Tara Murray
Kyneton Tigers’ premiership dreams were shattered at the hands of the Bendigo Braves in the Country Basketball League north-west women’s grand final on Saturday.
While the Tigers had been the minor premiers heading into the grand final, they were wary of the Braves, who had started to come good at the right time of the year.
The Braves continued their dominance of the competition in recent seasons, winning the grand final, 97-60.
Tigers coach Ash Clark said they were beaten by a better team on the night.
“The girls gave it everything they had,” he said. “Bendigo we knew they would be the team to beat, but they didn’t have their best team all year.
“They were polished and played some really good basketball.”
The first quarter on Saturday was fairly even with the Braves leading by five points at quarter time.
The second quarter would be the one that turned the game. The Braves dominated on the way to a 33-7 quarter to lead by 31 points at half time.
“We couldn’t stop them,” said Clark. “We couldn’t shut them down.”
The Tigers fighting spirit shone through in the third quarter as they won the quarter 22-19, before the Braves finished off the match strongly to seal the win.
Clark said the gap was just too big in the second half for them to really close it.
He said he couldn’t be prouder of the playing group. He said it was a David and Goliath battle, with the Kyneton association much smaller than the big Bendigo one.
“The effort was there the whole game,” he said. “I went to take some of them off when the game was gone to run the bench and they didn’t want to give up.
“They played out the whole 40 minutes.”
Michelle Fletcher and Jess Mangan top scored with 15 points apiece for the Tigers.
Fletcher and Alex Strawhorn were both named in the all-star five for their efforts during the season.
Clark said Fletcher is playing the best basketball he’s ever seen her play.
Having lost their second grand final since joining the competition, Clark said they needed to continue to grow if they wanted to get that premiership.
“We will keep adding pieces,” he said. “We’ve got the Mangan sisters and Alex is back and we’ve got Fletch.
“I spoke with the team after the game.
“Our starters are as good as any in the competition, but you need to have a strong full squad to get the job done.
“Our bench has done a great job, but come finals the starters did a lot of the heavy lifting and we rely on them a lot.
“They need more help.”
In the men’s north-west grand final, the Mildura Heat beat the Braves, 105-94.
