Division One Men (3^rd 3-1): vs. Whittlesea (2^nd 3-1) @ The Arena Annexe, Saturday 8.00pm

 

Saturday night’s clash at The Arena Annexe with Whittlesea is an important one for Geelong, not only to improve its record to 4-1 heading into the Easter break, but to get some revenge for the 88-67 loss to the Pacers a fortnight ago. That night reigning league MVP Jason Reardon didn’t play. However, he will be right for Saturday night. Last week his value to the Cats was underlined with 26 points and 10 rebounds in a 78-65 win at Chelsea. Reardon made the most of the distribution of veteran guard Paul Hutchison, who dished seven assists. Steve Wiasak was also impressive with 18 points, nine rebounds (six offensive) and five steals. When they last met on April 2, Jason Dirkx did most of the damage for the Pacers, scoring 25 points. He and brother Matthew in combination can be hard to stop, and will be the focus of much of Cats’ coach Shayne Bow’s scouting.

 

State Youth Championship One Men (5^th 2-2): vs. Sherbrooke (9^th 1-3) @ The Arena Annexe, Saturday 6.00pm

 

Acting coach Glenn Dyett will have an undermanned line-up at his disposal for Saturday night’s clash with the struggling Suns. Both Lachie Headlam and Michael Rebula will be on Supercats’ duty, while Nathan Freind is unavailable. Last week the Cats fell to Waverley 88-79, with a 62-29 rebound count proving to be the biggest contributing factor to the result. “When you play against a team with four guys taller than 200 cm and your tallest is 180 cm they will kill you on the boards and that's what happened. “We needed more from our talls and they just didn't deliver.” Dyett said. Freind produced his best performance of the season with 26 points, while Marcus Larcombe had 15. With Freind absent the likes of the Varley brothers, Emerson and Lewie, and Larcombe will have to share the scoring load. Sherbrooke is coming off a 19 point loss to Diamond Valley. Jonathan Ball was their best with 18 points, while Andrew Kelly finished with 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. 

 

State Youth Championship Women (4^th 2-2): vs. Bulleen (3^rd 2-2) @ The Arena Annexe, Sunday 12.00pm

 

With Lady Supercats’ duo Jess Watson and Ellie Stevens both expected to be available for Sunday’s clash, coach Kat Clancy knows how important it is to get the ‘W’ when the star pair are in the squad. Clancy was left frustrated after last week’s loss 49-44 loss to Hawthorn. The Cats again shot poorly from the floor, coming in at 29.4%, while from beyond the arc it was an abysmal 14.3%. The rebound count also didn’t help, smashed on the boards 55-31. “The difference in the end was the one percenters,” Clancy said. “Our boxing out was woeful at times, allowing them too many second chance shots. Allowing 27 offensive rebounds to the opposition will not win you many games and we didn't jump on loose balls.” One positive is the form of Sophie Templeton. The 18 year-old, who was part of Geelong’s Big V State Championship success in 2010, is starting to find her feet in a new squad. “She’s settling in with her new team mates and executing our offence like clockwork,” Clancy said.