Posted on 22 May, 2018

A dominant fourth quarter performance has fuelled the Cobra Men to their seventh consecutive win, as they defeated Diamond Valley, 94-74 at home on Saturday night.

Leading, 70-69 entering the final period, the Cobras locked in on the defensive end and rode an offensive explosion from Isaac Turner to turn a close game into a blowout. Turner broke lose for eight straight points early in the fourth quarter, scoring on a variety of drives and tough jumpers, sparking a 12-2 run which put the game out of reach.

And in a defensive job reminiscent of their 55 point win over Melbourne, the Cobras were ferocious on that end of the floor in the fourth period against Diamond Valley, holding the Eagles to just one field goal over the final 10 minutes on 1-19 shooting.

Though they struggled to get stops in the first half, Cobras coach Justin Schueller was pleased with his group’s turnaround on the defensive end late, a performance which led Kilsyth to its sixth double-digit win in 2018.

“It was a game if two halves for us – offensively we were happy all game but our defence wasn’t at the level we expect in the first half,” Schueller said.

“We know if we are going to have any impact in this league, our defence needs to be a key driver and it was great to finish the game how we wanted to.”

Turner led the Cobras with a game-high 21 points; Patton scored seven of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and added seven rebounds and three assists; Felix von Hofe and Sean MacDonald were big off the bench, scoring 15 and 12 points, respectively; and Owen Odigie (nine points, nine rebounds) and Dane Pineau (six points, 10 rebounds) narrowly missed out on double-doubles and were key in the Cobras big second half defensive performance.

“I think Chris had his best game of the year – he was efficient in all areas,” Schueller noted about his bruising center.

“Isaac and Felix continue to have a big impact with their scoring for us and Sean MacDonald was important with his production off the bench. Dane and Owen really did a job at the defensive end for us and continue to be efficient.”

The win moves the Cobras record to 8-1 on the season, keeping them a half game ahead of Nunawading for first place in the SEABL standings. And with a Saturday night blockbuster against the Spectres on the cards this weekend, Schueller and co are focused on a potential playoff preview.

“For us, we are locked in now to the Nunawading game on Saturday,” Schueller said.

“We want to keep building our momentum and believe the with the way we are playing, when we stick to our processes we are tough to beat.”

The Cobras will take on Nunawading in Game 2 of Saturday nights doubleheader at 8pm, with the Lady Cobras opening the evening against the Spectres – a battle of #2 and #3 in the Women’s standings – at 6pm.