PORTLAND’S Country Basketball League women’s side returned to the court in emphatic fashion on the weekend, winning two from two.

They kicked off their winning weekend with a victory against Surfcoast on Saturday night in Torquay before backing up their performance with another win over Terang on Sunday at Portland’s home stadium.

Saturday’s 87-63 victory came after three weeks without play, with the Coasters’ youngest line up for the season taking to the court.

Tanielle Knight made her presence known in Saturday’s clash, finishing with 31 points while Millie Jennings was a key scoring and defensive contributor, recording 17 points in both matches on the weekend.

With such a young side, leadership has been lifted on the court by the likes of Lexie Petch, 18, who was one of the oldest in Saturday’s line up in the absence of captain Katie Zeunert and Sarah Tunstall across the weekend.

“The first half was mostly even but we blew it out in the end,” Petch said.

“They came out a lot stronger than last time and we weren’t really ready for it but then in the second half we came out better.

“We wanted to win so our intensity lifted, and we were much better with our defensive rebounds and getting it to our outlet passes.

“Millie Jennings played really well, she got her hands to everything, and Tanielle had some amazing shooting.

“We’re a very young team and we’re just getting our bearings, it’s a bit different to juniors, but we’re definitely getting there.”

Portland managed to edge ahead in the first quarter, leading by eight points and pushing their lead out again in the second quarter to free up their play heading into the later stages of the game.

Another young contributor who has been key in their line-up, Tyleah Barr, 16, echoed Petch’s sentiment that rebounds played a big part in their lift across the court.

“It was good, a very high intensity game, pretty physical,” she said.

“El (Zeunert) spoke to us and then we got back into the game, focused on our rebounding because we were struggling with our rebounds. Our main focus has been working on the boards.”

Too good for Terang

After a slow start on Sunday, Portland managed to adjust their play at half time to record a dominant win against Terang, 75-48.

Portland was able to apply some strong defensive pressure and retain plenty of the ball in the first half but struggled to capitalise offensively.

Terang’s scoring efficiency and rebounding intensity gave them a one-point lead at the first break.

Portland continued to struggle in offence early in the second quarter but with some defensive hustle from Petch and Jennings they managed to string together some quick scoring at the end of the term to hold a 35-26 lead by half time.

“We went into it probably a bit tired from yesterday’s game, but I think we picked up when we realised we really need to win this game,” Petch said.

“El said we need to keep our spot, if we win this game, it benefits us for finals so we knew we had to.”

The third quarter was a lifted performance from the Coasters with their youngest player, Sienna Stone (14-years-old), making her mark in the post and proving to be a key option.

Knight and Jacci Piergrosse were important contributors under the basket, gaining plenty of rebounding opportunities and using the run of Jennings, Petch and Barr to load on the score in the final term.

“Our movement was much better in the second half,” Barr said.

“We ran a lot more and wanted it more in the second half, the momentum of the game swung our way.”

The young side used the weekend to test out some new offensive rotations with the results paying off in the latter part of their second match.

“At half time we went out and learnt a new play and it worked really well,” Petch said.

“We were hesitant about our plays and passing to start with but once we got the flow of it, ran through it at half time and asked questions we ran offence a lot better.”

Jennings top scored in Sunday’s clash with 17 points while Stone was next in line for scoring with 12 points, getting a nod for her performance from teammates.

“Sienna stood out as the youngest on the court, she played amazing, her rebounding was outstanding – everyone stood up really well,” Petch said.

Portland has the weekend off playing and will return to the court on Saturday December 10 in an away game against Warrnambool.