There’s one thing you can almost guarantee when Sunbury Jets take to the court in Big V women’s division 1: their defence will stand strong.
It was no different in game one of the grand final series against Geelong Supercats on Saturday night.
It wasn’t a pretty game, both teams struggling offensively to ensure a low-scoring affair.
The Jets, though, did what they do best, restricting the Supercats’ attacking end.
The Supercats were held to fewer than 10 points in each of the first two quarters.
At half-time the Jets led 31-16.
The third term opened up a tad. Supercats won the quarter by two points to keep the door slightly ajar, but the Jets stood firm to win 62-41.
Jets coach Kennedy Kereama believed both sides suffered from early nerves, but he was proud of how his team was able to stand strong defensively. “We hung tough, but we didn’t have our best offensive night,” he said. “Our defensive level was above theirs and it was pretty satisfying; I’m proud of the girls.
“[Holding them to] two seven-point quarters and a nine-point quarter was pretty excellent, but I don’t think we were comfortable until the last couple of minutes.”
Kereama said offence was one area they could improve heading into game two and, possibly, game three.
Courtney Duever was superb for the Jets, scoring 33 points at 48 per cent shooting accuracy while hitting six three pointers, but he had little support.
“It was one night where we had four or five [shooters] not really firing,” Kereama said. “To be fair, we have seven cylinders and normally have five cylinders firing, but we had just one.
“Our defensive efforts won it for us. Courtney was pretty good last night and there was a lot of great teamwork in defence, which helped get her into the right spots.”
Every player was given court time and Kereama said they would be better for the experience. While he didn’t like singling out players, the coach praised the defensive efforts of Alex Darby, who’s in her first season in the women’s competition.
The Jets take a 1-0 lead into the grand final series ahead of game two at 7pm, Saturday, at Boardman Stadium. Game three, if needed, will be at 1pm on Sunday, also at Boardman.
“If we play like that again, we’ll be hard to beat,” Kereama said.
“I feel we’ve one hand on the championship, and another defensive night like that we’ll have two hands on it.
“We’ll stay focused and make some adjustments. I know how good Geelong are.”
Tara Murray
