PORTLAND’S men’s basketballers have had a picture-perfect start to their 2023-24 Country Basketball League campaign with two dominant victories in their back-to-back clashes over Saturday and Sunday.

The Coasters started things off with a defensive masterclass against Ararat at Portland Basketball Stadium on Saturday evening, running out 95-50 victors.

Portland was dominant from the outset, racing to a 29-10 lead in the first quarter, before the Redbacks hit back to marginally close the gap in the second term.

However, the Coasters’ dominance on the defensive end once again came to the fore in the third term, as they held Ararat to just five points in the third term to regain total control of the game.

Their first away fixture against Hamilton played out in somewhat similar fashion, with the Coasters building up a slim 40-33 advantage in the first half before a 28-15 third term saw them run away with the victory, 94-69.

Nathan Hardingham was the key in both fixtures, putting up 66 points combined across the two clashes, including 35 against the Hurricanes.

But Portland also found some other contributors on the scoreboard, with Toby Jennings, Sam Peters, Tom Burns, Logan Edwards and Brad Clark scoring in double figures in one or both of the weekend’s games.

Coasters coach Hayden Annett said he was impressed with the way his group started out against Ararat, and how they responded after a down second quarter.

“We came out of the blocks really well against Ararat, we had a pretty rough second term, but we got the game back on our terms in the third… holding them to just five points was a great outcome for us,” Annett said.

“The Hamilton game was a similar story, road games in this competition are always tough, they had a really loud stadium and lots of energy… it was about sticking to what we do and in the second half that paid off.”

Annett said that while Hardingham was the key to their victories in both clashes, in his performance against the Hurricanes he was nothing short of “unstoppable.”

“He played as well as I have ever seen him play… even though he’s one of our bigger guys he’s actually undersized a lot of the time, but he just as the smarts and the IQ to make the right play,” Annett said.

“And for a guy who scores a lot of points he’s really unselfish which is great for the team.

“We also got a couple of really good performances out of Toby Jennings, and off the bench Tom Burns and Logan Edwards were really solid for us as well.

“Brad Clark is really key for us, he moves his feet well on the perimeter for a big guy, but he also takes the pressure of guarding the biggest guy on the opposition which allows ‘Nath’ to roam a bit more freely and do what he does best.”

Annett said that defence was at the absolute core of the team’s success this season so far, saying that the whole group had bought in to their “identity.”

“The entire group across the different positions has really bought into the system we’re creating here; it certainly feels like we’re on the right track.”

• In other games across round two, Millicent recorded two wins in their back-to-back games. The side had an enthralling match against Mount Gambier on Saturday night where they locked in a one-point win before defeating Ararat on Sunday, 80-46.

Horsham got the better of Colac and Terang across its double header while Millicent responded from a loss to Mount Gambier on Saturday night with a convincing win against Warrnambool on Sunday, 80-66.