Basketball
7 October, 2025
Hornets come up short in opening round action
The Horsham Hornets Country Basketball League teams suffered defeats in the opening round of the 2025 season over the weekend.
In the first round road trip, the men’s side suffered an 87-75 defeat to Terang in their Saturday night match, followed by a 106-95 loss to Warrnambool on Sunday, while a depleted women’s side was defeated by Warrnambool 96-49.
In the men’s Saturday night game against Terang, the Hornets got the better start, up 19-13 early, but the Tornadoes came back to lead 38-34 at halftime.
Terang continued their momentum well into the fourth quarter to lead by 24 early in the fourth, before the Hornets rallied to reduce the final deficit to 12.
Levi Munyard led the way with 23 points, including five three-pointers, while Mitch Martin, Cody Bryan and Judd Wright also finished with double figures.
Men’s coach Scott Benbow says he expected growing pains with the new-look squad, admitting Terang outplayed the side in crucial moments.
“I thought we'd have some teething problems with this new-look side,” Benbow said.
“Saturday night, our first half was pretty handy, and we were solid to the last quarter.
“Terang came out (in the fourth) and just made every shot, and we missed some gettable shots.
“We also missed a lot of free throws, which was reflected in the final score, but Terang deserved it; they played us better.”
Having missed Saturday night’s game, young big man Micah Livingstone was a welcome inclusion for Sunday’s clash against Warrnambool, and made his presence known with 14 first-quarter points.
But Warrnambool, led by 20 first-half points from Riley Nicolson, managed to get ahead 49-40 at halftime.
A tight third quarter saw the Hornets down 80-69 at the last break, before some impressive shotmaking gave the Seahawks a 20-point lead midway through the final quarter.
A spirited response from the Hornets, including a couple of three-pointers from Tarkyn Benbow, reduced the deficit to seven before Warrnambool held on to win by 11.
Livingstone led the Hornets with 27 points, while Munyard and Bryan each added 19 and 16 points, respectively. Nicolson led all scorers with 39 points for the Seahawks.
Coach Benbow says his side struggled to adapt when the Seahawks started to double Livingstone, also acknowledging that lapses hurt the side in crucial moments each quarter.
“Micah dominated the first five-six minutes of the game; he was just unbelievable, and then Warrnambool would swarm and double him every time, and we weren’t smart enough to move that ball around and look for an opening,” Benbow said.
“We talked about it quickly after the game that we played seven minutes of pretty solid basketball each quarter, but the three minutes we lapsed are when they really got on top.
“So we’ve just got to be a little bit smarter about just how we go about that.
Despite the losses, Benbow identified plenty of positives as his side has two weeks to prepare for their round three clash against Hamilton.
“I was really encouraged by what I saw,” Benbow said.
“Judd Wright, for his first weekend playing at CBL level, was really good.
“Jeremy Williamson played a lot on Saturday night in Micah’s absence and was really solid for a 16-year-old.
“Levi was fantastic on Saturday and solid again on Sunday, and Cody Bryan was unreal the whole weekend with his rebounding and defence.
“We get four trainings in before the Hamilton game to help figure out our rotations and work on things, but there’s a lot to like.
“We still have a heap of belief.”
The Lady Hornets were always going to face a challenge ahead of them, with experienced players Georgia Hiscock, Jessica Cannane, and Jemma Thomas unavailable.
That was made even tougher with late injuries to Georgie Carberry and Jedda Heard, meaning the Horsham side was down five main squad players, and travelled with just seven for Sunday’s game.
Warrnambool got off to a flying start in the opening quarter, establishing a 32-9 lead by the first break.
But the young Hornets side rallied to win the second quarter, making it a 49-29 game at halftime.
Horsham’s defence continued to stem the Seahawks’ flow in the third quarter before the Warrnambool side finished strongly to finish 47-point winners.
Jorja Clode starred for the Hornets with 24 points, while Hannah Plazzer contributed 10.
Jordyn Burke, coach of the women’s side, was pleased with how the team responded after Warrnambool’s first quarter.
“They got the jump on us with some high-pressure, high-intensity basketball,” Burke said.
“But we were able to win the second quarter, which was a nice way to bounce back from a bit of a shaky start.
“We were able to play some pretty good basketball there in the middle quarters, and then probably just ran out of steam with just the seven players towards the end.
“To Warrnambool’s credit, they also had a young side and played really well.”
Despite the result, Burke was proud of the team’s effort amidst the unavailability of key players.
“It changed the dynamic for us, only having seven, with a fair chunk of our experience away,” Burke said.
“The team did a fantastic job under the circumstances, particularly with only one player being over 18, and six out of the seven had never played a CBL game.
“For them to get a lot of game time and experience is going to be fantastic moving forward.”
Both sides have a round two bye before returning to action in round three.