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The inclusion of Supercats centre Daniel George has catapulted Pivot City to a winning start for the Basketball Geelong Division One men's championship season.

An excellent pick-up after the losses of Jason Reardon (North Adelaide) and Jamie Medved (injury), George had 16 points as he led Pivot to a 64-54 win over Vytis at The Arena on Tuesday night.

Another off-season recruit, Wes Pickett, added 18 points as Pivot outscored Vytis 25-12 in the third quarter to break open the contest against a team that went to the semi-finals of the summer competition.

Steve Wiasak, a member of the Geelong Cats Big V Youth League team, led Vytis with a game-high 23 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter.

Sharks got away to a winning start, beating Try Boys, 58-40, in a contest that was closer than the scoreboard indicated.

With Dane Bow hitting a game-high 15 points, Sharks used a 16-7 second period to get the crucial edge over Try Boys, who got 10 points apiece from Tom Foot and Jarrod Lee.

Try Boys Bears showed their all-round depth and strength with five players scoring in double-digits in an 80-58 win over Rovers.

Martin De Lange (18 points) and Steve Hyland (16 points) led the way for Try Boys as they swept home on the back of a  32-12 fourth quarter against Rovers, who got 20 points from Lucas Kenny.

Summer champion Christian College Eagles started strongly with a 73-47 win over YMCA Cougars, while YMCA had a big win, 79-32, over Dolphins.

 

 

WOMEN

Just as they left off by winning the Basketball Geelong Division One women's Summer championship, Try Boys have started the winter season with a victory.

In a Summer grand final rematch, Try Boys beat Rovers, 44-41, squeezing home on the back of a 30-26 second half.

Forward Anisa Serjesic (15 points) led the way for Try Boys with nine points in the crucial third period while livewire guard Tash Daffy (12 points) offered a spark.

Tania Du Plesssis (12 points) and Prue Kenny (11 points) paced Rovers as they went close to tipping over the favourites for the Winter championship.

Last season's beaten semi-finalists, YMCA and Pivot City, played a tough game to open the season with Y getting the edge, 55-51.

YMCA bumped a 25-18 halftime lead out to nine points after three periods and withstood Pivot's 18-13 fourth quarter as Olivia Cameron hit 11 of her 15 points.

Geelong Lady Cats forward Charmaine Ferguson (17 points) hit several crucial baskets for YMCA, while Maddison Koehler (11 points) made a good contribution.

The young Rovers Hawks ran over Sharks, 79-17, as Under-18 Geelong rep players Ellie Stevens (25 points) and Jess Watson (23 points) showed their quality.