Sport
8 November, 2024
Final double-header of season for Blazers
It’s another significant weekend of double-headers for the Maryborough Blazers, with both men’s and women’s teams sitting in fifth and needing results to go their way to maintain hopes of returning to the finals.
Last weekend was easily the best of the year for both teams, who took away encouraging wins to keep their chances alive.
In particular, it was the men’s Blazers who took a stirring win over Bendigo to move them to within percentage of the Mildura Heat in fourth, albeit having played two more games.
That means that Sunday’s game against the Heat could be the most pivotal of the season. With the Heat playing against unbeaten Castlemaine the night before, a win for the Blazers, coupled with a good result against the 2-5 Swan Hill Flyers, would mean they would move up to fourth.
Having sat 19 points behind during the third quarter after Bendigo went on a run, Maryborough managed to pull themselves back into the game with some terrific three-point shooting, before emerging victorious after a crazy last few minutes which saw the momentum swing both ways.
In saying that, it would also be a disservice to not say the Blazers’ defence held up magnificently for much of the night last Saturday, closing out passing lanes, restricting Bendigo’s ability to drive to the basket and forcing the Braves into low-percentage shots.
If the Blazers can match that level of effort this weekend against both the Flyers and Heat, they will firm for a spot in the finals.
Bailey Jacobs continues to shine for the Blazers, and still sits third in the competition for points after scoring 17 last week.
Jacobs was pivotal towards the back end of the game, scoring two important buckets as he provided the game’s biggest moments.
Lachlan Drummond continued his remarkably consistent campaign at both ends of the floor, scoring 16 points, while Brady Neill scored 15 points.
This weekend will be the last chance for the Lady Blazers, who will need results to go their way in every single game to make the finals, but there were a lot of positives out of their win against Swan Hill on Sunday afternoon as they prepare for a second match-up in six days.
Although Saturday night’s loss to Bendigo was a tough pill to swallow, the overall performance across the weekend wasn’t too bad — with Bendigo’s elite three-point shooting proving to be the difference on Saturday night, before Swan Hill were completely blanketed in the paint on Sunday.
Maryborough’s interior dominance was such that Swan Hill’s first bucket inside the arc didn’t come until early in the second quarter, with the ability to swarm the Flyers’ scoring options proving to be telling for the Lady Blazers.
Playing-coach Faith McKenzie had a terrific weekend, pouring in 41 points as she moved into the competition’s top 10 scorers — a stat that Maryborough has the most players in throughout the competition, with three.
Aislinn McCarthy, who scored 25 points on Sunday, is still in contention for the scoring title, sitting just one point behind Bacchus Marsh’s Jordan Wilson, and will be hoping for a couple of big games to potentially move ahead.
Maddy Egan also now sits in 10th in the competition for scoring, and was terrific on both ends of the floor with her dominant defensive protection and her ability to drive to the cup on show against the Flyers.
Add in Keisha Tonzing’s versatility to score, now sitting 13th in the competition for scoring, and there is a consistency across the Lady Blazers that suggests plenty of confidence to score.
Like the men’s counterparts, it appears the Lady Blazers will be battling with Mildura for a spot in the finals, and the Heat will also be playing against two higher-ranked opponents away from home, travelling to Bacchus Marsh and Maryborough.