There’s no half measures with Hume City Broncos. They’re involved in either one-sided matches or thrillers in Big V men’s state championship basketball.
On Saturday night, the Broncos got across the line against Diamond Valley in a 66-65 thriller.
No more than two points separated the teams at any of the breaks and scores were level going into the final quarter.
The Broncos hit one less field goal than Diamond Valley in the final quarter but were fouled on several shots, sending them to the free throw line.
Despite missing half those freebies in the final quarter and shooting at 43 per cent from the line for the game, the Broncos’ five successful shots in the last term secured the victory.
Jamal Brown top scored with 21 points and had eight rebounds.
The Broncos have three wins from five games.
Joining them on the winning list were the Whittlesea Pacers, who downed Melbourne Tigers for their first win of the season.
Having lost the only match the previous weekend, the Pacers started the better of the two sides to have a three-point lead at quarter-time.
The margin was one at half-time and the two sides went goal for goal in the next quarter.
Still leading by one point after three quarters, the Pacers outscored the Tigers 23-14 in the last to win 76-66.
Michael Petridis top scored for the Pacers with 20 points, while Jermaine Williams chipped in with 18.
In state championship women, the Broncos defeated Southern Peninsula 75-52.
The Broncos started slow and found themselves trailing at quarter time by three points.
They started to find their range in the second term as the Sharks struggled to hit their shots in a 13-point turnaround.
A dominant Broncos final quarter pushed the margin out after an even third term.
Colleen Planeta, who was named her division’s player of the month, top scored for the Boncos with 23 points with Viven Saad taking a game-high 17 rebounds.
In men’s division 2, Craigieburn lost to Coburg 80-65. Scores were level at three-quarter time before Coburg shot 25-10 in the final quarter to secure the win.
