Jets gear up for finals

Jess Bygate provided handy points off the bench on Saturday night. Picture Shawn Smits

Sunbury Jets may be undefeated in Big V women’s division 1, but according to coach Kennedy Kereama they have another gear to get to.

Clearly the team to beat this season, the Jets aren’t planning to ease off, despite a finals spot being all but ensured with six matches to go.

Kereama said they wouldn’t be taking any game easy in the run home but would look to prepare for finals.

“My focus is on getting the best out of them now and getting ready for post-season basketball,” he said.

“Nothing changes and we proceed as usual with our winning formula.

“I told the girls post-game on Saturday they had had some good wins against good sides, but I think they can get better.

“I think we have another gear to find, and we’ll need it at the pointy end of the competition. We need to keep improving day by day, week by week.”

On Saturday night, the Jets easily accounted for third-placed Mildura.

Travelling north, the Jets made easy work of the Heat: 82-59.

Five Jets players reached double figures, with Jess Bygate, Alex Darby and Kayla Theodore providing key contributions off the bench.

Despite the big win, Kereama wasn’t 100 per cent happy.

“Mildura are the best offensive side in the competition, averaging 80 points a game,” he said.

“We held them to 59 points and I thought we could have done better than that.”

It’s at the defensive end that Kereama believes the Jets have the potential for most improvement.

“We’re the best defensive side in the competition and the stats tell you that, but I think we can still get a lot better,” he said.

“We have enough offensive sets and enough talent for it to take care of itself at that end of the court.

“Most of our offence comes from our defence, but we want to be more polished.”

At the offensive end, Kereama is happy with the spread of scorers.

“The players don’t care who’s doing the scoring,” he said. “Some teams have two or three scoring threats, whereas we have seven or eight.

“I think any of our 12 players can score when given the chance.”

The Jets this week face a Chelsea side that has won seven games in a row.

They then face Latrobe City before playing bottom four sides in the last three rounds.

“Chelsea are the next in-form team after us,” Kereama said.

“It’ll be a good challenge for us.

“We won’t be taking anyone lightly … if we can, we want to crush teams.”