AN undermanned Werribee Devils outfit began its Big V season with a first-up 93-81 loss to Waverley.
Going into the game at ‘The Furnace’ without key recruits Sedale Threatt (injured) and Ivan Platenik (US College tryout), coach Warrick Giddey had to adjust his game plan.
The first quarter saw the visitors jump to an early lead, but Graeme Anstey hit a couple of tough shots to keep the home side in touch trailing 27-14 at quarter-time.
A different Devils team hit the floor in the second quarter, trimming the lead behind some great hustle from Chris Moore and captain Brad Salter at both ends, cutting the lead to 5 points.
The third quarter was a titanic struggle with both teams going basket for basket. Michael Petridis got hot for the Devils and landed 10 points for the period, but every time the lead got to within two points the Falcons scored to break the game open to a double digits lead.
At three-quarter time Waverley led 70-59.
In the last term the Devils dug deep with Benny Tairi providing a spark from the bench, but it wasn’t enough.
Salter was inspirational recording 12 points and 20 rebounds, while Moore led the scoring with 19 points and Petridis chipped in with 17. Despite the loss, Giddey was pleased with his undermanned team’s performance.
“It was disappointing to find out just 24 hours prior to the game that we were going to go in without our two star recruits,” he said. “But I thought our guys did a good job of adjusting and we were probably one guy short of taking the game out in the end.”
In the first half of double-header on Sunday, the Werribee She-Devils opened their season with a solid 54-46 win against top-four contender Whittlesea.
The She-Devils opened with a 22-17 quarter-time lead and extended the margin at every change, giving all players on the roster some game time.
While there was a good spread on the statistics sheet, Dionne Fenton (11 points, 8 rebounds), captain Emma Coyne (11 points), Rebecca McKay (10, 7) and Elisha Foley (7, 12) were all key players.
Werribee’s youth league men were also undermanned on Saturday, losing 117-61 to Kilsyth.
The Championship Division men are on the road against the Melbourne Tigers at Mill Park Stadium on Saturday at 8:30pm.
The She-Devils and Youth League Men have a double header at home on the Sunday, with Men hosting Frankston at 12 noon and the women follow against La Trobe Uni at 2. 15pm.
