Boomers inspire juniors with crushing win against Bendigo

The Deakin Melbourne Boomers have shown the grassroots community how to dream big, defeating the Bendigo Spirit, 86-42 at Basketball Victoria’s Wear Your Colours round.

Young stars Monique Conti, Bec Ott, Ash Grant, Chelsea D’Angelo and Kasey Burton inspired the grassroots community on the court, showing the juniors in the stands what a bit of talent and a lot of hard work can lead to.

Banding together off the back of a great win against the UC Capitals last week, the Boomers were quick to find a rhythm and settle into the match, storming to an early lead and never looking back.

Liz Cambage, Maddie Garrick, Kalani Purcell and Jenna O’Hea kicked things off for the Boomers with a quick succession of two and three pointers to give the home team a commanding 13-point lead at the end of the first term.

Momentum continued to build for the Boomers in the second term. A Monique Conti three-pointer got the crowd on their feet for the young gun who will celebrate her eighteenth birthday this Saturday. Sharing the load with excellent team offence, the Boomers were comfortably out in front at the half, 45-21.

The Boomers came out of the main break running hot. Purcell and Louella Tomlinson (6 blocks) turned the defensive pressure up another notch, restricting Bendigo to just seven points. With shots dropping from all over the court, the Boomers pushed themselves out to a 36-point lead heading into the final term.

Chelsea D’Angelo made her 2017/18 WNBL debut in the final term, taking to the court alongside young stars Ash Grant, Bec Ott, Monique Conti and Kasey Burton. Working together as a unit, the Boomers continued to steamroll the Spirit to take the win, 86-42, and restrict the Spirit to one of their lowest scores in the club’s history.

With little time to rest, the Boomers will hit the road on Friday and fly to Adelaide ahead of their clash on Saturday against the Lightning. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports, with tip-off set for 2:30pm local time (3pm AEDST).

Next home game for the Boomers is on Sunday December 17 (2:30pm) against Perth with the club’s popular Bertocchi Christmas Day set to attract another big crowd.