Posted on 18 April, 2011
Friday night saw the Swinburne Lady Cobras take on the Albury Wodonga Lady Bandits, with a large crowd in attendance for Gemma Kerr’s 200th SEABL game and Erica McMenamin’s 250th SEABL game the stage was set for an enthralling contest.
The game was a tale of two halves with the Lady Bandits making all the running in the first half and the Swinburne Lady Cobras fighting back hard in the second. The first quarter saw Albury Wodonga (43.9% FG) take advantage of Kilsyth’s (23.5% FG) poor shooting from the field. The Lady Bandits took a four point lead into the second quarter and extended that to 11 points by half time thanks to some great three point shooting.
The third quarter saw a different Kilsyth outfit come out to play, they were more aggressive, more accurate and in general hungrier for the ball, the Swinburne Lady Cobras shot at 66.7% from the field compared to the Lady bandits (25% FG) and took a slender three point lead into the final change.
The final quarter had everyone at Hugh McMenamin Court on the edge of their seats with both sides exchanging baskets, with just over four minutes left on the clock it appeared that Albury Wodonga were going to spoil the celebrations for Erica and Gemma however a great basket by Hayley Moffatt saw the Cobras take a one point lead with 2:04 left on the clock. Kilsyth defended brilliantly and managed to draw a foul with 29 seconds left on the clock, Eva Afeaki made one of two free throws for a slender two point lead which in the end was the final margin.
Eva Afeaki (15pts, 11 rebounds) managed a double double for the game with Hayley Moffatt (10pts, 6 rbds) and Abby Bishop (14pts, 6rbds) the other notable scorers. Kilsyth showed patches of dominance throughout the game and need to ensure that they don’t let slow starts hurt them if they wish to be a force in 2011. That said the result was a fantastic result for the Swinburne Lady Cobras and was a fitting tribute to two servants of the club.
The Swinburne Kilsyth Lady Cobras next game sees them take on Frankston on Saturday April 30. Tip Off is 6:15pm on Hugh McMenamin Court.
