Early signs suggest Hume City Broncos have started to bridge the gap between them and the top sides in the Big V basketball state championship.
After a firstup win against an undermanned Whittlesea Pacer, the Broncos played both last year’s grand finalists.
And after an 82-80 win over McKinnon and a 103-87 loss against Corio Bay, Broncos coach Lanard Copeland said he was happy with what he saw.
“It’s the first time in my time we’ve won at Whittlesea and the first time I’ve won at McKinno,” he said.
“We started slowly against McKinnon before getting into the game. We held on, which showed signs we’re maturing.
“Corio Bay has some good imports. Without playing a double on the weekend we would have been more competitive.
“It was tough and we need to work on our fitness.”
Disappointedly for the Broncos they lost to Knox in their latest match on Saturday night.
Knox controlled the game, outscoring the Broncos in every quarter to win 94-81.
One thing that has improved this year for the Broncos is their range of shooters. Instead of relying on two or three guys, they have more options.
“Having four or five scorers will help us down the stretch,” Copeland said.
“The two new additions have started well. Nick Jones had a big weekend and is a ring player who can also play in the one, two and three positions.
“Gak Laat started well but had a sore back last weekend.
“He’s from a Sydney academy I was coaching. He’s going to college in August and he wanted to play somewhere in between.
“He’s a likeable kid and has very long arms.”
The Broncos are still looking at add at least one other player to replace Neil Mottram, who couldn’t play because of work commitments.
With US-born Jamal Brown becoming an Australian citizen, the Broncos will possibly look overseas for another big man.
“We want to try to grab another big,” Copeland said..
“We can get in another import or another big Australian guy. We’d prefer an Australian player.”
The Broncos women’s side suffered a shock 64-60 loss to Knox on Saturday night.
In other results, Whittlesea Pacers’ two state championship sides suffered big losses to Ringwood.
The women’s side was thumped 72-27, while the men’s side lost 123-74.
Craigieburn’s men’s division 2 side beat Coburg 85-78 on Sunday afternoon, while the women’s side lost 47-43 to Hawthorn in division 1.
