Sport
21 October, 2025
Mildura’s Heat too much for Blazers to handle
The Maryborough Men’s Blazers showed signs of improvement against the Mildura Heat, yet couldn’t come up with a victory, eventually succumbing to the Heat by 10 points.
After a scorching 16-2 run by the Heat had the Blazers trailing by 15 points deep into the second quarter, Maryborough clawed its way back, drawing level at 59-59 with just over eight minutes to play.
The Heat caught fire late to nullify the Blazers’ perseverant comeback, securing the victory and sending Maryborough to an unsavory 0-4 start.
Despite their defeat to the Kyenton Tigers, Maryborough entered this game with some extra confidence as star Bailey Jacobs returned to the side for their away trip to Mildura.
The inclusion of Jacobs made a noticeable difference to the Blazers’ offence immediately, as he scored eight of his team’s first 10 points to give the visitors an early lead.
As the Heat’s offence began to click, Harry Alsop continued his season trend of sublime scoring in the first quarter, netting the Blazers’ last six points of the period as the two teams entered quarter time deadlocked at 20-20.
After trading some well-taken buckets, the Heat’s offence exploded with a 16-2 run led by Dru Pilmore that threatened to give Mildura a game-changing advantage.
While the Blazers limited the damage with an 8-0 run of their own to end the quarter thanks to buckets from Ky Swards, Alsop and Kynan Carter, they still trailed by eight at half time.
After Mildura expanded and maintained a 13-point lead midway through the third quarter, two quick buckets from Tyler Madigan and a late flourish from Jacobs cut the Blazers’ deficit down to five points at three-quarter time.
Relentless in their search for their first victory of the season, Maryborough had all the momentum, forcing the Heat to call a timeout after scores from Carter and Jack Skinner made it a one-point ball game.
Coming out of the timeout, Jacobs tied the game with a free throw, with the Blazers attempting to deliver the killing blow.
However, Maryborough wouldn’t get any closer to victory, as a 10-1 late run allowed Mildura to escape with an arduous win.
Jacobs led the way in his return with 22 points, with valued contributions from Alsop (11 points), Swards (10) and Carter (10).
Maryborough will quickly turn its attention to a double header this weekend, travelling to play the 4-0 Castlemaine Cannons on Saturday before returning to Maryborough on Sunday to battle a fellow winless team in the Bendigo Braves.