SCORING potency off the bench has propelled Warrnambool Seahawks back onto the Big V winners’ list.
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Jay Rantall, Brock Carter, Dion Smith and Ollie Bidmade each drained 12 points in the Seahawks’ thumping 96-58 victory over Western Port Steelers at the Arc on Saturday night.
Returning captain Alex Gynes also scored 12 points and import Xavier Johnson-Blount sunk a game-high 24 despite spending a chunk of the second half on the sidelines nursing a foot injury.
Warrnambool coach Matt Alexander said the even spread was the most pleasing aspect of the Seahawks’ win – just their third from their past nine matches.
“It was the biggest spread of contributors we have had the last couple of years,” he said.
“We have people in form at the minute.
“I had 12 players you can trust on the court. The period of time where we did not have all our players could be beneficial in the long run.”
Alexander is hopeful Johnson-Blount will be fit to play against Geelong Supercats on the road on Sunday.
The American was hurt in the opening half against Western Port and used sporadically thereafter.
“We only played him a bit in the third and rested him in the fourth,” Alexander said.
“Tim (Gainey) was rested a bit too. He’s carrying a niggling hip and did not play big minutes.”
The Seahawks’ healthy buffer allowed them to give teenagers Dom Occhipinti and Hayden Rhook valuable court time.
“We were only up 28 points when Dom and Hayden went on and we went up another 10 points in the last five minutes,” Alexander said.
Warrnambool Mermaids’ Amy Wormald believes the undefeated roster will have to work hard at training approaching a second bye in two weeks.
The Mermaids defeated Craigieburn Eagles 52-34 on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to 14.
But Wormald said it wasn’t without its difficulties.
“We had a week and a half off training and no game last weekend,” she said.
“You could definitely tell. It was really scrappy but we came away with the win.”
Wormald, who top-scored with 13 points, said Abbey Sutherland, Molly McKinnon, Carly Pulling and Renee Tuck were their best.