Posted on 29 May, 2012

After combining to go 4-0 in Round 9 of SEABL competition, this week the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras fall off track and suffer two losses whilst the Swinburne Lady Cobras keep going full steam and pick up two more wins to bring their win streak to five. 

The Swinburne Lady Cobras were looking for a big win over the last place Lady Bandits, but it didn’t come right away.  Despite being up 21-16 after the first quarter, it was a slow start and the Swinburne Lady Cobras couldn’t find their rhythm on either end of the floor.  Their problems grew in the second quarter, as the Swinburne Lady Cobras committed five of their 13 turnovers in the 10 minute stretch.   Their sloppy play let the Lady Bandits back into the game and at halftime the teams were tied 26-26. 

The second half brought out the Swinburne Lady Cobras team we have come to expect this season.  Their defence dominated in the third period, holding the Lady Bandits to only eight points while converting big baskets to score 34 of their own points.  Their third quarter push was enough to secure the lead as the Swinburne Lady Cobras cruised to an 88-62 victory. 

The Swinburne Lady Cobras picked up their post play and easily out-rebounded the Lady Bandits 40-19.  Scoring leaders for the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras were Gemma Kerr and Chantella Perera, who both had outstanding performances and scored 20 points each.  Sarah Parsons followed with 16 points (seven rebounds) while Chelsea Burns led the rebounding effort with nine.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras’ second win of the weekend came on the road Sunday against the Bendigo Lady Braves.  Tired of their recent slow starts, the Swinburne Lady Cobras took control from the opening tip this time.  Ending the first quarter up by four points, the Swinburne Lady Cobras extended the lead to 11 to go into the half 39-28. 

While the Swinburne Lady Cobras were unable to hit from beyond the arc, only making one of their eight three-point attempts, they scored 28 points in the paint and were able to force 24 turnovers which the Lady Cobras converted to 20 points.  The Swinburne Lady Cobras took their largest lead of the night, 18 points, with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter after a basket by Chelsea Burns. 

Although the Lady Braves ended the game on a 10-2 run, the Swinburne Lady Cobras had built up enough of a lead to hold them off.  The final score was 61-52 in favor of the Swinburne Lady Cobras.  The Swinburne Lady Cobras were led in scoring by Captain Chantella Perera with 18 points.  Sarah Parsons had another double-double performance, scoring 15 points and most impressively pulling down 18 rebounds on the night.

The Swinburne Lady Cobras travel to Ballarat on Saturday, 2 June 2012 with 6:00pm tip off and are back at home on Sunday, 3 June 2012 against the Dandenong Rangers with tip off at 12:30pm on Hugh McMenamin Court.

The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras hosted the Albury Wodonga Bandits on Hugh McMenamin Court Saturday for bragging rights and first place in the East pool.  The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras were in full force, with recently injured Zach Malvik back running the point of the offence.  But despite their depth, the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras could not pull out a win, losing 75-81 to the Bandits. 

The Bandits worked to jump out to an early lead, going up by eight points twice in the first period. The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras stayed in the game with a dunk by Auryn MacMillan and a two-point jumper by Garfield Blair to end the quarter with only a four point deficit.  The points fell the same way in the second quarter as the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras went into the half down by eight points.

In the second half, Albury Wodonga’s point guard Jazzmar Ferguson let loose and did most of the scoring for the team the rest of the way, ending with 29 points on the night and the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras could not find a defender to shut him down.  Matt O’Hea answered back with big shots of his own, making back to back three pointers that brought the crowd to their feet in the third period.  While the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras were able to reclaim the lead by four points with 4:11 remaining, Ferguson had his way again and scored 10 consecutive points, putting the Bandits up by nine going into the final period of play. 

A big fourth quarter from MacMillan, who contributed offensively with a pair of tip ins, a dunk and defensively with a key block, brought the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras back to within three points, but the Bandits put down free throws and ran out the clock with a six point advantage.  O’Hea ended the night with 16 points while MacMillan, Blair and Tim Lang all scored 15 points.

Hoping to shake off the close loss and turn around to win on Sunday, the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras were right on track in the first quarter against the Bendigo Braves who were on a six game win streak.  The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras came out on fire.  Auryn MacMillan hit back to back three-pointers, Matt O’Hea connected for two three-point baskets and Zach Malvik scored seven points all in the first quarter.

The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras pulled away 30-23 after the first 10 minutes but the Braves were ready to answer back.  Going on a scoring run of their own in the second period, the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras quickly saw their lead disappear as they went into the halftime down 47-41.  While the two teams turned up their defence to cool the hot shooting in the third period, the Braves were able to make a big run in the fourth quarter to put the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras away.

Despite scoring six out of nine three point attempts for 67% shooting behind the arc, the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras gave up too many opportunities down the stretch and faded away in the final period.  The Braves pulled out a 78-62 victory on their home floor.   Matt O’Hea had another big offensive night to lead the Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras in scoring for the second game in a row.  O’Hea put up 18 big points, followed by Tim Lang with 11 points.  Lang and MacMillan controlled the rebounding effort, pulling down 11 and 10 boards respectively.

The Swinburne Kilsyth Cobras travel to Ballarat on Saturday, 2 June 2012 with 7:45pm tip off and are back at home on Sunday, 3 June 2012 against the Dandenong Rangers with tip off at 2:30pm on Hugh McMenamin Court.