Geraldton women’s basketball round 13: Stateside win defensive battle against Valley while Olympians get up

Stateside won a low-scoring defensive battle against Chapman Valley on Monday while Olympians took care of business against a competitive Trades side in Geraldton basketball league division one women’s.

In a clash between the top and bottom teams, Chapman Valley put up a competitive fight against league leaders Stateside.

Both teams took plenty of shots early in the game but neither side could buy a basket, as Stateside took a timeout halfway through the first with both teams still scoreless.

It wasn’t until just over six minutes into the game when Natalie Caruana hit a floater for Chapman Valley to get the first score of the game.

Not long after, Kealee Poland got a basket for Stateside, but then no one could score again with the first quarter ending tied 2-2.

The pace of play picked up for the Scorpions in the second quarter, as Shanelle Jetta hit a three out of the break and Abbie McDonald grabbed back-to-back baskets.

However, Chapman Valley struggled to get in a rhythm as they managed just four points in the second quarter while Stateside shot 13.

The second half saw Valley get in a groove, as Libby Shuttlewood and Ashton Ducas scored early in the third, but Stateside continued their steady scoring to keep Chapman Valley at arm’s length.

The Valley had the higher scoring fourth quarter, as they tried to score their way back into the game, but the slow start caught up to them as Stateside got the 40-31 win.

In the win, McDonald extended her lead as the league’s top scorer with 12 points in the win with Amy Williamson (10) contributing.

Ducas (seven) and Michelle Taylor (seven) led the scoring on Chapman Valley’s side.

The other Monday game saw Olympians get off to a flying start against Trades, with Sophie Maines and Sharnee Williamson combining for three consecutive three-pointers to start the game before Trades hit the scoreboard.

Trades managed to get within two points, but the combination of Maines and Gemma Dix went on a scoring run, helping Olympians put up 23 first-quarter points to Trades’ nine.

The second was looking like another quarter of Olympians running away with the game, but Georgia Farley and Jessica Giudice-Nairn helped keep the game at bay with late scoring.

Coming out of the half-time break, Giudice-Nairn hit a jumper for the first score of the third and Trades took long possessions to try and score.

Throughout the second half Trades were able to get stops and block shots, but lost the rebound battle, giving Olympians multiple chances to score.

The rebounds on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball helped Olympians keep their lead, as they came away with the 56-36 win.

Dix (20) and Maines (16) led the game in scoring for the winners while Giudice-Nairn (13) was Trades’ top scorer.

In women’s division two, the battle between first and second ended in a tie with Chapman Valley and Stateside drawing 27-27, Pumas got a big 61-29 win over Hawks and Olympians beat Trades 29-21.