Brilliant Braves dominate Waverley in NBL1 South double-header

The women thumped Waverley Falcons 92-67, while the men were just as impressive in a 90-73 victory over Waverley.

The night started with the Braves women unfurling their 2023 NBL1 South and national championship banners.

Much to the delight of their loyal fans, the women's team then proceeded to put on a performance worthy of a champion team.

Offensively, the Braves efficiently picked apart the Falcons and they had six players score nine points or more for the match.

Amy Atwell and Ally Wilson led the charge for the home side.

Atwell had 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals and Wilson had 19 points, seven rebounds, one assist and three steals. They sank seven three-pointers between them.

In contrast, Waverley made seven three-pointers in total as a team.

Meg McKay (12 points and six boards) and Cassidy McLean (11 points, seven rebounds, three assist and two steals) continued their good start to the season, while Kelly Wilson chipped in with nine points, four rebounds, nine assist and four steals.

Jess Mangan scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds in nine minutes off the bench.

In the absence of star point guard Bec Cole, Waverley struggled against Bendigo's brilliant team defence.

The Braves had 15 steals for the game and restricted the Falcons to a shooting percentage of just 31.6%.

The Braves men also put on a great defensive display.

They held the potent Falcons offence to 12 points in the first quarter and 35 points for the opening half.

At the other end of the court the Braves ball movement was crisp and they had several scoring options.

"All the guys, particularly those off the bench, were able to come in and have a big impact at both ends of the court,'' an elated Braves coach Stephen Black said.

"Defensively, I was really pleased with a lot we did. The first quarter we set the tone defensively.

"Waverley had some fantastic individual perimeter players, so the challenge was there for our guys.

"I thought Liam O'Brien's defence off the bench was fantastic. He ended up with the assignment on DJ (Dejan Vasiljevic), who is an extremely talented NBL scorer and Liam did as well as you could do.

"Offensively, we involved so many people, kept the ball moving and we weren't predictable.

"Billy Smythe finished well around the basket and KB (Koch Bar) did a great job on the boards."

Individual stats were only recorded for the first three quarters of the match.

By that stage Andrew Robinson had 18 points for the Braves, Bar had 14 points and 17 rebounds and Rowan Mackenzie had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Lachlan O'Brien and Billy Smythe had big impacts off the bench, scoring 11 points each. Smythe was a perfect 5-5 from the field.

Both Braves teams have a tough road double next weekend.

On Friday night they play Geelong United and on Sunday afternoon they tackle the Casey Cavaliers.