Tara Murray
The Sunbury Jets are through to the Big V men’s state championship grand final, but it wasn’t without a fight.
After beating the Hume City Broncos in game one last weekend, the two teams took to the court at Boardman Stadium on Saturday night.
Midway through the third quarter the Jets seemed destined for the grand final, leading by 17 points.
The Broncos didn’t give up and did enough to force a game three, winning 81-79.
Back at Boardman Stadium on Sunday, the Jets were able to get out to a big lead, which was more than 20 multiple times in the last quarter.
The Broncos would reduce the margin late, but the Jets did enough to win 106-95.
Jets coach John White said it was an amazing feeling to be through to a grand final.
“We gave ourselves a shot of getting there a couple of weeks ago and last night we didn’t dish up a satisfactory performance,” he said.
“To come back in less than 24 hours and to put in a performance like we did today with some fairly big adjustments and for the boys to be able to execute without practicing is really exciting to get into a grand final on the back of that performance.”
White said there was a mixture of things that were to blame for the fade out on Saturday night.
He said there was a little bit of complacency and going away from their ways, as well as being tentative from not only a playing but also a coaching perspective.
“Hume playing out of their skins as well,” he said.
“We needed to reset and put ourselves in a position to be great. We didn’t take that opportunity, all came down to the finer details and showing that respect to Hume and what they bring and who they are and what they stand for as a club.
“We let that slide last night.”
It was a close first half, with both teams having their opportunities. The Jets went deeper into their bench, with Ivanne Loncaric and Gene Vocale getting their first minutes of the series in the first half.
White said it was something they had made note of after the loss in game two, saying every player who took to the court played their role.
The Jets hit three free throws on half time to lead 55-52. The margin would get as low as eight in the third quarter before the Jets ran away with it.
The Jets were able to weather the storm late to ensure they still came away with the win.
Maxwell Barkeley top scored with 23 as all five starters hit double figures.
It was the performance of Jeremy Wragg off the bench that impressed White the most.
“We give a game ball after every win and he got it today,” he said.
“He was physical for us on both ends of the floor, he made great decisions and he just worked whichever match up we gave him. He was fantastic.
“Just all the little one percenters, he just scrapped and I think he was on the floor for 70 per cent of his court time.
“He has had limited opportunities in the past so for him to have a real impact for us in the finals especially, has been great.”
The one downside for the Jets was an ankle injury to Nathan Marshall in the last few minutes for the game.
White said he seemed OK after the game.
The Jets in someway are going for back-to-back championships, having won the division 1 title in 2019 the last completed season. Five members of the 2019 team are part of this year’s team.
The Jets will face Wyndham in the grand final.
“We’re really happy with how we’ve attacked the whole season,” he said.
“It’s such a credit to the coaches and those involved with the team before me, they set up this program to be successful.”
