks to a five-game win streak to start the season.

Venom’s Ellie Caruana (Round 5) and Claudie Kuen (Round 7) also received Blue Carpet nominations — which is a round-by-round list of the 12 best men and women players in the entire Big V League.

They seem to have a penchant for the close encounters, which includes a two-point victory over Keilor in Round 8 and a hard defensive effort against Eltham leading them to a one-point victory against their crosstown rivals in Round 9.

A 41-point rout of Corio Bay in Round 7 stands as their most comprehensive performance, with Kuens 30 points rounding out a dominant display.

Division One Women

The Women’s side have started to get their campaign rolling, despite sitting second from the bottom of the ladder, the team have been playing well.

Skipper Meg Dargan continues to set the pace for her side, averaging 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists with her best returns coming against Camberwell and Bellarine.

In Round 7, a 20-point final quarter against third-placed Bellarine gave the Venom their first win of the season, an important scalp to get their season underway and instil some confidence in a talented side.

Dargan again proved to be the difference with an impressive season-high 23 points.

In a strange turn of events, the away fixture against Mildura was called off at half-time due to a significant water leak making the court unsafe for play, turning the match into a veritable “wet weather game.”

Youth League One Men

The Youth League Men also sit last in their division despite getting off to good starts against finals bound Bendigo and the undefeated Ballarat in the last month.

Sebastian Goldby led the side with 17 points and 10 rebounds against Hume in Round 8, prevailing by three points for their second win of the season.

The sides only other triumph was a thrilling one-point win against Werribee in Round 3 with Goldby, Harrison Ayton and Mitchell Kerr- Read all throwing in solid scoring contributions.

Despite a 2–13 record, the Venom have shown promising signs in numerous close games and will look to square the ledger as the season

Warrandyte Basketball for life

ROUND 15 of the 2018 Big V Basketball League was coined the “Life Members Round” and during the break between the Division One Women and Division One Men on the Sunday, Warrandyte Basketball Club’s life members were recognised by the club.

Club President Emma MacDougal spoke to the Diary about how much the club values the effort and time life members have put in and continue to put in.

“The aim is to reflect on the contributions they have made and recognise it in a really meaningful way in terms of the work they did to set the club up and setting the wheels in motion to get the club to the point where it is.

We have a number of life members who have invested significant amounts of their time into the club to make it successful,” she said.

Justin Nelson, Warrandyte Basketball former coach, and current general manager for the Melbourne Boomers told us about the clubs development and how the life members are the embodiment of the club’s history.

“I was privileged to be able to coach Big V here for 10 years, we won a lot of Championships, and were in a lot of Grand Finals.

“The club through the late 2000s was quite extraordinary, and now Warrandyte Basketball is home to a whole brigade of young kids coming through the ranks, which is really good to see… the Warrandyte community really does extend through its sporting clubs, a lot of clubs in this area are really family focused.”

Justin’s work with the Boomers means he is unable to be as active in the Warrandyte club as he would like, but he treasures his time spent coaching Warrandyte Venom and hopes to come back in the future.

“To be able to coach more than 200 State league games here was exciting and I hope to be able to help off the court and help the next generation come through”.

After the life members presentation, some of the Junior players played a seven minute exhibition match, demonstrating the quality of their coaching and their passion for the game, a passion Cameron Whitmore, 11 and Hamish Thompson, 10 exude off court as well as on it.

“I like the competition and it is always good to get a win,” said Cameron.

“I have been playing Basketball for four years, I normally play point guard — I love that I get to play with my friends and I have an amazing coach and I love the competition,” said Hamish.

With two rounds to go, both Men’s and Women’s Division One teams are unlikely to see a place in the Grand Final this season but the club’s passion, experience and quality is reflected in all members of Warrandyte Basketball club.

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Venom claim women’s basketball premiership flag

WARRANDYTE Venom’s Youth League One Women’s team crowned a terrific season in early September, winning the Grand Final over three thrilling games.

The Venom women defeated Coburg by five points at the Warrandyte Sports Complex in game three to take home the flag, giving co-captains Casey Taylor and Ellie Lock a fitting send off in their final games for the side.

Warrandyte went into the finals series on top of the ladder, after dropping just two games for the season, and had a week off heading into the Grand Final series, played as a best of three.

However, the week off may have done Warrandyte a disservice according to young gun Maddi Taylor, as Coburg were able to seize their chance, defeating them by 11 points.

“We’d beaten Coburg quite easily in both games during the season, and because we went straight to the grand final we had a week off.

“They didn’t, so they had a bit of momentum heading into that first finals game, and that caught us off guard a bit,” Taylor said.

In game two, Venom were a different force, and squared the ledger at 1–1 after a nine point win. Ellie Locke led the way with 22 points and six assists, aided by Maddi Taylor who scored 18 points, and Simone Caruana, who notched 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

In the all-important deciding game, Warrandyte were too strong throughout the contest, surviving a final quarter scare to run out deserving 78–73 winners.

“We had the lead the whole game and we played really well, in the last quarter they came back a little bit, but we kept our composure and sealed the win in the end.

“I think Coburg actually finished fourth so they did really well to come out and have a crack like they did,” Taylor said.

Locke, Taylor and Caruana were again influential, along with Isabel Feller.

Locke threatened to triple double with ten points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Caruana continued her form on the glass, with 14 points and eight more boards.

Taylor and Feller took it upon themselves to carry the scoring load, dropping 17 points each to bolster the offence. Spearheaded by coach Angela Heigh, Warrandyte’s achievement and ultimate success owes a lot to hard work and a lengthy pre-season.

“Our pre-season started in October last year to try and prepare.

“We did a lot of training, won a pre-season tournament and it’s been a good season just from there,” Taylor said.

No season is complete without an awards night, and Warrandyte were the toast of the town on September 23, at the Big V Awards ceremony at Etihad Stadium.

Simone Caruana and Ellie Locke received a prestigious all-star starting five position, while Caruana was also crowned the league’s best defensive player.

All of the Venom players were invited on stage to accept the trophy, capping off a terrific campaign.

Preparation now begins for participation in the State Championship Women’s league, after promotion was earned in the 2017 season, while Warrandyte Basketball will hold their AGM on October 31.

Venom glory as Youth Men claim title

WARRANDYTE Venom ended the season with a massive weekend just passed, with both the women and men’s youth league sides competing in Big V finals for a mixed bag.

The boys team took home an inaugural championship for the Venom Youth Men, but unfortunately, though playing brilliantly, the girls just fell short but have done them- selves, the club and the community proud with great displays of talent, sportsmanship and mateship.

The huge crowd at Warrandyte Sports Complex on Saturday night witnessed not only a terrific game of high-spirited basketball, but also a historic win for the Venom. The first title for the men’s side of the program was a landmark victory for the 15 players involved in the 2015 team and also a reflection on the entire junior boys program at Warrandyte that feeds the Big V element.

Playing the talented Mornington Breakers, it was always set to be a physical affair. The young Venom team was ruthless with its attack on the basketball and hunger for the contest. In a tightly contested match with many ebbs and flows, the Venom claimed victory 79-70 after 40 gruelling minutes.

In a terrific team performance certain individuals also stamped their authority on the game: Justin Ronan-Black finished with 19 points, Nick Spicer had 15 and there were three other players registering double-digit scores.

The defensive efforts and overall court attack by Callum Langmaid landed him grand final MVP recognition, having racked up eight assists and five steals.

The club and community can look forward to seeing the first Big V Men’s championship banner unveiled at the Warrandyte Sports Complex in the coming weeks.

After limited sleep after the excitement of Saturday night’s game, the Warrandyte Venom faithful then made the journey to Broadmeadows stadium on Sunday to support the Youth League Women.

The team was out to conquer title favourites Hume City Broncos on their home floor, a tough ask given the Broncos finished the campaign with a 20-1 season record.

The Broncos came out early and notched a handy double-digit lead, but the typical Venom competitiveness kicked in to make it clear they were up to the task. The game was a physical and strategic affair and both sides were relentless with ball pressure.

The Venom players fought admirably to reduce the deficit to single figures but were unable to break the Broncos down, eventually falling 60-46.

Venom’s Simone Caruana finished the game on 14 points and eight rebounds, while Maddie Taylor added 10 points and seven boards. There were a number of other contributors in the spirited defeat and the Venom women certainly took it to their opposition to finish a terrific campaign.

Another wonderful year for Warrandyte in the Big V competition will be commemorated with two big celebratory occasions in the coming weeks.

Sunday August 23 from 3pm to 6pm the Venom Big V Awards function will be held at the Grand Hotel Warrandyte with everyone welcome.