Werribee post Rohanee Cox

The Werribee Devils are on a roll to start the 2017 season!

Fresh off a road victory last weekend in Mildura, the Devils trumped the Camberwell Dragons 86-52 on Saturday night in Werribee’s home opener in front of a jam-packed crowd at Eagle Stadium.

Import guard Sumar Leslie led all scorers with 29 points in the win. Leslie also finished one rebound and one steal shy of a triple double, filling up the stat sheet to help the Devils improve to 2-0 in the young season. The 29 points are a professional career high for Leslie, who is in her third professional season.

Also faring well for Werribee were guard Jessy Price (18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) and forward Rohanee Cox (18 points, 11 rebounds). Kennedy Taylor also added 11 points off the bench.

Leslie led all scorers with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 9 steals

“It was a great night in our gym, and we feel so good about the opportunity to be 2-0 on the season,” Leslie said after the win. “We started a little bit slow, but we found our stride and we played better as the game went on. Now, the focus for us is to just keep getting better. We have a lot of new players here, myself included, so we just want to keep working and we think that if we do, the sky truly is the limit.”

The Dragons came to play on Saturday – at least early on.

Camberwell used a 12-7 run out of the gates to control the action in the early going.

But the sluggish Devils came to life late in the first quarter, closing the period on an 11-6 run to take a 18-16 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Leslie’s attacking presence bothered the Dragons in the first quarter. She scored 9 points in the period, including four at the free-throw line.

It didn’t get much better for Camberwell in the second quarter, either.

Leslie scored six-straight points within a minute of action to open the second quarter for Werribee, allowing the Devils to balloon their lead to 24-16.

From there, the Dragons fought back, cutting the lead to 25-22 midway through the second quarter  with stingy defense.

But Werribee ended the quarter with a flurry, scoring 23 points in the final 5:30 of the half to take a 48-36 lead into the lockers.

Price was huge in the late-half surge, scoring seven points for the Devils in the final 2:20 of the second quarter.

We all know Werribee can score. They’re the highest-scoring team in Big V’s Division 1.

But in the second half, coach Mahaela Jackson got something she’d been wanting to see from her team all season – elite defense.

Werribee absolutely smothered the Dragons in the final 20 minutes of the game, allowing just 16 points in the second half.

With the stops, Werribee continued on the offensive, blowing the game open in the third quarter to take a 70-43 advantage after three quarters.

In the fourth, the Devils stayed on the offensive early, then cleared the benches late to send the game to its final margin.

With the win, the Devils are now 2-0 – one of just three teams (Latrobe City Energy and Hawthorn Magic) in Division I who are still unbeaten in the season.

Werribee will return to the floor next Saturday to host the Western Port Steelers.