United struggle with early Dragons’ fire

Slow starts have proven costly for both Navexa Geelong United Big V Youth League teams against Camberwell at Geelong Arena on Saturday night.

United’s women were blown out of the water by a 24-7 opening quarter from the Dragons before fighting hard to be competitive for the remainder of the contest in a 77-57 loss.

“After giving up a 17-point lead in the first quarter, we matched Camberwell for the remainder of the match,” coach Jason Bannerman said. “Only a buzzer-beater let the margin get to 20.

“Concentration for the entirety of a match is important – from the first buzzer to the last.”

Casidhe Green did all she could with 15 points but did need 22 shots to get those points. She also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Annie Poon scored 11 points, while captain Vanessa Marsh was her usual industrious self with eight points, five steals and four assists.

14-year-old debutant Miley Dawkins connected on both her shot attempts to finish with four points and an assist in just under seven minutes on the floor.

The men, who could have sewn up a playoff berth with a victory, were on their heels from the start from the moment Camberwell responded to a Marach Marach dunk to start the contest with a three-pointer that gave the visitors a lead they’d never surrender.

In the end, the Dragons claimed an 84-61 result.

“Bad shooting is bad basketball,” coach Luke Beard said of his team’s 28 per cent shooting efficiency.

“We couldn’t adjust our shot selections based on our performance.

“We got pushed around by our opponent, who showed they wanted it more.”

Bailey Bruce was Geelong United’s leading scorer with 14 points but took 22 shots.

Marach March and captain Seth Garcia were next best with 12, with March tallying 11 rebounds while Garcia had five assists.

Geelong United’s women (10th, 4-15) host Eltham on Saturday afternoon at Geelong Arena, with the men (4th, 13-5) heading to Keysborough (7th, 10-8).

Tickets for the Youth League Women’s matchup with the Wildcats are sold as part of the NBL1 game day against Ballarat and are available via bit.ly/46hI6zh

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