Olympians and Stateside both post big wins to open up a gap at the top of the table

Olympians demolished Trades on Monday night as they continued to be the benchmark of Geraldton women’s basketball.

Trades came off a win against the Pumas led by Kayley King’s 22 points, but the Olympians presented a tougher challenge sitting on a perfect 3-0 record.

They extended it to 4-0 after dominating the match 69-32.

The game started with high intensity as the Trades were at least able to hang with the Olympians in the early stages with both sides working overtime in defence.

Both teams set up their zones well but Olympians had the superior passing skills to pick their way through, and Trades relied more on field shooting.

King was once again the focal point leading their scoring with seven in the first half, but the Olympians had more options. Sophie Maines had eight with Sharnee Williamson and Gemma Dix had seven apiece as they took a 29-17 lead into half-time.

It was already a tall order for the Trades to try to work their way back into the contest, but the Olympians shut them out in a dominant 10-minute period to start the second half.

The Olympians continued to be outstanding in defence but they took their offensive game up another level, as they started to find space out wide to start hitting three-pointers.

Dix had four and Claire Symons had three as they added 25 points and kept Trades to only five points across 10 minutes of basketball.

With the game well and truly over the Olympians backed off a bit allowing the Trades to put up points on the back of King’s 18 points, more than half of all the points they scored. King was the only player to get into double-digit points in the 37-point loss.

For the Olympians, Dix top-scored once again with 22 points followed by Prudence Harrison (13), Sharnee Williamson (12) and Claire Symons (11).

The win put Olympians at the top of the ladder with six points, the same as Stateside but with a game in hand and far superior percentage.

In the later match, Stateside were too strong for Chapman Valley as they won 70-40.

The Scorpions were looking to bounce back after going down to the Olympians, and Chapman Valley was hoping to cause an upset to grab their first win of the season.

Stateside was ahead early as they outmuscled their Warrior opponents to jump to an early lead.

Charlotte Kennedy and Abbie McDonald led the way while at the other end Natalie Caruana kept the Warriors in touch.

But it was looking as if it was going to be one of those nights for the Warriors, as while they often worked themselves to good positions the shots were not dropping for them and they trailed 20-33 at the half.

It didn’t help that the Warriors did not shoot well from the free-throw line, not being able to capitalise on the fouls given away.

It was a theme that continued in the second half as Chapman Valley struggled and the Scorpions pulled further away.

McDonald ended on 22 points and Kennedy had 17. For the Warriors, Caruana and Lilli Worth finished with nine apiece to be the top scorers.

They ended on just five made free throws to the Scorpions’ 14 as the search for their first win continues.