Undermanned OREANA Hume City Broncos dug deep to win both their Big V state championship basketball matches at the weekend.
The Broncos used just seven players on Saturday night against Waverley and trailed for the first three quarters.
Despite four of the five starters playing big minutes, the Broncos ran over the top of the Falcons to win 99-88.
Jamal Brown, Jermaine Maybank and Lee Jeka scored 20 points each.
On Sunday, with a slightly bigger bench, the Broncos started well against Hawthorn and held on to win 86-81.
Maybank scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds.
The Broncos are fifth on the ladder after four rounds with four wins from six matches.
The Broncos women’s side also took home the points in a weekend double-header against Waverley and Melbourne.
After a surprise loss the week before, the Broncos defeated the Falcons 85-73 and then backed up with an easy 70-42 win over Melbourne on Sunday.
Viv Saad and Colleen Planeta were prominent in both games.
The Bronco women are fourth on the ladder.
Whittlesea Pacers’ state championship sides remain winless after four rounds.
The men lost a topsy-turvy game against Waverley on Sunday. The Pacers started slowly before bouncing back in the second quarter. The Falcons jumped out of the blocks in the second half, setting up a 97-88 win despite the Pacers winning the last quarter.
The Pacers’ women celebrated Sharyn Hughes 200th game on Saturday night but weren’t able to get the desired result against Diamond Valley.
Diamond Valley won 88-70, with Trudy Armstead top scoring with 21 points for the Pacers.
On Sunday, the Pacers lost 81-68 to Waverley after a slow start to the game.
Giulia Dinunzio top scored for the Pacers with 11 points.
The Craigieburn women’s and men’s sides had a mixed bag of results.
The Eagles’ division 1 women’s side faced a red-hot Sunbury Jets side and were never in the game. The Jets won every quarter by at least 10 points, eventually winning 95-40.
The men’s side won their third game in a row with a strong performance against North East. A 22-11 first quarter set up the Eagles’ 78-61 win.
