Posted on 10 April, 2011
With a large crowd in attendance for the first SEABL home game on the revamped Hugh McMenamin court the afternoon was set for a great game. The Swinburne Lady Cobras revelled in the atmosphere and started the game strong outscoring the Supercats 25 to 13.
Kilsyth kept the pressure on Geelong in the second quarter managing to diminish the impact of ex-Cobra now Supercat Deanna Smith (20pts), outscoring them by nine points and extending their lead to 21 points at half time. After a tough game against Knox last weekend the Swinburne Lady Cobras were able to stamp their authority on the match and show the style of basketball that they are going to play in Season 2011.
The second half was a much tighter affair with Geelong matching it with Kilsyth in the third outscoring them by one point. The last quarter saw Head Coach Cheryl Chambers blood some fresh young talent, with Sam Drescher and Brittany Renton seeing their first SEABL action. The last quarter wasn’t pretty on the scoreboard for the Swinburne Lady Cobras but they had a big enough buffer to ensure that they were not going to be troubled. In the end Kilsyth ran out 15 point winners.
Playing on Hugh McMenamin court for the first time Opal Abby Bishop had a double double with 20 points and 16 rebounds and was awarded the Club Kilsyth MVP award, Chantella Perera (13pts, 5rbds) was the only other Swinburne Lady Cobra to reach double figures after going on a scoring blitz in the third quarter.
Coach Chambers felt that the match was a really good indication of what the Swinburne Lady Cobras are going to be capable of for Season 2011, “We have had a real up and down start with Abby, Eva and Chantella joining us late but I think that we are doing a really good job of learning how to play together”.
“We are seeing a lot of fresh new faces in the squad and in conjunction with our senior players, today was a great snapshot of the style of basketball that our fans can look forward to seeing this Season”, Chambers concluded.
The Swinburne Kilsyth Lady Cobras are now on the board and look forward to next Friday night and their game against Albury Wodonga at home.
The Swinburne Kilsyth Lady Cobras take on the Albury Wodonga next Friday April 15 for Erica McMenamin’s 250th SEABL game and Gemma Kerr’s 200th SEABL game – Tip Off is 6:15pm.
