Sunbury Jets bounced back from a rare loss to record a strong win against Bulleen Boomers on Saturday night.
Having had to wait two weeks to get back onto the court, the Jets made sure early on they were not going to suffer a second successive loss.
The Jets led 50-27 at half-time and increased that to 81-52 at full time.
Jets coach Kennedy Kereama said they had made some big improvements since their loss.
He said they adapted well to the Boomers zone defence which they used to try and slow the Jets down.
“It was a really good win and it was obviously good to bounce back,” he said. “We played some really good team basketball and had 26 assists.”
Kereama said there wouldn’t be many times this season that they found themselves with a 20-plus lead at half-time, but when they did they had to ensure they didn’t let the foot off the pedal.
“There’s things to play for, irrespective of the scoreboard,” he said.
“In round one we left the door ajar against Hume and they made a run.
“We did a good job of making sure we came out focused after half-time. There was a lot of good things.”
Elyce Penaluna top scored with 26 points, while Orla O’Reilly and Monique Stevens also scored double figures.
All the Jets players were given plenty of court time, including development players Emily Conn and Emily Achter.
Kereama said that was one of the pleasing things to come out of the win.
With two wins on the board from the opening three rounds, Kereama said they still had plenty of improvement to come with their full squad not expected to be available until about round six.
“We still have a long way to go,” he said.
“The bench is playing good basketball as a bench unit, but we need to be better at closing out games. We want to ensure we’re playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, the men’s division 1 side remains without a win.
The Jets trailed by 29 points at half-time with the game all but over.
They showed better signs in the second half, winning both quarters, but still losing 84-69.
The Jets youth league women’s division 1 side lost to Geelong Supercats 59-46, while the youth league men’s side defeated Ballarat Miners 106-77.
