Championship glory is within reach of the Sunbury Jets after they stormed into the Big V division 1 women’s grand final series.
After an impressive game one in the best of three series against Mildura Heat, the Jets were even better on Saturday night, if that’s possible.
Playing in front of a home crowd, the Jets led early and set the tone for the rest of the night.
They extended the margin in every quarter, to win 86-57 and take the semi-finals series 2-0.
Jets’ coach Kennedy Kereama said it was a pretty good performance against a side that has been up there for many years.
“I think we are excited, but everyone’s pretty reserved,” he said. “They want to save it for when it counts.
“We deserve to be there, based on our performances and consistency,” he said.
Game two was a classic example of what the Jets have done so well this season. On the defensive end, they shut down Heat’s two main scoring options.
Having restricted Big V legend Vanessa Power to 15 points in game one of the series, they completely shut her out of the match in game two, restricting her to just one point.
“We kept the same match-ups from the first game,” Kereama said. “Emma [Mahady] went five from six from behind the line, and did a great job at the other end of the court as well.
“Alli Gloyd scored 14 points, and Vanessa one point. Their support cast didn’t trouble us too much.
“I think everyone made life hard, and it was great team defence.
“It was everything we expected from the girls all season, and to have them still doing it at this point of the season is important.”
At the other end of the court, the Jets shared the scoring around, with Jess Bygate, Mahady and Courtney Duever all reaching double figures.
Monique Stevens, Alex Darby and Sharon Plichta also provided handy contributions, as every player got court time.
The Jets now face Geelong in a best of three grand final series. It’s the first time the Jets have made the grand final since 2009. On that occasion, they lost 2-0 to a Werribee side led by Sharon Plichta.
The Jets enter this grand finals hot favourites, having not lost a match all year.
“I think, if we play our best basketball, I don’t think many teams can match us,” Kereama said.
“Not sounding cocky, but if we play our best, we are hard to beat. The grand final doesn’t change anything for us, we see it as another game – business as usual.
“We need to play to own expectations and standards.”
The Jets will host game two, and game three if needed on September 3 and 4.
