Posted on 12 April, 2018
SEABL basketball is finally back at Kilsyth, with the Cobras and Lady Cobras set to host the Frankston Blues in their Home Opener on Saturday night.
The Lady Cobras enter with a 2-0 record, following a pair of emphatic road victories over Hobart and Launceston to start the 2018 season. With Sarah Parsons and Chelsea D’Angelo both averaging over 20 points per contest – and combining with Rosie Moult to shoot a blistering 18-28 from deep – and Angela Beadle and Hope Terdich proving to be a handful inside – the pair combined for 22 rebounds per game – the Lady Cobras have shown that despite being severely undermanned, they are a force to be reckoned with in 2018.
Sam Woosnam’s team will face a young Frankston group which dropped its season opener on the road to Albury-Wodonga last weekend. With just seven players available, the Blues ran out of gas late against the Bandits, but showed signs of promise with Lana Hollingsworth, Milica Ivanov and Emma Nankervis each scoring in double-figures.
Traditionally a team known for its grit, Frankston should challenge the Lady Cobras at home, but as evident by their 97 point per game scoring explosion in Round 1, expect Kilsyth’s offensive weaponry to be too much for the Blues to handle.
The Cobra Men fell just short of sweeping their opening weekend road doubleheader, cruising to an impressive opening night victory over Hobart on Friday before falling short in a last second thriller to NW Tasmania on Saturday night.
With Manager of Basketball Operations, Mark Watkins, leading the team in Round 1 – head coach Justin Schueller was busy leading the Australian U16 Men to Gold at the FIBA Asia Qualifiers – the Cobras depth was on full display, with import Isaac Turner, Owen Odigie, Chris Patton, Dane Pineau and Felix von Hofe each recording double-digit scoring performances, while Ben Ursich, Desmond Owili and Tariq Naqqash each had strong weekends with the Cobras second unit. The Cobras had a pair of potential game-winning field goal attempts fall just short in Saturday’s game, and enter Round 2 focused to get back on track with a win and put on a show in front of the home fans.
They’ll take on a Frankston team that enters the weekend 0-1, following an opening night loss on the road to Albury-Wodonga. Despite the loss, veteran swingman Bennie Lewis and import forward Aaron Ross were a handful in their season opener, combining for 50 points and 18 rebounds against the Bandits. The Blues will face the Cobras on the backend of a Round 2 doubleheader, as they take on Sandringham on the road on Friday night.
With fresh legs on their side, the Cobras should have the advantage at home, and if their second unit continues to produce in a big way, they are a strong chance to move to 2-1 on the season.
Saturday’s SEABL openers will cap a triple header evening, with the WNWBL Cobra Women hosting Queensland in wheelchair basketball action at 3.30pm. Saturday’s game is the second of three round two games for our wheelchair Women, who will make their home debut on Friday night at 6pm, and cap-off their weekend with their final game of the round at 10am.
