Huge performances light up Big V Basketball third round

Big V Basketball’s newest stars have emerged while imports continued to steal the show across the competition. Here are our takeaways from Round 3.

The Big V season is already throwing up plenty of exciting storylines.

Teams moved into prime position to challenge for titles before a week off due to Easter while individual players announced their arrival.

Here are some of the key talking points from the weekend’s action.

WYNDHAM YOUNG GUN EMERGES

Thrown into the starting line-up in the last two weeks, Oskar Jones is making the most of his opportunities for Wyndham.

The young gun had 32 points including 6-10 shooting from deep in his side’s big win over Western Port.

Jones was part of the club’s Championship Division title this season but already looks set to play a much bigger role.

Ish Sanders put up an outstanding shooting display for Sunbury. Photo: Basketball Victoria.

SANDERS TOO CLASSY FOR MELBOURNE UNI

Sunbury’s Ish Sanders is one of the stars of the Championship Men’s Division and he showed why in the Jets’ eight-point win over Melbourne Uni.

Playing all 40 minutes, Sanders had 47 points on 13-26 shooting along with five assists and two steals in a dominant display.

BULLEEN DUO CONTINUE TO FIRE

The Boomers sit at the top of the Championship Women’s Division after four games with a perfect and their leading duo is a key reason why.

Emily Maltezos (29 points) and Olivia Bontempelli (21) combined for 50 of their side’s 84 points in a nine-point win over Camberwell on Saturday.

Bontempelli is currently the competition’s third leading scorer heading into the Easter break.

Bulleen has made a flying start to the season. Photo: Basketball Victoria.

Olivia Bontempelli has been a key figure in Bulleen's success so far. Photo: Basketball Victoria.

IMMEDIATE IMPACT FROM SHERBROOKE IMPORT

Sherbrooke may have been beaten by defending champions Wyndham but the signs are already good from the club’s import, Porsche Poole.

The Michigan State University graduate had 38 points, five steals, four assists and four rebounds in her debut outing.

She has quite the pedigree after arriving from Santiago Basketball in Europe.

Derek Murphy played a key role in Shepparton's win. Photo: Basketball Victoria.

SHEPPARTON STAR CONTINUES TO IMPRESS

Derek Murphy is enjoying an impressive start to the season with Shepparton.

Through four games, he is averaging 20.2 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

In Saturday night’s victory over Chelsea he had 24 points, 10 rebounds and four dimes as the Gators returned to winning ways.

A BELLARINE STORM CONTINUES TO ROAR

Bellarine’s women’s team are looking like an early season title contender in Division 1.

The Storm have won their opening four games to sit clear on top of the ladder after the first three rounds.

At the weekend, they proved to be too good for Warrandyte, overcoming the Venom by 59 points, before putting Warrnambool to the sword by 15 points.

It was an evenly spread team performance again Warrandyte with five players scoring in double figures.

On Sunday against the Mermaids, Georgia Varley led the way with 27 points while Olivia Virt had 22 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.

Siobhan Mac Aodha produced another strong showing for Coburg. Photo: Basketball Victoria.

COBURG GOES BIG IN ITS FIRST WIN

After a tough start to the season, Coburg got on the board with a big win over RMIT on Sunday afternoon.

Siobhan Mac Aodha led the way with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Emily Verhey and Taylah Scott also had a strong impact.

Scott was a force defensively with five blocks.

SHERBROOKE UP AND RUNNING

In the Division 2 men’s competition, Sherbrooke recorded its first win of the season after overcoming Maccabi by 14 points on Sunday afternoon.

Christian Soderholm and Nick Tarrant did most of the damage with 21 points apiece.

Soderholm finished with a double-double after dominating boards with 13 rebounds.

GREEN LEADING THE WAY FOR WHITTLESEA

Pat Green is on fire to start the new season for the Pacers.

He’s currently the Division 2 Men’s leading scorer and at the weekend produced another big performance with 31 points and nine rebounds in his side’s big win over Altona.

Green lit it up from three with 7-10 shooting.