Posted on 7 July, 2017
The Cobras and Lady Cobras are set to take on the NW Tasmania Thunder and Launceston Tornadoes, respectively, on Saturday night at home, and we’re letting all Kids 12 and under enter FREE!
Saturday’s doubleheader is the first of two Round 14 games for our Cobras, with the Men and Women heading to Geelong on Sunday to take on the Supercats. We preview Saturday night’s games below:
Kilsyth Cobras vs NW Tasmania Thunder
Saturday 8th July 8:00pm | Kilsyth Sports Centre
The Cobra Men won their third straight game on Sunday, coming back from 19 points down to defeat Albury-Wodonga, pulling to within one game of playoff position in the East Conference in the process. The Cobras offence has been on fire since the addition of point guard Daniel Dillon (24.3ppg/6.7rpg/6.7apg), averaging 94.3ppg as a team in their three games with Dillon on board. Justin Schueller’s team has also received a big boost by the addition of Ben Ursich (10.0ppg), who has come up huge in the fourth quarter of each of the Cobras past two home games on both ends of the floor.
NW Tasmiana enters with an 8-9 record, 0.5 games out of fourth place in the South Conference standings. Following a slow start to the season, the Thunder have been on a tear of late, winning four of their past five games behind the play of imports Ahmad Starks (19.8ppg/2.9 3PM) and Jeremiah Ingram (19.1ppg/7.5rpg). Daniel Sepokas (13.9ppg/5.2rpg/3.9apg) and Chudier Pal (8.4ppg/7.9rpg) have also come up big during the Thunder’s resurgance, which has seen Coach Sam Armstrong’s team average 85.5ppg since Round 10.
With both teams on the brink of breaking into the top four of their respective conferences, expect Saturday’s game to be a physical, intense encounter between two desperate teams. The battle down low between Ingram and Pal and the Cobras Chris Patton (18.3ppg/7.6rpg) and Auryn Macmillan (10.0ppg/7.1rpg) will be key, and if the Cobras duo can win the paint matchup and Dillon and Owen Odigie (10.3ppg/4.9rpg) can contain Starks and Sepokas on the perimeter, Kilsyth has a chance to win their ninth game of the season.
The Women’s matchup has been named the SEABL Game of the Week; check out the league’s preview below:
Game of The Week – Kilsyth v Launceston (from SEABL.com.au)
Saturday 8th July 6:00pm | Kilsyth Sports Centre
Struggling slightly for consistency in the past few weeks, Launceston should welcome back point guard Lauren Mansfield from Opals camp just in time to take on the Kilsyth Cobras who have won ten consecutive games and lead the East Conference.
In Round 12, the Tornadoes just got past Albury/Wodonga but had no such luck against Geelong last weekend, giving up a nine-point lead in a 20-48 second half to fall by 19.
Tayla Roberts was huge with 23 points and 20 rebounds while Lauren Nicholson shone in Mansfield’s absence with 19 points but turnovers were a major concern for the team, giving up 22 points on 27 errors to the Supercats.
Kilsyth did what they needed to against the Bandits last weekend but they have shored up their roster with the return of Rosie Moult who had 13 points in her comeback.
With her coming off the bench alongside Sarah Parsons (six points, six rebounds, 15 assists), their depth will be a concern for Launceston while the experienced Jordyn O’Shea will be tasked with containing Mansfield at the point guard position.
There will be another intriguing battle in the front court with Roberts (second in the league for points and sixth for rebounds per game) taking on Angela Beadle (third and tenth respectively) in what should be a physical and enthralling contest.
The home side will be getting Maddie Garrick back too from the Opals though and her offensive production could prove the difference as Kilsyth aim to maintain their dominant winning streak.
Prediction: Kilsyth by 8.
