Macedon Ranges Rockies are through to their first Basketball Victoria Country Basketball League grand final.
After building over the years since having a side for the first time in 2021, the Rockies have made it through to the men’s north-west grand final this season.
Coach Michael Ryan, who has guided the side since its inception, said it was pretty special for everyone.
“I’m very happy,” he said. “There’s been guys who have been around for a long time who get that sense of validation.
“There’s some relief. There’s then some guys who are new to the team and played at a high level and in these situations.”
The Rockies won through to the grand final with a semi final win against the Melton Thoroughbreds in front of a big crowd at the Macedon Sports Precinct.
Ryan said it was nice to be able to play in front of their home crowd.
The two sides faced each other in the final round of the season as well, making it back-to-back matches against each other.
Ryan said they went in prepared for different matches.
“They are a good team and they have a lot of young players and the future is bright for them,” he said.
“It was hard going into the first time as we knew that we wouldn’t have Lucas Carnell and Lucas Impey for the final.”
Ryan said having had different starting line ups throughout the season they had plans in place.
Their spread of scorers meant that they knew they had players who could step up.
“We spoke about it after the game,” he said. “We’ve had a different team every week and it hasn’t affected our performance.
“We’re confident in our ability to still win. Credit to the group for having the right mindset.
“We’ve had seven or eight players finish as top scorers in games. We make it hard for other teams to defend with guys stepping up every week.”
The Rockies took an early lead in the game and had a six point margin heading into the first quarter.
They were able to increase it to 13 points at the main break.
Melton wasn’t going to go anywhere and had its best quarter in the third quarter to reduce the margin to nine points at the final break.
The Rockies were able to show composure in the final quarter to come away with an 111-100 win.
Jack Dohmen-Jolly top scored with 27 points as six players scored in double figures for the Rockies.
The Rockies will now face the Castlemaine Cannons on Saturday night in the grand final at Cobblebank Stadium in Melton at 8pm.
Ryan said Carnell would miss the grand final while they weren’t sure whether Impey would play.
The Cannons are one of just two teams to beat the Rockies this season.
Ryan said they were hoping to have a big Rockies crowd in attendance.
“They are a great opposition and they are the benchmark,” Ryan said. “They have experience and knowledge.
“We’ll definitely do our best and not shying away from the opportunity of privilege to play in the grand final.”
