Keilor Thunder is not getting too carried away with its first-up win in the Big V Basketball men’s state championship.
The newly promoted Thunder had a resounding 79-62 victory over Corio Bay Stingrays at the Keilor Basketball Stadium on Sunday to make a perfect start to life in the top flight.
But Thunder coach Liam Glascott is keeping his team’s feet firmly on the ground.
“It was good and obviously the boys are happy,” he said. “We drew, I guess, one of the weaker teams though, because they were without their import.
“Their import has had some paperwork issues, so they were one of their main players down.”
Keilor was certainly not short on star power.
The Thunder welcomed exciting new import Hanner Mosquera-Perea for his debut and last year’s import Jordan Coleman returned.
Coleman was the standout in the runaway win, accumulating 21 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
He was a spot-on eight-from-eight from the free throw line and drained three three-pointers in a well rounded game.
It was his ability to play through physicality that impressed his coach.
“He’s starting to understand what Australian basketball is like,” Glascott said. “Last year he’d go away from the contact, whereas now he’s going through with it and finishing the basket and getting the foul in the end.”
All eyes were on Mosquera-Perea, who was solid in the paint with 16 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.
The Columbian national team player and former Westchester Knicks G League player arrives with huge expectations.
You only have to watch his YouTube highlights to see that he will become a Thunder fan favourite before too long.
Like Coleman, it will take some time for Mosquera-Perea to adapt to the style of play in this league.
“I was fortunate enough to get him out to Australia and he still has prospects to play professionally somewhere around the world,” Glascott said.
“He will be a talent and he’s getting better and better every week, so I believe by round four or five, we’ll see the beast that people see in the YouTube video of him from college.”
Matt Spencer was a spark plug off the bench for Keilor. The sixth man had 11 points and two steals in just 24 minutes.
It was not a polished performance from Keilor. Offensively, the Thunder was solid, shooting 42 per cent from the field and 86 per cent from the charity stripe, but they had their issues on the defensive end.
“We gave up a few too many easy baskets, especially going under screens,” Glascott said.
“Our turnovers cost us and allowed them to leak out a few easy baskets as well.”
Keilor will face a tougher test against the Eltham Wildcats at Eltham High School on Saturday night.
In the women’s state championship opener, Keilor Thunder had a tougher time of it, going down to the Ringwood Hawks 84-73 at The Rings on Sunday.
Erin Bollman had a super start to the season for the Thunder with 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.
The Thunder will play their home opener against McKinnon Cougars at the Keilor Basketball Stadium on Sunday.
