Oak Harbor’s Deja Bunch (20) powers between two Australian defenders, en route to two of her six points Tuesday night. (John Fisken photos)
Melbourne’s slick ball-handlers gave the Wildcat defense trouble all game.
AnnaBelle Whitefoot gets ready to break some ankles.
Melbourne and Oak Harbor, making far-flung friends through hoops.
Yes, yes, we don’t normally cover Oak Harbor, or even acknowledge its existence, but we’re bending the rules this time. Hey, it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want…
The Aussies are here and they’re taking no prisoners.
The Melbourne Mystics, a traveling girls’ basketball squad, hit Whidbey Island Tuesday and handily won their fifth straight game on their American tour.
Running host Oak Harbor (and the refs) ragged, the Mystic sailed to an 80-38 victory.
“Our pressure was sensational,” said Melbourne coach Christian Impey. “We were fast up and down the court.
“I even think the refs found it hard to keep up with the game; it was a good work-out for them,” he added with a good-natured laugh.
Melbourne, which carries two seniors and seven juniors on its roster, mainly plays club ball at home, where they capped 2015 off by winning the title in the Vic Championship Reserves.
That’s the highest level for their age group.
When they’re on their home continent, many of the Mystic players also play for a senior program in the state of Victoria. That team is the Keilor Thunder.
Since setting down in the Northwest corner of America in late December, the Aussies have been busy blitzing the locals.
They opened by winning the Crush in the Slush tourney in Port Townsend, knocking off the host RedHawks, one of Coupeville’s arch-rivals in the 1A Olympic League, and Nooksack Valley.
“Our girls were on fire,” Impey said. “They are a great team and play very tough defense and pressure both ends of the floor.”
After that came wins against Everett (where they dropped 27 in the third quarter) and Cascade, before the Mystic showed up in Oak Harbor.
Melbourne will get perhaps its toughest test Wednesday, when it faces off with always-powerful King’s in Seattle.
From all Coupeville fans, one message in regard to the Knights, who were always a thorn in the rear to the Wolves during the Cascade Conference days — hope you lose, and by a lot.
Go, Australia!
“I have been told that the game is going to be a real tough game and a real challenge, which the girls are really looking forward to and so am I as the coach,” Impey said. “Good luck to both teams; I have complete confidence in our ability to play the game hard and fast.”
Oak Harbor managed to hang with Melbourne for one quarter, but couldn’t match the pace.
Down just 16-9 after the first eight minutes, they were drilled 23-13, 22-10 and 19-6 over the final three quarters of play.
Eight of Melbourne’s nine players scored, with five in double figures.
Stella McRobbie paced the Mystics with 15, while Zoe Kelty knocked down 14, Cassie Favero hit for 13, Alyssa O’Shea popped for 11 and Amy Smith dropped in 10.
Brittany Seit (8), Alex McKellar (5) and Meg McGrath (4) rounded out the Aussie scorers, while Courtney McCormack also saw floor time.
Oak Harbor got scoring from seven players, but failed to get anyone out of single digits.
Janae Payne and Julie Jansen paced the Wildcats with eight apiece, while Deja Bunch (6), Bryn Langrock (5), Hannah Taylor (4), Lexi Jones (4) and AnnaBelle Whitefoot (3) all scored.
While he’s pleased with the winning streak, Impey is also thrilled to get a chance to help his players experience a different world.
“The girls are a great bunch of kids that really train hard, play hard and enjoy their basketball,” he said. “The teams that we have played can vouch for that about them.
“We would like to thank all the teams for their support and taking our girls in and showing them the American life style.”
To see more photos from the Oak Harbor game, pop over to:
Coupeville Sports 