Geraldton women’s basketball round 11: Trades upset top side Pumas while Olympians hold on against Valley

In a stunning upset, Trades handed Pumas their third loss of the season, beating them 54-29 in women’s division one of the Geraldton Amateur Basketball Association. Pumas had looked like the No. 1 side all year and sat on top the ladder, while Trades were firmly in fourth before Monday’s face-off. The game started slowly for both sides but Caitlin Wilson went up and under for consecutive Pumas scores before Jessica Giudice-Nairn responded for Trades. Pumas had the early lead, but the Trades enjoyed a scoring run from Kayley King, who took a rebound and went coast to coast for a quick score, followed by a corner three to put her side ahead. Lucy Yowke was able to get the Pumas’ lead back but they couldn’t hold it for long as a Daisy Whitehurst three gave Trades the edge at the quarter break. Trades tightened up their defence and Pumas put up just six points in the second quarter. Offensive struggles continued for the Pumas in the second half, and they managed to put up just five points in both the third and fourth quarters. Trades continued their steady scoring to walk away with a 54-29 win against the top side Pumas. King led the way for Trades with 20 points, including five three-pointers, while Millie Gerreyn and Wilson had 12 and 10 points respectively for the Pumas. In the other game, Olympians picked up a win against a competitive Chapman Valley side. The Olympians came out firing in the match up, quickly going up 18-9 in the first quarter. Their momentum carried over in the second as Zoe Allnutt and Sharnee Williamson hit dagger threes to increase their lead. Chapman Valley went on a scoring run with points from Lillie Worth and Grace Bowley cutting it to a 10-point game, before Olympians put up eight unanswered points to end the half. The game looked out of hand to start the second half, as Olympians built a 22-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Valley side stayed competitive, as they began to play tight defence and force turnovers, while holding Olympians to zero points in the final five minutes of the game. A scoring run chipped away at the lead, but it came too late as Olympians manage to kill the clock and end the game, winning 64-58. Gemma Dix scored 23 points in the win while Kylie MacDonald followed with 14 points of her own, while Worth had 21 points in the loss. In division two, Pumas beat Trades 36-29, Stateside got up over Hawks 51-35 and Chapman Valley pulled out a close one over Olympians, winning 32-30.