Sport

Gallery | ‘Atmosphere was electric’: Breakers dazzle in return to home court

By Aydin Payne

Jan 10, 2023

Handles: Benalla’s Sam Cox. Photo by Brenden Paddock

After months of waiting, Benalla made its triumphant return to its home stadium on Saturday night with a sizzling 100-68 win over Wangaratta Warriors.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

The Breakers roared out of the blocks with a sizzling 27-7 opening term in the first game of the Country Basketball League since the mid-season break.

Led by a dominant Tom Downie, who posted 27 points, the Breakers were far too strong over the floor for the Warriors as they raced away to chalk up their eighth win of the campaign.

The round 13 contest at the Benalla Indoor Centre was a memorable night for everyone in the sports stadium as the home side stepped out onto the floor for the first time since last year’s devastating floods impacted the region.

“It was so good to be back in our home stadium and playing in front of our home fans,” Breakers’ head coach Wally Armstrong said.

“We had a really good crowd in to watch the boys and they were right into and getting vocal right from tip-off which was great.

“The atmosphere was electric.”

The home crowd was raucous from the very start of the match.

Benalla got the early jump on their opponents and registered a sizzling 16-0 opening run — one of their best starts to a match this season.

The Breakers were boosted by the return of talented tall Lachie Kego, who has been sidelined through an ankle injury, and looked to have not missed a beat with his 14-point game.

Downie was the beneficiary of Kego’s inclusion in the line-up, with the centre able to share the load of attacking the board with his fellow big.

Talented guard Eric Miraflores was outstanding again with 20 points, while Sam Beks (11) and Jordan Birch (10) both provided plenty of support.

Armstrong praised his side’s “all-round” performance in the win.

“We started the game with a 16-0 run which is one of our best opening runs this season,” Armstrong said.

“With Lachie back in the side it takes that extra bit of pressure off Tom. The two of them work well together and Tommy has just been getting better and better each game.

“He works hard to the ring and now he’s starting to finish off his drives which is exciting to see.

“Eric led well on the floor and played his role well while Jordy hit a couple of nice threes and young Sam Cox was great again. It was a pretty good all-round performance from the boys.”