WINS at home over Casey on Saturday night followed by defeats on the road to Dandenong on Sunday - the weekend's NBL1 double header played out the same way for both the Bendigo Braves men and women's teams.
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BRAVES WOMEN:
The Braves women recovered from a sluggish start on Saturday night to begin their weekend double-header with a 12-point win over Casey.
Their first meeting earlier in the season on April 14 was a 30-point blowout victory for Bendigo, but in the return bout at Red Energy Arena the Cavaliers came out firing.
Casey bolted to a 30-11 lead at quarter-time as the Braves were jumped in the opening term for the second game in a row after Frankston (23-8) did the same six days earlier.
Casey's lead got out to as many as 24 points during the second quarter (35-11) before Bendigo began to make inroads into the deficit after the game had threatened to get out of hand.
By half-time the Braves had stemmed the bleeding and trimmed the Casey lead back to 15 points (52-37) before continuing to surge during the third quarter.
Inside seven minutes of the third quarter the Braves went from 15 points down at half-time to three points in front after unleashing a brilliant 20-2 run as they showed their championship pedigree.
The 20-2 run that put the Braves up 57-54 featured five points from Amy Atwell, four each to Kasey Burton and Kelly Wilson, three from Caitlin Richardson and two each to Ally Wilson and Cassidy McLean.
By three quarter-time the dynamic of the game had totally shifted from half-time as the Braves led by six points following their brilliant third term onslaught.
In what was a smothering defensive performance the Braves only conceded four points in the third quarter having given up 52 in the first half.
Scores were level 65 apiece with 7:31 left in the final quarter before the Braves put their foot down, pouring in 11 unanswered points to break it open on the way to a 90-78 victory.
From the moment the Braves trailed by their game-high deficit of 24 points with 8:12 left in the second quarter they outscored the Cavaliers 79-43 for the remainder of the game.
Star Braves veteran Kelly Wilson continues to defy her age, playing all 40 minutes and logging 19 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, as well as five steals.
In her first game back with the Braves after trialling with WNBA team Phoenix, Atwell had 13 points and six rebounds, while the duo of Ally Wilson (18 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) and McLean (17 points, nine rebounds, six assists) had solid all-round performances.
After their gritty come-from-behind win on Saturday night the Braves were unable to back it up on Sunday against one of their fellow championship rivals Dandenong.
Playing shorthanded with the absence of both Ally Wilson and Megan McKay, the Braves lost to the Rangers for the first time since 2016 when beaten 90-78 at Dandenong.
With three minutes left in the game the Braves trailed by five, 81-76, and were still right in the hunt before the Rangers closed it out with a 9-2 run to secure the victory.
McLean (17 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Atwell (16 points, seven rebounds, three assists) played all 40 minutes, while Kelly Wilson fell just short of a second double-double for the weekend with a team-high 21 points and nine assists.
The weekend's 1-1 split leaves the defending champion Braves women now with a 8-4 record.
BRAVES MEN
A dominant last quarter led the Braves men to a 17-point win over Casey on Saturday night.
The game was up for grabs at three quarter-time with Bendigo leading by four, 59-55, before the Braves closed the match out with a 22-9 final quarter to run away with an 81-64 victory.
Recruit Rowan Mackenzie made a welcome return to the Braves side after being sidelined for the previous five games with a back complaint and was solid first-up with 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals in just under 30 minutes of court time.
Mitch Clarke and Andrew Robinson both scored 19 points, while Koch Bar was strong on the boards with nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, just like the Braves women, the men were also beaten by Dandenong in the second leg of their double-header on Sunday.
The Braves fell to the Rangers 79-72 at Dandenong.
It was a match the Braves were always playing catch-up in after the Rangers started the game on a 10-0 run and never squandered the lead.
Clarke led the Braves' scoring with 17 points, while Mackenie contributed 14 points and Billy Smythe was able to impact the game in his 13:50 on court with 10 points and six rebounds.
The Braves men are now 5-7 ahead of another double next Saturday-Sunday against Diamond Valley (home) and Sandringham (away).
