Posted on 19 March, 2019
The Cobra VYC Men and Women have tipped-off their 2019 regular season campaigns in impressive fashion, recording a pair of resounding victories over the Southern Sabres on Saturday night at home.
The Cobra Women rode an explosive fourth quarter to open their season in style, dominating down the stretch to defeat the Sabres, 74-58. Trailing, 45-46 entering the final stanza, the Cobras erupted for a 14-0 run to break the game open and take a 13 point lead midway through the period. The Cobras would cruise the rest of the way, with their stifling defence holding the Sabres to just 12 fourth quarter points to secure a big opening night win.
Lauren Bird, Sarah Haberfield and Chloe Anderson fuelled the Cobras late surge, with Bird scoring seven of her game-high 15 points in the final five minutes of the game, while Haberfield and Anderson each finished with 11 points and several key baskets in crunch time. Bird Added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals to cap a strong all-around performance, and Grace Moxey added 11 points and nine rebounds in the win.
The Cobra Men needed just 20 minutes to stamp their authority on the 2019 season, riding a monster second quarter to down the Sabres, 97-73. After a slow start saw them lead, 17-13 after 10 minutes of play, the Cobras erupted for 36 points in the second period, closing the quarter on a 31-5 run to take a commanding 26 point lead into the half time break. Mark Landells’ men would keep the Sabres at bay the remainder of the way, pushing their lead out to as many as 28 points to move to 1-0 on the season.
Luke Rosendale led the Cobras with a team-high 17 points in his VYC debut, adding six assists and five steals to cap a stellar all-around performance. All-VYC guard Mitch Dielemans matched Rosendale with 17 points of his own, while Hamish MacDonald was a major presence off the bench, finishing with 14 points and four steals in 23 minutes of action.
The Cobra Women and Men will look to move to 2-0 this Saturday night when they play host to Bulleen (5.30pm) and McKinnon (7.30pm), respectively.
