Posted on 2 April, 2019
The Cobra VYC Men and Women have continued their winning ways to start the 2019 Big-V season on Saturday night, with the Women gutting out a tough road victory over Sunbury, while the Men put on a show at home, reaching triple figures in a blowout win over Sherbrooke.
Claire Knight’s Women came up big in the final minutes of their Round 3 battle at Sunbury, riding a huge fourth quarter performance from Miranda Gartner to down the Jets, 69-59. Leading, 57-54 with under four minutes remaining, Gartner erupted for 10 straight points in just over 90 seconds, producing a pair of and-one finishes and going 6-for-6 from the line in crunch time to secure a gritty win on the road.
With their offence cooking to start the season, the Cobras had their share of difficulties on Saturday night, but Gartner’s big finish and a stellar final minutes on the defensive end – they held the Jets to just 22 second half points – were enough for Kilsyth to move to 3-1 on the season. Gartner led the Cobras with a game-high 19 points – including a perfect 10-for-10 performance from the line – while Laruen Bird and Maddie Taranto scored nine points apiece, with Taranto adding seasons-best 14 rebounds. Nikita Young and Chloe Anderson provided a major spark off the bench, each finishing with eight points and anchoring an impressive outing by the second unit.
While the VYC Women did it tough on Saturday, the Men had no such troubles, exploding out of the gates to hammer Sherbrooke, 107-68 at home. Mark Landells’ Men put this one away early, with the Cobras racing out to a 56-34 halftime lead and cruising the rest of the way to move to 3-1 on the young season. Kilsyth’s size up front was simply too much for the Suns to overcome, as the Cobras owned the paint all night long, outscoring Sherbrooke 56-18 inside. After struggling the week prior to contain a talented Nunawading team, the Cobras renewed focus on the defensive end paid dividends, as they forced 26 Suns turnovers to generated 36 points off of takeaways.
Mitch Jackson enjoyed a career night for the Cobras, scoring a career-high 21 points to go along with four steals; Nick Feller added a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double; Luke Rosendale matched Feller with 20 points while adding six rebounds and four assists; and Josh Tomasi and Hamish MacDonald were huge off the bench, with Tomasi finishing with 14 points and nine boards while MacDonald chipped in with 12 points, six rebounds and four steals.
The Cobra Women and Men are back on home court this Sunday, when they play host to the Ringwood Hawks at 12pm and 2pm, respectively.
