Posted on 22 May, 2015
After losing their three games prior, Ed Dustan’s women were able to end their losing streak in a big way, recording a 73-58 win over Waverley at home. After struggling on the offensive end thus far in 2015, the Cobras finally broke loose, catching fire in the final period to go 11-15 from the field and breaking the 70 point mark for the first time this season. Their season-high point total was aided by a season-low seven turnovers, well below their 2015 average.
With Kilsyth now healthy and coming off arguably their most impressive performance of 2015, they appear poised to make a strong push for a postseason berth over the second half of the season. Paige Anderson scored a career-high 22 points on Saturday, Taylah Black returned to her playmaking best, Brooke McGurgan continued her defensive assault on the league and Jenna Verhoef-Jenkins had her most productive game since returning from knee surgery.
With a road trip to Bendigo on the cards this Sunday, the Cobras will be looking to avenge their two-point loss to the Braves back in round four – and if they can pick up where they left off last weekend, they have a chance to pick up consecutive wins for the first time this season.
Currently VYC’s hottest team, the Cobra men enter the weekend with nine consecutive wins, following victories over Waverley and Diamond Valley last week. Boasting an 11-2 record, the men are well positioned for a run at a championship game berth for the third year in a row, with Dandenong (11-1) the only team sitting above Kilsyth in the league standings.
While it has been the Adi Tomada and Ben Ursich show in 2015, Jorden Adnam and Harry Frith were came up huge last weekend to help keep the Cobras streak alive. Frith scored in double figures off the bench (his previous season-high was nine) in both of Kilsyth’s victories, while Adnam dialled in perhaps the league’s most impressive single-game performance of the season on Sunday, roasting Diamond Valley for 31 points on an incredible 14-16 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
After a midseason slump, a revitalised Adnam joins Tomada and Ursich to give Kilsyth the VYC’s most formidable trio. The clear-cut premier point guard of the league, Tomada (20.1ppg/6.6rpg/4.8apg/1.8spg) is VYC’s reigning Player of the Month and a leading candidate for the 2015 MVP award. Not to be outdone, though; Ursich gives the Cobras arguably the most versatile and devastating two-way player in VYC, with his ability to defend multiple positions and score in a variety of ways making him a matchup nightmare on both ends of the floor. Finally, as he proved on Sunday, Adnam has the ability to score with the best of them and with deadly efficiency too; the ultra-long forward is now shooting the ball at a remarkable 57.6% from the floor on the season.
With Kilsyth’s trio playing at a high-level, the Cobras aim at a double-digit win streak starts as they host Frankston on Saturday night (7.00pm), and, if all goes according to plan, they could be shooting for 11 straight on Sunday when they travel to Sandringham.
