Corio Bay Stingrays

Corio Bay Stingrays
Leagues Big V
History Corio Bay-Barwon Bullets
2009–2010
Corio Bay Stingrays
2010–present
Arena Geelong Basketball Netball Centre
Location Geelong, Victoria
Team colors White, Blue & Black
              
President Ann Skorjanec
Head coach Mark Leader
Championships 2 (2013, 2015)
Website CorioBayBasketball.com.au

The Corio Bay Stingrays (formerly known as the Corio Bay-Barwon Bullets) are a men's basketball club from Geelong, Victoria competing in the semi-professional Big V. They previously played in the Country Basketball League before joining the Big V in 2012, going on to win championships in 2013 and 2015.

History

Country Basketball League

The Corio Bay Basketball Association formerly entered men's teams in the Country Basketball League (CBL). The Corio Bay-Barwon Bullets competed in the 2009–10 CBL season, winning both the North East Conference title[1] and the overall CBL championship,[2] going undefeated on the season.[3] The team was renamed the Corio Bay Stingrays for the 2010–11 season and joined the newly formed South West Conference,[4] once again taking out conference[5] and overall championship honours.[2]

Following their CBL success in 2010–11, the Stingrays applied to enter the Big V Division One competition for the 2012 season.[6] Their Big V application was accepted, but after signing a number of big name players, it was determined that the Stingrays would be competitive enough to enter the State Championship division.[7] With their move up to the Big V, a Stingrays side continued to compete in the CBL in 2011–12 and 2012–13.[5]

Big V

In their inaugural Big V season in 2012, the Stingrays finished in fourth place on the ladder with a 12–8 win/loss record. They were led by American import Eric Williams, and Australians Jason Reardon, Stefan Osborne and Paul Hutchison.[8] They faced the number one seeded Ringwood Hawks in the best-of-three semi-final series where they were defeated 2–0.[9]

In 2013, the Stingrays finished in third place on the ladder with a 14–4 win/loss record. They were once again led by import Eric Williams, and Australians Jason Reardon, Stefan Osborne, Ma'Alo Hicks and Liam Norton.[10] After defeating the Waverley Falcons 2–1 in the semi-finals, the Stingrays faced off against the Ringwood Hawks in the best-of-three Grand Final series. The Stingrays revenged their 2012 semi-final defeat at the hands of the Hawks by sweeping the series 2–0 behind a Finals MVP performance by Eric Williams.[11][12]

With the departure of Eric Williams following the 2013 season, the Stingrays recruited two new imports for the 2014 season in guard Scooter Renkin and forward Duane Johnson.[13] The club moved up the ladder once again in 2014, this time finishing in second place with a 22–2 win/loss record. Renkin and Johnson both averaged over 20 points per game in 2014, and they were backed-up by teammates Jason Reardon, Ma'Alo Hicks and Michael Rebula.[14] The Stingrays made it back to their second straight Grand Final series, where they once again faced the Ringwood Hawks. The Stingrays managed to claim a Game 1 victory with a 92–85 win, but were outclassed by the Hawks in Games 2 and 3, losing the series 2–1.[15]

In 2015, the Stingrays opted to go with just one import, signing 6'5" American swingman Casey Walker.[16] Walker was backed-up by teammates Jason Reardon, Ma'Alo Hicks, Michael Rebula and Jordan Latham.[17] The Stingrays finished second in 2015 with a 20–4 win/loss record. They faced their arch rivals the Ringwood Hawks in the quarter-finals where they were smashed 114–66. They recovered in the preliminary final, defeating the Waverley Falcons 72–69 to return to their third straight Grand Final series. There they faced the McKinnon Cougars after the Cougars defeated Ringwood in their preliminary final contest. The Stingrays were able to successfully sweep the Cougars 2–0 in the best-of-three series, winning their second Big V championship in three years.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "North East Title Winners Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "All-Conference Champions Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  3. ↑ Grant, Graeme (22 February 2010). "Supa IGA Blazers go down fighting". MaryboroughAdvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Country Basketball League (CBL) 2010/11". WorldNet.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "South West Title Winners Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Wade, Nick (29 February 2012). "Sting in the tale for Corio Bay". BigV.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Corio Bay Enter Big V". BigV.com.au. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Statistics for Corio Bay playing in 2012 State Championship Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Ward, Roy (16 August 2012). "The Hawks one step closer". BigV.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Statistics for Corio Bay playing in 2013 State Championship Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "CORIO BAY STINGRAYS - 2013 SCM CHAMPIONS" (PDF). BigV.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Ringwood loses to Corio Bay in game two of Big V state championship men's grand final". HeraldSun.com.au. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  13. ↑ Reynolds, Ryan (5 March 2014). "US imports promise to leave Corio Bay fans slam dunked". GeelongAdvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  14. ↑ "Statistics for Corio Bay playing in 2014 State Championship Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  15. ↑ "Ringwood Hawks win two games in Geelong to overcome 1-0 deficit and win best-of-three Big V state championship men’s grand final series against Corio Bay Stingrays". HeraldSun.com.au. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Aprhys, Alison (16 June 2015). "VBL: Casey Walker gives Corio Bay extra sting". GeelongAdvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "Statistics for Corio Bay playing in 2015 State Championship Men". FoxSportsPulse.com. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  18. ↑ Cairns, David (22 August 2015). "Corio Bay Stingrays clinch 2015 Big V championship". GeelongAdvertiser.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2015.

External links

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